Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 17 views

    Word Stress. Complex Words

    Uploaded by

    Bianca Ciutea
    This document discusses word stress in complex words formed from a stem plus affixes. It explains that affixes are either suffixes added after a stem or prefixes added before. Suffixes can carry the primary stress, not affect stress placement, or move the stress to the next syllable of the stem. Prefixes do not have as regular or predictable effects on stress placement as suffixes.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Word Stress. Complex Words

    Uploaded by

    Bianca Ciutea
    17 views2 pages
    This document discusses word stress in complex words formed from a stem plus affixes. It explains that affixes are either suffixes added after a stem or prefixes added before. Suffixes can carry the primary stress, not affect stress placement, or move the stress to the next syllable of the stem. Prefixes do not have as regular or predictable effects on stress placement as suffixes.

    Original Title

    5. Word Stress. Complex Words

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    This document discusses word stress in complex words formed from a stem plus affixes. It explains that affixes are either suffixes added after a stem or prefixes added before. Suffixes can carry the primary stress, not affect stress placement, or move the stress to the next syllable of the stem. Prefixes do not have as regular or predictable effects on stress placement as suffixes.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    17 views2 pages

    Word Stress. Complex Words

    Uploaded by

    Bianca Ciutea
    This document discusses word stress in complex words formed from a stem plus affixes. It explains that affixes are either suffixes added after a stem or prefixes added before. Suffixes can carry the primary stress, not affect stress placement, or move the stress to the next syllable of the stem. Prefixes do not have as regular or predictable effects on stress placement as suffixes.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    1

    LESSON 5.

    WORD STRESS. COMPLEX WORDS

    Care = simple word

    Careless = complex word (care + less)

    Carelessness = complex word (care + less + ness)

    So we can see from these examples that a complex word is made up of a basic
    word (called a stem) plus one or more units called affixes (groups of letters that
    cannot appear independently, they have to be attached to a word).

    Care = stem

    -less, -ness = affixes

    Affixes are:

    → suffixes if places after a stem (careless: care + less)


    → prefixes if attached before the stem (unpleasant: un +pleasant)

    SUFFIXATED WORDS

    1. Suffixes can carry the primary stress (when we add the suffix, the stress
    changes its place).
     ‘-ee’: refugEE (while in refuge, the first syllable is stressed REfuge)
     ‘-eer’: mountainEER
     ‘-ese’: PortuguESE
     ‘-ette’: cigarETTE

    2. Suffixes may not affect stress placement (when we add the suffix, the
    stress does not change its place).
    2

     ‘-able’: COMfort - COMfortable


     ‘-age’: ANchor - Anchorage
     ‘-al’: reFUSE - reFUSAL
     ‘-en’: wide - Widen
     ‘-ful’: WONder - WONderful
     ‘-ing’: aMAZE - aMAZING
     ‘-like’: LAdy - Ladylike
     ‘-less’: POwer - Powerless
     ‘-ly’: HURried - HURriedly
     ‘-ment’: PUNish - PUNishment
     ‘-ness’: YELlow - YELlowness
     ‘-ous’: POIson - POIsonous
     ‘-fy’: GLOry - GLOrify
     ‘-y’: fun - FUNny

    3. Suffixes move the stress onto the next syllable of the stem.

     ‘-eous’: COUrage - couRAgeous


     ‘-ial’: PROverb - proVERbial
     ‘-ic’: CLImate - cliMAtic
     ‘-ion’: PERfect - perFECtion
     ‘-ious’: INjure - inJURious
     ‘-ty’: TRANquil - tranQUIity

    As far as PREFIXES are concerned, “their effect on stress does not have the
    comparative regularity, independence and predictability of suffixes, and there is
    no prefix of one or two syllables that always carries primary stress. Consequently,
    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”
    (Roach, 85)

    You might also like