Beta version. The pronunciations given here are indicative: they aim at a quick, intelligible reading and will be refined. Provençal is spoken with nuances that writing renders poorly, and the ear remains the best guide. Watch the video, listen to speakers, and tell us what sounds wrong to you.
Provençal has a tonic stress, usually on the second-to-last syllable
Unlike French, Provençal carries a true tonic stress : one syllable of the word is said louder than the others. It most often falls on the second-to-last syllable. It shifts under precise conditions, set out case by case in the rules below : a vowel group, a particular verb ending.
The stress can fall in only two places : the last or the second-to-last syllable
In Provençal, the tonic stress hits either the last syllable or the second-to-last one, never further back in the word. That narrows the hesitation to two possibilities, always the same two.
A written accent on a vowel marks the tonic stress
When a vowel carries a written mark, a grave or an acute accent, that mark tells you where to hit. The tonic stress falls on that vowel, and the question is settled with no further checking.
With no written accent, look at the end of the word
When no vowel carries a written mark, the ending decides. Words ending in o or e, and verbs ending in -on or -es, take the stress on the second-to-last syllable. Every other word takes it on the last.
In a vowel group, the stress falls on the first vowel
In an accented diphthong or triphthong, the stress always falls on the first vowel of the group, or on the first vowel of the diphthong forming the second half of a triphthong. It never falls on u.
In verbs ending in -on in the third person plural, the stress falls on the second-to-last syllable
As with any word ending in an unstressed syllable, the verb ending -on of the third person plural places the main stress on the syllable before it.
Words ending in -oun take the stress on the last syllable
The ending -oun draws the tonic stress onto itself. It is the most common exception to the second-to-last-syllable rule.