19. Mark the stress for any eight of the following words [8×1/2=4Marks]
Rules Of Word Stress
Rule 1: Words with weak prefixes
World’s beginning with ( a, be, de, re, con) the stress falls on the 2nd syllable.
| a | be | de | re | con |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a’loud | be‘gan | de‘feat | re‘gret | con‘tinue |
| a‘bove | be‘came | de‘gree | reb’pay | con’clusion |
| a‘lone | be‘lief | de‘fence | re’play | con’tent |
| re’venge | con’sent |
Rule 2: Compound Words
a) A compound word is a word that is composed of two words. in such words, the stress falls on the first syllable
| ‘toothpaste | ‘grandmaster |
| ‘book shop | ‘time table |
| ‘foot ball | ‘jellyfish |
b) Words that ends in ever, self, and selves the stress falls on the second syllable.
| ever | self | selves |
|---|---|---|
| how ‘ever | your ‘self | them ‘selves |
| whos ‘ever | my ‘self | our ‘selves |
| for ‘ever | him ‘self | |
| when ‘ever | it ‘self | |
| what ‘ever | our ‘self |
Rule 3: Words which denote number numbers have a specific stress pattern
a) Words which denote numbers and that end in teen the stress falls on teen
| Seven‘teen | thir’teen |
| Can‘teen | fif’teen |
b) Words that denote the multiples of tens, the stress falls on the first syllable
| ‘thirty | ‘six-thousand |
| ‘twenty | ‘fifty |
Rule 4: Suffixes
a) Words that end in ee, ier, ette, queue, and aire the stress falls on the last syllable
| ee | eer | ette | que | aire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emplo’yee | Engi’neer | ga’zette | u’nique | millio ‘naire |
| addre’ssee | profi’tteer | ciga’rette | o’blique | billio ‘naire |
| refe’ree | volun’teer | heor’gette | cri’tique | |
| absen’tee | auctio’neer | kitche’nette | an’tique | |
| devo’tee | Pio’neer | suffra’gette | pict’resque | |
| exami’nee | electio’neer | tech’nique |
b) Words end in ion ial ie and ious/eous the stress fall on the second syllable from the end
| ion | ial | ie | ious/eous |
|---|---|---|---|
| deco’ration | po’tential | patri’otic | no’torious |
| appli’cation | of’ficial | sympa’thetic | ‘conscious |
| exami’nation | es’sential | aca’demic | cere’monious |
| prepa’ration | ‘social | ‘logic | am’bitious |
| combi’nation | fi’nancial | his’toric | cou’rageous |
| ‘station | re’medial | fa’natic | de’licious |
| so’lution | ‘partial |
c) Words that end in ical , ity, ize ,logy and graphy take stress on the third syllable from the end.
| ian | ical | ity | ize | logy | graphy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mu’sician | his’torical | a’bility | ‘civilize | bio’logy | ge’ography |
| li’brarian | ‘optical | ca’pacity | ‘symbolize | zo’ology | bi’ography |
| co’median | ‘practical | oppor’tunity | ’emphasize | physi’ology | chore’graphy |
Rule 5 : Stress shift
One very important feature of word stress is the stress shift. That is the stress shift when some suffixes are added to a word.
Example : e’conomy e’conomic econo’metrics ‘photograph pho’tographer Photo’graphic
In the above examples you have seen that the edition of a suffix results in stress shift but they are some suffixes which do not affect the stress some of them are
| age | ance | ment | er | ess | ship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‘carry | at’tend | ‘enlighten | be’gin | ‘actor | ‘schlor |
| ‘carriage | at’tendance | ‘englightenment | be’ginner | ‘actress | ‘scholarship |
Exercises
1. In the following disyllabic words the stress falls on the first syllable. (Page No 220)
| ‘apple | ‘action | ‘atom | ‘centre | ‘cotton |
| ‘sorry | ‘business | ‘paper | ‘interest | ‘lawyer |
| ‘novel | ‘nature | ‘author | ‘common | ‘father |
| ‘danger | ‘service | ‘doctor | ‘freedom | ‘damage |
| ‘system. | ‘water | ‘always | ‘doubt | ‘mother |
2. In the following disyllabic words the stress falls on the second syllable. (Page 221)
| be’cause | a’round | pre’pare | be’fore | be’gin |
| can’teen | de’gree | for’give | ma’chine | a’dopt |
| Ju’ly | su’ccess | ga’rage | de’scribe | a’laram |
| ex’tract | en’joy | bal’loon | ho’tel | di’rect |
| com’plete | gar’bage | ca’reer | ab’sent | before |
3. Mark the stress on the following words (Page 221)
| ‘Adjective | a’partment | af’fection | a’bout |
| ‘Botany | ‘bachelor | be’hind | be’lieve |
| ‘Capital | con’tainer | col’lector | ‘Centre |
| Cre’ated | con’tinue | ‘character | ‘comfort |
| Cer’tificate | con’fusion | ‘century | di’rector |
| Di’spute | de’scribe | en’joy | eigh’teen |
| For’mation | ‘famous | ‘government | ho’tel |
| ‘Incident | ‘mistaken | ‘moment | over’take |
| ‘Perfect | ‘question | re’hearsal | sa’lute |
| To’day | to’morrow | tele’vision | under’stand |
| A’go | ‘victory | ‘cinema | ‘junior |
| De’licious | ‘excellent | ‘happy | ‘people |
4. You have read the stress rules on suffixes. Follow the rules and mark the stress on the following words. (Page 221)
| Pu’blicity | possibility | simp’licity | ne’cessity |
| Stu’pidity | te’nacity | infor’mation | conver’sation |
| Appli’cation | obser’vation | plan’tation | po’litical |
| ‘Cyclical | me’chanical | ter’rific | scientific |
| Catas’trophic | spe’cific | ener’getic | rea’listic |
| Refu’gee | trai’nee | lu’xurious | ‘conscious |
| Sus’picious | ju’dicious | ca’reer | it’self |
| Gene’ration | va’cation | a’trocious | hu’mility |
| Civili’zation | con’fusion | fal’lacious | curi’osity |
| Obser’vation | ‘nation | gram’matical | mo’rality |
| License | edu’cation | visi’bility | ‘humanize |
| selection | ceremony | legibility | authorize |
5. The following words have weak prefixes. Put sstress mark on the word and refer to the dictionary. (Page 222)
| A ‘far | be’friend | be’little | be’come |
| A’cross | al’though | a’gree | a’round |
| A’gain | a’sleep | a’live | ar’rive |
| Re’sistant | a’head | ac’cording | in’debted |
| A’broad | a’fraid | be’cause | a’part |