Adjectives

Verbs

Roots

English word stress location

Although many longer words contain primary stressed syllables, secondary stressed syllables, and prominent syllables based on vowel quality alone, it is the position of the primary stress which contributes most to a word stress pattern. It is difficult to reduce the placement of primary stress in English to a set of rules because there are large numbers of exceptions to almost any rule. The following sections should therefore be regarded as stating tendencies rather than absolute rules.

Word stress in English is related to the segmental structure of the word. It is principally the status of the final syllable as strong or weak (together with grammatical class) which governs primary stress placement in English. Syllables are here counted as strong (heavy) when they contain a long vowel or diphthong or a short vowel plus two consonants; otherwise they are weak (light) (Gimson 1972:224).

English words may be divided into roots and affixes, including both suffixes and prefixes. Roots include not only single free morphemes like foot, begin but also that part of a word remaining after the affix has been removed, even though such a part cannot occur on its own, e.g. ephemeral, tremendous.

In order to decide on stress placement it is necessary to make use of the following factors:

(i) whether the word is morphologically simple, complex or compound; (ii) the grammatical category to which the word belongs (noun, verb,

adjective etc.); (iii) the number of syllables in the word; (iv) the phonological structure of those syllables (syllable weight).

Somewhat different tendencies apply to verbal, adjectival, and nominal roots. Among other word classes, adverbs are generally derived from adjectival roots with no alteration to the stress pattern, while the remaining classes rarely have more than one syllable which contains a strong stress.

If the final syllable is strong, it is stressed, e.g. relate [n'leit], arrive [a'raiv], occur [э'кз:], withstand [wiQ'staend], agree [a'gri:], involve [m'vrjlv].

Otherwise stress falls on the penultimate syllable, e.g. surrender [sz'renfo], punish ['рлпп*], develop [di'velap], imagine [I'maedsm].

Some exceptions:

• unstressed strong final syllables: recognize ['rekagnaiz], realize ['nalaiz];

• stressed weak final syllables: impress [im'pres], possess [pa'zes], forget [fa'get], permit [pa'mit].

If the final syllable is strong, it is stressed, e.g. mature [ma'tjua], afraid [a'freid], complete [kam'pli:t], abrupt [a'brApt].

Otherwise stress falls on the penultimate syllable, or (with reduced vowel on the penultimate) on the antepenultimate, e.g.

• penultimate: excessive [ik'sesrv],«>/«/ ['solid], confidential [кхтИАепЩ;

• antepenultimate: necessary ['nesasn], difficult ['difikalt], definite ['definit], marvellous ['ma:valas].

Some exceptions:

• strong final syllables, unstressed: tantamount ['taentamaont], important [im'palant], coherent [kau'hiarant], arrogant ['aeragant].

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