WORD STRESS

These are –ial, -ian, -ic,-id, -cient, -eous,- ify, -inal, -ious, -ion, -tion, -ity, -itude, -itive, -itant,- logy,-latry, -graphy, -or, -tor, -ual, -ular.

For example: emotion, curiosity, insipid,ˡmodify, original, habitual, apology, spectator, economic, orthography, exclusive, opinion, familiar, technician, sufficient.

4. Antepenultimate stress (third from last) is used in the pronunciation of many longer words of Greco-Roman origin where the main stress falls on the third syllable from the end, thus preserving the classical dactylic rhythm (stress + unstressed + unstressed). For example: character, original, majority.

5.Disyllabic words received from Old French between 11th and 15th centuries adapted themselves to the Anglo-Saxon stress system. These take the main stress on the first syllable. For example: supper, punish, language. Words borrowed from Modern French which are in general use in English follow the stress patterns of native words and shift the main stress to the first, eg coupon, chateau, debut.

6.Words adopted directly from Latin in the period of humanism and Renaissance preserve the stress of Latin words. This is the same with words from Old French eg nobility, intact, tradition, impure.

7.The secondary stress occurs in long words but it never falls on the syllable immediately after the main stress. It usually falls on the root syllable of the foundation word. For example: qualification is derived from to qualify, instrumental is derived from instrument.

Compound Words

Compound words are a combination of two or more words but which function as a single vocabulary unit regardless of spelling. Some may be hyphenated, others written together and some separate. Examples are the compound adjective self-made, or the compound nouns flower-shop, police station.)

The primary stress is usually on the first element, daybreak, computer virus.

1. Compounds Functioning as Nouns

90% of compounds are compound nouns made up of three categories.

i) ˡN(OUN) + N(OUN) (75% of compound nouns).

birthday, dinner-table, sheepdog, airport, alcohol abuse, bomb factory, bottle bank, guidebook, toilet roll, control freak, police force, shopping centre, mountain bike, laptop, wheel clamp, lager lout, breadcrumbs, keyboard, bar code.

Exceptions to STRESSED NOUN + UNSTRESSED NOUN

►man-made items chocolate ˡbiscuit, apple ˡpie, brick ˡwall, cotton ˡwool

►where N1 is a name Christmas ˡpudding (but ˡChristmas cake because cake is ˡN+N ˡchocolate cake, ˡfruit cake), Mexican ˡwave, Molotov ˡcocktail.

► where N1 is a value 100% ˡeffort dollar ˡbill, pound ˡcoin

ii) ˡA(djective)+ N, ˡNs+N, ˡN+V, ˡV+N, ˡN+Ving, ˡVing+N

ˡbuilding society, ˡshop lifting, ˡskateboarding, ˡwindsurfing

but CˡD compact ˡdisc

2. Compounds Functioning as Adjectives or Verbs

There are not as many of these.

Adj. initial: ˡbloodthirsty, ˡsea-sick, ˡtrustworthy,

Adj. final: skin-ˡdeep, user-ˡfriendly, red ˡhot, easy ˡgoing, overˡdue

Verbs: ˡbabysit, ˡsidestep, ˡsidetrack, but outˡnumber, overˡsleep underˡgo