Complex
Word Stress
Nisrina Zatin Safira : F2B023025
Syahrul Setiawan Jody: F2B023035
CONTENTS :
• Complex Words
• Suffixes
• Prefixes
• Compound Words
• Variable Stress
• Word-Class Pairs
A complex word is a word made up of two
Complex
or more morphemes. It consists of one base
and one or more affixes, or compound
words consisting of two bases.
Word The word simple in ‘simple words’ means not
composed of more than one grammatical unit, so
that for example, the word “care” is simple while
“careful” and “careless” are complex since they
are composed of two grammatical units.
Complex words are of two major types:
1. Words made from a basic word form (stem or
root), with the addition of an affix.
2. Compound words, which are made of two or more
independent English words, such as “ice cream” or
“armchair”.
Suffixes Exceptions :
There are so many English suffixes, but we deal only with those Com-mit-tee
which are common and productive, those that can be applied to a ‘eer’ / ier /
considerable number of stems and could be applied to more to En-gi-neer
make new English words. Vol-un-teer
‘ese’ / i:z /
-Suffixes can have effect on stress pattern in three possible ways Chi-nese
1.) Suffixes carrying the primary stress themselves: Jap-a-nese
In an example of ‘personality’, the primary stress is on the first ‘esque’ / esk
syllable of the suffix. If the stem consists of more than one /
syllable, there will be a secondary stress on one of the syllables of Pic-tur-esque
the stem. In this case the secondary stress cannot fall on the last ‘ique’ / i:k /
syllable of that stem, but moves to the first syllable. An-tique
Tech-nique
‘ee’ , ‘eer’ , ‘ese’ , ‘esque’ , ‘ique’ , and ‘ette’ are common suffixes
‘ette’ / et /
borrowed from French. They carry the primary stress themselves
Cig-a-rette
Cas-sette
2.) Suffixes that do not affect stress placement
Suffixes starting with a vowel :
‘able’- dependable
‘age’- orphanage
‘al’- refusal
Suffixes starting with a consonant :
‘ful’- wonderful
‘less’- powerless
‘wise’- otherwise.
3.) Suffixes that influence stress in the stem
In these examples primary stress is on the last syllable of
the stem.
'-eous': 'advantage‘ /ədˈvɑːntɪdʒ/ ; 'advantageous'
/ædvənˈteɪdʒəs/
'-graphy': 'photo' /ˈfəʊtəʊ/ ; 'photography' /fəˈtɒɡrəfi/ Examples :
Regarding suffixes like '-ance', '-ant', and '-ary' stress Guidance /ˈɡaɪdns/
single-syllable stems, but stress on one syllable in stems Importance /ɪmˈpɔːtns/
with multiple syllables, with strong final syllables receiving Military /ˈmɪlɪtri/
stress.
Prefixes
The effect of prefixes on stress does not have the comparative
regularity, independence and predictability of suffixes. There is no
prefix of one or two syllables that always carries primary stress
(there is no specific prefix that can always carry the primary stress).
Examples:
Antifreeze /ˈæntɪfriːz /
Impossible /ɪmˈpɒsɪb(ə)l/
Overreact /əʊvərɪˈækt/
Compound Word
Compound words is a combination of two or more words that function
as a single unit of meaning
example
mailbox, it’s a compound words made of two nouns put together
“mail” and “box” the two words go together to from a new word
with a different meaning, “mailbox”
In compound word, there are words that have different emphases
• compounds with an adjectival first element
Example
bad-’tempered
half-’timbered
heavy-’handed
Compound Word
• Compound in which the first element is a number in some form
also tend to have final stress.
Example
three-’wheele
second-’class
five-’finger
• Compound functioning as adverbs are usually final-stressed:
Example
head-’first
North-’East
Down’stream
Variable Stress
Stress position may vary for one of two reasons: either as a result of
the stress on other words occurring next to the word in question, or
because not all speakers of RP agree on the placement of stress in
some words.
Example
bad-’tempered but a ‘bad-tempered ‘teacher
half-’timbered but a ‘half-timbered ‘house
heavy-’handed but a ‘heavy-handed ‘sentence
Word-Class Pairs
There are several dozen pairs of two-syllable words with identical
spelling which differ from each other in stress placement, apparently
according to word class (noun, verb or adjective). All appear to
consist of preix + stem.the other is either a noun or an adjective, the
stress will be placed on the second syllable of the verb but on the
first syllable of the noun or adjective. Some common examples are
given below (V= verb, A=adjective, N=noun):
Example
"abstract' 'æbstrækt (A), æb'strækt (V) 'conduct' 'kondakt (N),
kən'dakt (V) 'contract' 'kontrekt (N), kən'trækt (V) contrast"
'kontra:st (N), kən'tra:st (V) 'desert' 'dezət (N), dr'z3:t (V)
any question
thank you
