diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/langopts.c b/src/libespeak-ng/langopts.c
index 6b4dc6e6..fb47186d 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/langopts.c
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/langopts.c
@@ -82,18 +82,19 @@ enum {
 };
 
 static const MNEM_TAB langopts_tab[] = {
-	{ "maintainer",   V_MAINTAINER },
-	{ "status",       V_STATUS },
 	{ "lowercaseSentence",	V_LOWERCASE_SENTENCE },
+    { "stressLength", V_STRESSLENGTH },
 
-	{ NULL, 0 }
+	{ "maintainer",   V_MAINTAINER },
+    { "status",       V_STATUS },
+
+    { NULL, 0 }
 };
 
-extern int CheckTranslator(Translator *tr, const MNEM_TAB *keyword_tab, int key);
+void LoadLanguageOptions(Translator *translator, int key, char *keyValue ) {
+        int ix;
 
-void LoadLanguageOptions(Translator *translator, int key ) {
-		switch (key)
-		{
+		switch (key) {
 		case V_LOWERCASE_SENTENCE: {
 			if (CheckTranslator(translator, langopts_tab, key) != 0)
 				break;
@@ -101,8 +102,21 @@ void LoadLanguageOptions(Translator *translator, int key ) {
 			translator->langopts.lowercase_sentence = true;
 			break;
 			}
+		case V_STRESSLENGTH: {
+        			if (CheckTranslator(translator, langopts_tab, key) != 0)
+        				break;
+
+        			//printf("parsing: %s", keyValue);
+        			int stress_lengths_set = 0;
+        			int stress_lengths[8];
+        			stress_lengths_set = Read8Numbers(keyValue, stress_lengths);
+
+        			for (ix = 0; ix < stress_lengths_set; ix++) {
+        				translator->stress_lengths[ix] = stress_lengths[ix];
+        			}
+        			break;
+        		}
 
-			break;
 		case V_MAINTAINER:
 		case V_STATUS:
 			break;
diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/voice.h b/src/libespeak-ng/voice.h
index 610e77ed..bf0517ac 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/voice.h
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/voice.h
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ voice_t *LoadVoice(const char *voice_name, int control);
 voice_t *LoadVoiceVariant(const char *voice_name, int variant);
 espeak_ng_STATUS DoVoiceChange(voice_t *v);
 void WavegenSetVoice(voice_t *v);
+int Read8Numbers(char *data_in, int data[8]);
 void ReadTonePoints(char *string, int *tone_pts);
 void VoiceReset(int control);
 void FreeVoiceList(void);
diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/voices.c b/src/libespeak-ng/voices.c
index 570fac0a..8f00db51 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/voices.c
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/voices.c
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+
 /*
  * Copyright (C) 2005 to 2015 by Jonathan Duddington
  * email: jonsd@users.sourceforge.net
@@ -134,9 +135,9 @@ static const MNEM_TAB keyword_tab[] = {
 	{ "pitch",        V_PITCH },
 	{ "phonemes",     V_PHONEMES },
 	{ "dictionary",   V_DICTIONARY },
-	{ "stressLength", V_STRESSLENGTH },
 	{ "stressAmp",    V_STRESSAMP },
 	{ "stressAdd",    V_STRESSADD },
+	{ "stressLength",    V_STRESSLENGTH },
 	{ "intonation",   V_INTONATION },
 	{ "tunes",        V_TUNES },
 	{ "dictrules",    V_DICTRULES },
@@ -476,7 +477,7 @@ static void PhonemeReplacement(char *p)
 	replace_phonemes[n_replace_phonemes++].type = flags;
 }
 
-static int Read8Numbers(char *data_in, int data[8])
+int Read8Numbers(char *data_in, int data[8])
 {
 	// Read 8 integer numbers
 	memset(data, 0, 8*sizeof(int));
@@ -632,7 +633,8 @@ voice_t *LoadVoice(const char *vname, int control)
 
 		key = LookupMnem(keyword_tab, buf);
 
-        LoadLanguageOptions(translator, key);
+        LoadLanguageOptions(translator, key, p);
+
 		switch (key)
 		{
 		case V_LANGUAGE:
@@ -706,20 +708,7 @@ voice_t *LoadVoice(const char *vname, int control)
 				voice->formant_factor = (int)((1+factor/4) * 256); // nominal formant shift for a different voice pitch
 			}
 			break;
-		case V_STRESSLENGTH: {// stressLength
-			if (CheckTranslator(translator, keyword_tab, key) != 0)
-				break;
 
-			int stress_lengths_set = 0;
-			int stress_lengths[8];
-			stress_lengths_set = Read8Numbers(p, stress_lengths);
-
-			for (ix = 0; ix < stress_lengths_set; ix++) {
-				translator->stress_lengths[ix] = stress_lengths[ix];
-			}
-
-			break;
-		}
 		case V_STRESSAMP: { // stressAmp
 			if (CheckTranslator(translator, keyword_tab, key) != 0)
 				break;