This document discusses complex word stress in English. It covers several types of complex words formed from affixes or compounds. For words with affixes, the affix may receive primary stress, stress remains on the stem, or stress shifts within the stem. Common suffixes are discussed, some carry their own stress while others do not affect stress placement. Prefixes do not regularly carry or shift stress in predictable ways. Compound words may be stressed on the first or second element depending on the word class. Variable stress can occur in connected speech or between dialects. Word-class pairs with identical spelling but different stress include noun/verb pairs where the verb is stressed on the second syllable and the noun/adjective on the first.

1. CHAPTER 11
COMPLEX WORD
STRESS
NOR SYAHIRAH BT NORIZAN
NURUL HAZWANI BT MAT SAYUTI

2. 11.1 Complex words
• Two major types:
- Basic word form (stem) + affix
- Compound words ( two / more independent English words)  e.g.: ice-cream,
armchair
• Words + affixes
- Prefixes  prefix ‘un’ + stem ‘pleasant’ = ‘unpleasant’
- Suffixes  stem ‘good’ + suffix ‘-ness’ = ‘goodness’
• Affixes have 1 of 3 possible effects on word stress:
- The affix itself receives the primary stress  e.g.: semicircle, personality
- The word is stressed as if the affix were not there  e.g.: unpleasant,
marketing
- The stress remains on the stem, not the affix, but is shifted to a different
syllable  e.g.: magnetic

3. 11.2 Suffixes
• Common and productive
• Distinguish between a stem (remains when affixes are removed) and a root ( the
smallest piece of lexical material that a stem can be reduced to)
- e.g.: ‘personality’
• Suffixes carrying primary stress themselves
- e.g.: ‘refugee’, ‘volunteer’, ‘cigarette’, ‘picturesque’
• Suffixes that do not affect stress placement
- e.g.: ‘comfortable’, ‘anchorage’, ‘powerless’, ‘glorify’
• Suffixes that influence stress in the stem
- e.g.: ‘photography’, ‘climatic’, ‘perfection’, ‘reflexive’
- Primary stress is on the last syllable

4. • Suffixes ‘-ance’, ‘-ant’, ‘-ary’ (e.g.: ‘guidance’, ‘sealant’, ‘ dietary’) + single-syllable
stems  the stress is almost placed on the stem
• The stem has > 1 syllable  the stress is on 1 of the syllables in the stem
- Use a rule based on syllable structure  Chapter 10
• If the final syllable of the stem is strong, that syllable receives the stress
- e.g.: ‘importance’, ‘centenary’
• Otherwise the syllable before the last one receives the stress
- e.g.: ‘inheritance’, ‘military’

5. 11.3 Prefixes
• Effect on stress does not have the comparative regularity,
independence and predictability of suffixes
• No prefix of one / two syllables that always carries primary stress
• Stress in words with prefixes is governed by the same rules as those
for polysyllabic words without prefixes

6. 11.4 COMPOUND WORDS
Written forms:
One word
•Eg: armchair, sunflower
Two words separated by a space
•Eg: desk lamp, battery charger
With hyphen
•Eg: gear-change, fruit-cake

7. When is primary stress placed
on the first constituent word of
the compound & when on the
second?

8. Stress on the first
element
•Compound of 2 nouns:
Eg: ‘typewriter, ‘car-ferry, ‘sunrise,
‘suitcase, ‘tea-cup.
•It is safest to assume that normally the
other compounds also fall in this way,
however, a variety of compounds – the
second element.

9. Stress on the second element
•Compounds with
First element : adjectival
Second element : the –ed morpheme
Eg: bad-’tempered, half-’timbered, heavy-’handed
•Compounds which
First element : number
Eg: three-’wheeler, second-’class, five-’finger
•Compounds functioning as adverbs:
Eg: head-first, North-’East, down’stream
•Compounds functioning as verbs
First element: adverbial
Eg: down-’grade, back-’pedal, ill-’treat

10. 11.5 VARIABLE STRESS
• Stress pattern (English) – not fixed & changing
• Reasons - variable of stress position:
 Stress on other words occurred next to the word in
questions (connected speech- CH 14)
The stress on a final-stressed compound tends to move
to a preceding syllable if the following word begins with a
strongly stressed syllable.
bad-’tempered  a ‘bad-tempered ‘teacher
half-’timbered,  a ‘half-timbered ‘house
heavy-’handed  a ‘heavy-handed ‘sentence

11. Not all speakers agree on the placement of stress in
some words
Different pronunciation:
• Controversy
• Ice-cream
• Kilometre
• Formidable

12. 11.6 WORD-CLASS PAIRS
• 2 syllable words – identical spelling but differ from each other
in stress placement, apparently according to word class (noun,
verb, or adjective)
• RULE! :
IF A PAIR OF PREFIX + STEM WORDS EXISTS, BOTH
MEMBERS OF WHICH ARE SPELT IDENTICALLY, ONE OF
WHICH IS A VERB AND THE OTHER OF WHICH IS EITHER A
NOUN OR AN ADJECTIVE, THEN THE STRESS IS PLACED
ON THE SECOND SYLLABLE OF THE VERB BUT ON THE FIRST
SYLLABLE OF THE NOUN OR ADJECTIVE.

13. • For example:
Abstract
Conduct
Contract
Desert
Escort
Esport
Import