Unit 9

Strong/weak syllables

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 Decide whether the following
statements are true or false
1. The vowel /i/ never occurs in a strong syllable.
2. Not all weak vowels contain /ə/.
3. The vowel in the second syllable of the word “
lucky” is transcribed as /i:/.
4. The vowel in the third syllable of the word
“appreciate” is transcribed /i/.
5. The vowel in the first syllable of the word
“reply” is transcribed /ɪ/.
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 Decide whether the following
statements are true or false
1. The vowel /i/ never occurs in a strong syllable. T
2. Not all weak syllables contain /ə/. T
3. The vowel in the second syllable of the word
“lucky” is transcribed as /i:/. F
4. The vowel in the third syllable of the word
“appreciate” is transcribed /i/. T
5. The vowel in the first syllable of the word
“reply” is transcribed /ɪ/. T

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 Decide whether the following syllables
are strong or weak. Explain why.
1. The second syllable in “struggle”
2. The first syllable in “thorough”
3. The first syllable in “forget”
4. The second syllable in “open”
5. The second syllable in “architect”
6. The first syllable in “money”
7. The second syllable in “ estate”

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 Decide whether the following syllables are
strong or weak. Explain why.
1. The second syllable in “struggle” – Weak ( syllabic /l/)
2. The second syllable in “thorough” – strong (short
vowel with coda/long vowel)
3. The first syllable in “forget” – Weak (schwa sound
without coda)
4. The second syllable in “open” – Weak (schwa sound
with coda)
5. The second syllable in “architect” – Weak (/ɪ/; the next
syllable starts with a consonant)
6. The first syllable in “money” – Strong ( short vowel /ʌ/
with coda)
7. The second syllable in “ estate” – Strong ( diphthong)
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Stress

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• What is stress?
• What affects stress placement?

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 In any word
one syllable is more prominent
than the others- this syllable is
stressed.

em pha  sis

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LOUDER LONGER AT A HIGHER
PITCH

em pha sis
strong syllable
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Are these three factors equally important? If
not, which is the most noticeable factor in a
stressed syllable?
a. Length ( longer, shorter time)
b. Pitch ( high/low tone)
c. Loudness (louder/quieter)

em phasis


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• Are these three factors equally important?
Which is the most noticeable factor?
a. Length ( longer, shorter)
b. Pitch ( high/low tone)
c. Loudness

em phasis


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• From the listener’s point of view, the most
salient features of stress are probably longer
vowel duration in the stressed syllable and
higher pitch.
• Looking at this phenomenon from the
speaker’s point of view, stress involves a
greater outlay of energy as the speaker expels
air from the lung and articulates syllables.

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 Stress
• Word stress (lexical stress)
• Stress shift
• Weakening

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15
primary
stress
mark

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secondary
stress
mark
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 French words English words

• or-ga-ni-sa-TION • or-ga-ni-ZA-tion
• dé-mo-cra-TIQUE • de-mo-CRAT-ic
• gé-o-gra-PHIE • ge-OG-raph-y

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Stress in English can occur on virtually any
syllable depending in part on the origin of
the word.
 A lack of predictability as to where the
stress falls

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Factors that affect stress placement

The historical origin of a word

Affixation
The grammatical function of a word in an
utterance

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21
 Germanic languages
Scholars often divide the Germanic languages
into three groups:
• West Germanic
English, German, and Dutch
• North Germanic
Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, Norwegian
• The languages of the Vandals, Burgundians,
and a few other tribes.

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 Note
Many foreign-originated words have been
acquired through historical events (Norman
conquest), though the influences of Christian
religion and academia, which have done much
to secure the words of Greek and Latin origins
in the English language.

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• Video: Where did English come from - Claire
Bowern.mp4

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEaSxhcn
s7Y (0:24-1.50)

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Why are the origins of English words
important?
Stress placement in English words derives
from the colorful history of the language.
The longer a borrowed word has been in the
English language, the more likely it is that
this type of stress shift will occur.
E.g. GRAMmar (gramMAIRE- French)
CHOcolate (chocoLATe – Spanish)

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 Words with French origin
refuGEE questioNAIRE picturESQUE

mountaiNEER balLET balLOON

casSETTE bouTIQUE

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 For words of German origin, the first
syllable is typically stressed:

English German
FAther VATer
FINger FINger
SISter SCHWESTer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOfCzWaaWUo

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Factors that affect stress placement

The historical origin of a word

Affixation
The grammatical function of a word in an
utterance

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 Affixation: the process of adding an affix ( a prefix or
suffix)— to a word to create either a different form of
that word or a new word.

Affixes 29
 English inflectional affixes

Inflectional affixes are used to show some aspects

of the grammatical function of a word. 30
 Derivational affixes
Derivational affixes often change the part of
speech of a word.

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 Root, stem, base
• ‘Root’, ‘stem’ and ‘base’ are all terms
used to refer to the part of a word
that remains when affixes have been
removed.

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 A root
A root is a form which is not further
analyzable, either in terms of derivational or
inflectional morphology. It is that part of
word-form that remains when all affixes
have been removed.
Untouchables Un touch able s

*a member of a Hindu social class that was considered

by other classes to be the lowest
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 A root

Reaction? Re + act + ion

Inaudible? In + aud + ible
Wheelchair? wheel + chair

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 A root
A root is a form which is not further
analyzable, either in terms of derivational or
inflectional morphology. It is that part of
word-form that remains when all affixes
have been removed.
Untouchables Un touch able s

*a member of a Hindu social class that was considered

by other classes to be the lowest
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 A stem
• In the word ‘untouchables,’ the stem is
‘untouchable’
• In the word ‘touched,’ the stem is ‘touch’
• in the word ‘wheelchairs,’ the stem is
‘wheelchair.’

When we remove the grammatical affixes,

we have the stem.
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Root It is that part of word-form untouchables
that remains when all affixes (Un+touch+able+s)
have been removed.
A root cannot be further
analyzable.

Stem It is that part of word-form Untouchables

that remains when (untouchable+ s)
inflectional affixes have been
removed. .

A base is any form to

Base which affixes of any kind Untouchable
can be added.
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 A base
• A base is any form to which affixes of any
kind can be added. This means that any
root or any stem can be termed a base.
E.g. Untouchable (1)
touches (2)

Note: Not every base is a root.

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How affixes affect stress
placement

Affixes 39
 Some rules
1. Prefixes don’t generally affect the
stress placement.
Eg.
HEALthy - unHEALthy
poLITE - impoLITE

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 Exceptions
E.g. FOREarm, FOREcast, FOREthought,
FOREground, OUTlook, OUTline, OUTrage,
OVeralls, OVercoat, OVerdose, UNderwear,
UNderdog, Upshot, UPkeep, Upstart

 When a word with a prefix (e.g. fore-,

out-, over-, under-, up-) functions as a
noun, the prefix or its first syllable tends
to be strongly stressed. The noun receives
only light stress.
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Compare

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 Some rules
2. Suffixes
a. Suffixes carry primary stress themselves
b. Suffixes do not affect stress placement
c. Suffixes influence stress in the stem

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 SUFFIXES
a. Words with French suffixes tend to have the
stress on the final syllable.
-ee -aire -esque
refuGEE questioNAIRE picturESQUE
tuTEE millionAIRE statuESQUE
-eer -ese -oon
engiNEER VietnaMESE balLOON
mountaiNEER SudaNESE salLOON
-ette - ique - et/ey
casSETTE bouTIQUE balLET
kitchenETTE techNIQUE bouQUET

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 SUFFIXES
b. Suffixes that do not affect stress placement
- able (comfort- comfortable)
- age (anchor –anchorage)
- al ( refuse –refusal)
- en (wide- widen)
- ful ( wonder – wonderful)
- ing ( amaze –amazing)
- ish ( devil – devilish)
( More on chapter 11 – Complex word stress) 48
c. Suffixes can cause a shift of stress in the
stem word
Suffix Stem word Stem with suffix
- eous adVANtage advanTAgeous
- graphy PHOto phoTOGraphy
- ial PROVerb proVERBial
- ian PARis paRIsian
- ic CLImate CliMATic
- ical eCOLogy ecoLOGical
-ious INjure inJURious
- ity TRANquil tranQUILity
- ion EDucate eduCAtion

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A change of suffix not only brings about a shift
in stress but also a change in the accompanying
vowel, reduction or neutralization in the
unstressed syllables.
PHOtograph phoTOgraphy photoGRAphic
/ˈfəʊtəɡrɑːf/ /fəˈtɒɡrəfi/ /ˌfəʊtəˈɡræfɪk/

REalize reAlity reaLIStic

/ˈriːəlaɪz/ /riˈæləti/ /ˌriːəˈlɪstɪk/

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 Neutralization
*Note: Neutralization is the process when
a phonemic distinction disappears in a
particular phonological context.

• man vs. men

• postman vs. postmen /ˈpəʊstmən/

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 Some rules
2. Suffixes
a. Suffixes carrying primary stress themselves
b. Suffixes that do not affect stress placement
c. Suffixes that influence stress in the stem

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Factors that affect stress placement

The historical origin of a word

Affixation
The grammatical function of a word in
an utterance

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The grammatical function of a word in
an utterance
• Verbs
• Adjectives
• Nouns

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 Word-class pairs
• PROduce (n)- proDUCE (v)
• REbel (n) – reBEL (v)
• REcord (n) – reCORD (v)
• PERmit (n) – perMIT (v)
• PREsent (n)-(a) – preSENT (v)

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 Placement of the stress within the
word
• Simple words
• Complex words

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Simple words
1. decide (v) 8. Comprehend (v)
2. Equal (v) 9. examine (v)
3. Borrow (v) 10.Paradise (n)
4. Pretty (a) 11.Quality (n)
5. Design (v)
6. Honest (a) Simple words are not
7. Product (n) composed of more than
one grammatical unit.

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Complex words
1. Shop-keeper (n) 9. Javanese (a)
2. Fruitcake (n) 10. Confirmation (n)
4. Landlord (n) 11. Detective (a)
5. Two-sided (a)
6. Open-ended(a) Complex words are
7. Downtown (adv) composed of more than
8. Anti-clockwise one grammatical unit (base
+ affixes, compound words)

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Simple words

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 Verbs
Two- syllable verbs Examples
If the 2nd syllable is a strong apply, attract
syllable, that 2nd syllable is
stressed.

If the 2nd syllable is a weak enter, borrow

syllable or contains /əʊ/, the first
syllable is stressed

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 Verbs
Three- syllable verbs Examples
If the final syllable is strong, then entertain,
it will be stressed* resurrect
If the final syllable is weak, the Encounter ,
2nd syllable is strong, then the 2nd determine
syllable is stressed.
If the 3rd and the 2nd syllables are Parody
weak, then the 1st syllable carries
the stress.

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Two-syllable adjectives, adverbs,
prepositions generally follow the
same rules as two-syllable verbs.
E.g. lucky, quickly, under

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 Nouns
Two- syllable nouns Examples
If the 2nd syllable contains a short money,
vowel, then the stress is on the product
1st syllable.

If the 2nd syllable contains a long Balloon

vowel/dipthong, then the stress Design
is on the 2nd syllable.

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 Nouns
Three- syllable nouns Examples
If the 3rd syllable is weak or potato
contains /əʊ/, it is unstressed. If
the middle syllable is strong, the
middle syllable is stressed.
If the 3rd and the 2nd are both Quantity
weak, the first syllable is Cinema
stressed.
If the 3rd syllable is strong, the intellect
stress is still placed on the 1st
syllable. 64
• Three-syllable adjectives generally
follow the same rules as three-syllable
nouns.

E.g. beautiful, insolent

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 4 syllable words
Stress on the second syllable
aNNApolis
CoNNECticut
Stress on the third syllable
CaliFORnia
PennsylVAnia

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 Practice
• Exercise page 81

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 Note
• In most cases strong syllables are stressed.
• Weak syllables, syllables containing [əʊ] or
sometimes short vowels are not stressed.
• For 3- syllable nouns, if the 3rd syllable is
strong, the 1st syllable still carries the stress.
• There are always exceptions to every rule.

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 Compound words

( Chapter 11: Complex word stress- page 85)

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 Some rules
• Most compound nouns have stress on the 1st
word. (Exception: pedestrian ‘crossing, ball
‘bearing, thanks ‘giving)
• Compounds with adjective first element and
the ed-morpheme in the 2nd element have
stress on the 2nd element. E.g. bad-’tempered.
• Compounds in which the first element is a
number tend to have final stress.
E.g. three-’wheelers, second-’class

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 Some rules (cont.)
• Compounds functioning as adverbs are
usually final-stressed.
E.g. down’stream
• Compounds functioning as verbs and have an
adverbial element take final stress.
E.g. ill-treat, down-grade

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 Practice
Exercise page 88

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 Stress shift
Stress position may vary as a result of the stress on
other words occurring next to the word in
question.

E.g. bad-TEMpered
A BAD-tempered TEAcher
E.g. afternoon /ˌɑːftəˈnuːn/
afternoon tea [ˈɑːftə(ˌ)nuːn ˈtiː]

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 Stress shift
The syllable that had the primary stress is then
pronounced with secondary stress or losing
stress altogether
afternoon /ˌɑːftəˈnuːn/
afternoon tea /ˈɑːftəˌnuːn ˈtiː/

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Cases Examples
-ese adjectives She is ChiNESE.
A CHInese girl.
-un adjectives She is unHAPPy.
An UNhappy FEEling
Adverbs with adjectival She is nextDOOR.
use A NEXTdoor neighbor
Compound adjectives She is blueEYED.
A BLUEeyed girl
Numbers larger than 12 She’s nineTEEn
NINEteen people
Place BerLIN – BERlin police

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•BBC
•CNBC

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 More rules
• Two-, three- and four-letter abbreviations said as
individual letters often have main stress on the
last letter and secondary stress on the first.
E.g. The E’U, the U’K, the BB’C, the DN’A, the YMC’A
• Abbreviations like this usually have stress shift.
Compare:
E.g. He works for the BB’C. BUT He works for ‘BBC
Radio.
E.g. She’s from the U’K. BUT She’s a ‘UK Citizen.

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Accents and stress placement

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• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWJBAI
N89JY

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 Stress
• Characteristics of a stressed syllable
• Factors affecting stress
+ History
+ Affixation
+ Grammar
• Stress shift
• Stress in different accents

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 REVISION
1. What are the differences between a stressed and
unstressed syllable?
2. What are the factors influencing stress placement?
3. Name some of the prefixes that conventionally are
unstressed, and give examples.
4. Give an example of a word which has the stress pattern
changed when it is of different parts of speech, and
establish the rule.
5. Name some of the suffixes having no effect on the word
stress pattern, and give examples.
6. Name some of the suffixes that may receive strong
stress themselves, and give examples.
7. Name some of the suffixes causing a shift in the word
stress pattern, and give examples.
8. Establish the stress pattern rule of compound nouns,
and give examples.
Further reading (reference)

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 COMPOUND NOUNS
A compound noun is a fixed expression which is
made up of more than one word and which has
the function of a noun. Some are written as two
words, some with a hyphen (-) and some as one
word:
E.g. ‘Crash barrier / double-’glazing
‘babysister
* Some compound nouns have main stress on
the first part, and others have main stress on the
second part.

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 Compound noun
Have the main stress on the first part:
- Noun + Noun
- Noun + Ing form
- Ing form + Noun
- Verb + Noun
Have the main stress on the second part:
- Adjective + Noun

84
The following types of compound nouns
usually have main stress on the first part
1. Noun + Noun
E.g. Arms race; fire extinguisher; night-
time; lipstick ; airport ; poverty trap

Exception: town ‘hall; family 'doctor;

information technology

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Note: If the first part gives the material that the
second is made out of, main stress is usually on
the second part:
cotton ‘wool (but a ‘cotton plant)
Exceptions: Compounds ending with –cake, -
bread and –juice have the main stress on the
first word : ‘cheesecake, ‘gingerbread, ‘orange
juice

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The following types of compound nouns usually
have main stress on the first part:
2. Noun + Ing form
‘bird watching, ‘house-hunting, ‘fly-fishing
Exception: pedestrian ‘crossing, ball ‘bearing,
thanks ‘giving
3. Ing form + Noun
‘dressing gown ‘sitting room ‘freezing point
Exception: managing ‘director, defining
‘moment, casting ‘vote
87
The following types of compound nouns usually
have main stress on the first part
4. Verb + Noun
‘search party , con’trol tower , ‘think tank

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The following types of compound nouns usually
have main stress on the first part:
- Noun + Noun
- Noun + Ing form
- Ing form + Noun
- Verb + Noun

89
The following types of compound nouns usually
have main stress on the second part:

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 Most adjective + noun compound nouns
have the main stress on the second part (and
secondary stress on the first part.)
E.g. Social se‘curity; hot po‘tato; absolute ‘zero
Note that this includes:
- Adjective + -ing form : central ‘heating , global
‘warming, passive ‘smoking
- Past participle + noun: split in’finitive; inverted
‘comma, lost ‘property
Exceptions: blind spot, dental floss, easy chair,
broadband, greenhouse
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 Summary: Compound noun
The following types of compound nouns
usually have main stress on the first part:
- Noun + Noun
- Noun + Ing form
- Ing form + Noun
- Verb + Noun
The following types of compound nouns
usually have main stress on the second part:
- Adjective + Noun

92
 Compound adjectives
E.g. Skin-deep, long-term, threadbare

• A compound adjective is a fixed expression

which is made up of more than one word and
which has the function of an adjective.
• Most compound adjectives are written with a
hyphen, but a few are written as one word.

93
The following types of compound adjectives
usually have main stress on the first part:
1.Compound adjectives usually written as one
word
‘airtight; ‘carefree; ‘praiseworthy
Exceptions: nationwide, handmade
2. Noun + -ing form
‘ Hair-raising, ‘ free-paying, ‘ time-consuming
3. Noun + past- participle
‘ Poverty-stricken, ‘ pear-shaped, ‘health-
related
Exceptions: eagle- ‘eyed, home- ‘grown
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The following types of compound adjective
usually have main stress on the second part:
1 Noun + adjective
fat-’free, sky-’high, snow-’white
Exception: ‘camera-shy
2. Adjective + noun
Long-’term, full-’length, high-’profile
3. Adverb or adjective + past-participle
Fully-’grown, long-’sighted, well-’dressed

95
The following types of compound adjective
usually have main stress on the second part:
4. Adverb or adjective + -ing form
Easy-’going, hard-’working, well-’meaning
Exceptions: ‘backward-looking, ‘forward-looking
5. “self-” as the first part
Self-’confident, self-in’flicted, self-’governing

96
The following types of compound adjectives
usually have main stress on the first part:
1.Compound adjectives usually written as one
word
2. Noun + -ing form
3. Noun + past- participle
The following types of compound adjective
usually have main stress on the second part:
1 Noun + adjective
2. Adjective + noun
3. Adverb or adjective + past-participle
4. Adverb or adjective + -ing form
5. “self-” as the first part
97
 NOTE
Most compound adjectives with main stress on
the second part can have stress shift.
Compare:
The tiger was fully-GROWN But It was a FULly-
grown tiger.
The prices were sky-HIGH But They were SKY-
high PRIces.

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 Compare
• Noun compound:
E.g. The president lives in the WHITE House.
• Adjective + noun phrase:
E.g. John lives in a white HOUSE.

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Phrasal verb = Verb (verb head) + adverbial
particles and/ or prepositions

Phrasal verb Synonyms

Look at Regard
Look over Peruse
Talk about Discuss
Talk up Promote
Look out for Protect
Talk out of Dissuade

100
Preposition vs. adverbial particles
Talk about look up

• In formal registers, prepositions can be

fronted with the objects in Wh-questions
and relative clause.
Who are you talking about?
About whom are you talking?

101
Preposition vs. adverbial particles
Particles never allow such fronting in any
registers.
E.g. Look up
Up what word did you look? (wrong)
What word did you look up? ( correct)

102
 Rules
1. When phrasal verbs represent the last piece of
information in the predicate, the stress is on the
VERB head and the particle.
E.g. They were STANDing aROUND.
He RAN aWAY.
2. When there are some other content word
coming after the verb head and carries new
information, the content words are stressed. The
verbs and particles are only lightly stressed.
E.g. He tries on a COAT.
We put the DOG out.
He runs away with the MONey.
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• He runs away with it.
• He RUN aWAY with it.

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