11 Complex Word Stress

CHAPTER 11
COMPLEX WORD
STRESS
NOR SYAHIRAH BT NORIZAN
NURUL HAZWANI BT MAT SAYUTI
11.1 Complex words
• Two major types:
- Basic word form (stem) + affix
- Compound words ( two / more independent English words)  e.g.: ice-
cream,armchair
• Words + affixes
- Prefixes  prefix ‘un’ + stem ‘pleasant’ = ‘unpleasant’
- Suffixes  stem ‘good’ + suffix ‘-ness’ = ‘goodness’
• Affixes have 1 of 3 possible effects on word stress:

- The affix itself receives the primary stress  e.g.: semicircle, personality
- The word is stressed as if the affix were not there  e.g.: unpleasant,
marketing
- The stress remains on the stem, not the affix, but is shifted to a different
syllable  e.g.: magnetic
11.2 Suffixes
• Common and productive
• Distinguish between a stem (remains when affixes are removed) and a root ( the
smallest piece of lexical material that a stem can be reduced to)
- e.g.: ‘personality’
• Suffixes carrying primary stress themselves

- e.g.: ‘refugee’, ‘volunteer’, ‘cigarette’, ‘picturesque’
• Suffixes that do not affect stress placement

- e.g.: ‘comfortable’, ‘anchorage’, ‘powerless’, ‘glorify’
• Suffixes that influence stress in the stem

- e.g.: ‘photography’, ‘climatic’, ‘perfection’, ‘reflexive’
- Primary stress is on the last syllable
• Suffixes ‘-ance’, ‘-ant’, ‘-ary’ (e.g.: ‘guidance’, ‘sealant’, ‘ dietary’) + single-syllable
stems  the stress is almost placed on the stem
• The stem has > 1 syllable  the stress is on 1 of the syllables in the stem
- Use a rule based on syllable structure  Chapter 10
• If the final syllable of the stem is strong, that syllable receives the stress
- e.g.: ‘importance’, ‘centenary’
• Otherwise the syllable before the last one receives the stress
- e.g.: ‘inheritance’, ‘military’
11.3 Prefixes
• Effect on stress does not have the comparative regularity,
independence and predictability of suffixes
• No prefix of one / two syllables that always carries primary stress
• Stress in words with prefixes is governed by the same rules as those

for polysyllabic words without prefixes
11.4 COMPOUND WORDS
Written forms:
One word
•Eg: armchair, sunflower
Two words separated by a space

•Eg: desk lamp, battery charger
With hyphen
•Eg: gear-change, fruit-cake
When is primary stress placed
on the first constituent word of
the compound & when on the
second?
Stress on the first
element
•Compound of 2 nouns:
Eg: ‘typewriter, ‘car-ferry, ‘sunrise,
‘suitcase, ‘tea-cup.
•It is safest to assume that normally the
other compounds also fall in this way,
however, a variety of compounds – the
second element.
Stress on the second element
•Compounds with
First element : adjectival
Second element : the –ed morpheme
Eg: bad-’tempered, half-’timbered, heavy-’handed
•Compounds which
First element : number
Eg: three-’wheeler, second-’class, five-’finger
•Compounds functioning as adverbs:
Eg: head-first, North-’East, down’stream
•Compounds functioning as verbs
First element: adverbial
Eg: down-’grade, back-’pedal, ill-’treat
11.5 VARIABLE STRESS
• Stress pattern (English) – not fixed & changing
• Reasons - variable of stress position:
 Stress on other words occurred next to the word in
questions (connected speech- CH 14)
The stress on a final-stressed compound tends to move
to a preceding syllable if the following word begins with a
strongly stressed syllable.
bad-’tempered  a ‘bad-tempered ‘teacher

half-’timbered,  a ‘half-timbered ‘house
heavy-’handed  a ‘heavy-handed ‘sentence
Not all speakers agree on the placement of stress in
some words
Different pronunciation:
• Controversy
• Ice-cream
• Kilometre
• Formidable
11.6 WORD-CLASS PAIRS
• 2 syllable words – identical spelling but differ from each other
in stress placement, apparently according to word class (noun,
verb, or adjective)
• RULE! :
IF A PAIR OF PREFIX + STEM WORDS EXISTS, BOTH
MEMBERS OF WHICH ARE SPELT IDENTICALLY, ONE OF
WHICH IS A VERB AND THE OTHER OF WHICH IS EITHER A
NOUN OR AN ADJECTIVE, THEN THE STRESS IS PLACED
ON THE SECOND SYLLABLE OF THE VERB BUT ON THE FIRST
SYLLABLE OF THE NOUN OR ADJECTIVE.
• For example:
Abstract
Conduct
Contract
Desert
Escort
Esport
Import

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CHAPTER 11

• Affixes have 1 of 3 possible effects on word stress:

• Suffixes carrying primary stress themselves

• Suffixes that do not affect stress placement

• Suffixes that influence stress in the stem

• No prefix of one / two syllables that always carries primary stress

• Stress in words with prefixes is governed by the same rules as those

Two words separated by a space

bad-’tempered  a ‘bad-tempered ‘teacher

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