The Importance of Word Stress
16
Prator Robinett, 1972, p. 18. Prator Robinett 1972, p. 18 note that the noun is stressed on the first syllable and the verb on the second, e.g.
the word conduct is pronounced [
ˈkɒndʌkt
] as a noun and pronounced [
kənˈdʌkt
] as a verb, the word export is pronounced [
ˈekspɔːt
] as a noun and pronounced [
ɪkˈspɔːt
] as a verb, the word survey is pronounced [
ˈsɜːveɪ
] as a noun and pronounced [
səˈveɪ
] as a verb, and many other examples. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the word class or part of
speech of the stressed words. On the other hand, Gimson 1962, p. 229 notes that “several
disyllables do not conform to the general nounverb accentual pattern distinction or exhibit instability”, e.g. comment [
ˈkɒment
] for both noun and verb, contact [
ˈkɒntækt
] noun and [
ˈkɒntækt
], [
kɒnˈtækt
], or [
kənˈtækt
] verb, detail [
ˈdiːteɪl
] noun and [
ˈdiːteɪl
] or [
diːˈteɪl
] verb, etc. Therefore, the rule is sometimes unpredictable. Moreover, Gimson 1962,
p. 230 also states that “words containing more than two syllables also exhibit distinctive accentual patterns”, e.g. attribute noun:
ˈætrɪbjuːt
, verb:
əˈtrɪbjuːt
, interchange noun:
ˈɪntətʃeɪndʒ
, verb:
ˌɪntəˈtʃeɪndʒ
, invalid noun:
ˈɪnvəlɪd
, adjective:
ɪnˈvælɪd
, verb:
ˈɪnvəlɪd
, etc. 2 Stress and Derivation
Generally, when a suffix is added to a word, the new form is stressed on the same syllable as was the basic word, e.g. abandon
[
əˈbændən
], abandonment [
əˈbændənmənt
]; happy [
ˈhæpi
], happiness [
ˈhæpinəs
]; reason [
ˈriːzn
], reasonable [
ˈriːznəbl
] Syafei, 1988, p. 25;
17
Prator Robinett, 1972, p. 19. Words that end in -tion, -sion, -ic, -ical, - ity, and -graphy almost always have primary stress on the syllable
preceding the ending Prator Robinett, 1972, p. 19, e.g. production [
prəˈdʌkʃn
], decision
[
dɪˈsɪʒn
], scientific
[
ˌsaɪənˈtɪfɪk
], biological
[
ˌbaɪəˈlɒdʒɪkl
], ability [
əˈbɪləti
], photography [
fəˈtɒɡrəfi
] Syafei, 1988, p. 26. Therefore, the addition of one of those suffixes may result in a shift of
accent or stress, e.g. contribute [
kənˈtrɪbjuːt
], contribution [
ˌkɒntrɪˈbjuːʃn
]; economy [
ɪˈkɒnəmi
], economic [
ˌiːkəˈnɒmɪk
]; biology [
baɪˈɒlədʒi
], biological [
ˌbaɪəˈlɒdʒɪkl
]; public [
ˈpʌblɪk
], publicity [
pʌbˈlɪsəti
] Prator Robinett, 1972, p. 19.
Other linguists, Delahunty Garvey 2003, give some general rules about how suffixes influence the stress placement:
a Some suffixes do not affect stress placement. These include the syllabic inflections -er, -est, -es [
ə
z], -ed [
ə
d], and the
derivational suffixes -ly and -ite: smallsmaller, talltallest, horsehorses, patpatted, wifewifely, TrotskyTrotskyite,
LuddLuddite p. 5. b A few suffixes take the word’s main stress: bombardier,
engineer, Mouseketeer, musketeer, racketeer, privateer,
amputee, devotee, divorcee, employee, refugee p. 5.
c However, in most cases the addition of a suffix forces the stress
to move, such as: democrat – democratic – democracy, e
mpathy – empathic, empathy – empathetic, sympathy –