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Word Stress in Complex Words

Chapter 11 of the English Phonology course discusses complex word stress, focusing on the effects of prefixes and suffixes on stress placement. It outlines how stress is determined in compound words and word-class pairs, highlighting specific rules for nouns, adjectives, and verbs. The chapter provides examples to illustrate these stress patterns.

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6 views12 pages

Word Stress in Complex Words

Chapter 11 of the English Phonology course discusses complex word stress, focusing on the effects of prefixes and suffixes on stress placement. It outlines how stress is determined in compound words and word-class pairs, highlighting specific rules for nouns, adjectives, and verbs. The chapter provides examples to illustrate these stress patterns.

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gsge2008
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Course Name: English Phonology

Instructor: Firas F. Ali

Chapter 11: Complex


Word Stress
• Complex words are of two major types:
1. Words with affixes (prefixes and suffixes).
2. Compound words
• Effect of Prefixes on Word Stress:
• The best treatment seems to be to say that
stress in words with prefixes is governed by the
same rules as those for polysyllabic words
without prefixes.
• Suffixes have one of three possible effects on
word stress:
1. The suffix itself receives the primary stress
Example:
Cigarette /sɪgrˈet/
These kinds of suffixes are called stress-carrying
suffixes.
2. The word is stress as if the suffix were not
there.
Amazing /əˈmeɪzɪŋ/
These kinds of suffixes are called neutral suffixes.
2. The primary stress remains on the stem, not
the suffix, but is shifted to a different syllable.
advantage /ədˈvɑːntɪdʒ/
advantage /ædvənˈteɪdʒəs/
These kinds of suffixes are called stress-moving
suffixes.
Stress in Compound Words:
1. If the compound word combines two nouns, it
normally has the stress on the first element,
as in:
Suitcase /ˈsuːtkeɪs/
2. Compound words with an adjectival first
element and the –ed morpheme at the end will
have the primary stress on the second element
and secondary stress on the first, as in:
bad-tempered /ˌbæd ˈtempəd/
3. Compound words in which the first element is a
number in some form also tend to have primary
stress on the second element and secondary
stress on the first, as in:
Three-wheeler /ˌθriː ˈwiːlə/
4. Compound words functioning as adverbs usually
have primary stress on the second element and
secondary stress on the first, as in:
North-East /ˌnɔːθ ˈiːst/
5. Compound words functioning as verbs and have
adverbial first elements usually have primary
stress on the second element and secondary
stress on the first, as in:
ill-treat /ˌɪl ˈtriːt/
Stress in Word-class Pairs:
• Word-class pairs are pairs of words that are
similar in spelling but different in grammatical
category, pronunciation, and stress placement.
• If the word is a noun or an adjective, primary
stress goes on the first syllable.
• If the word is a verb, primary stress goes on the
second syllable.
• Example: Present (n.) /ˈprezn̩t/
Present (v.) /prɪˈzent/

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