WORDS WITH PREFIXES

As a general rule, words containing prefixes tend to be stressed on the first syllable of the base or root element, with the prefix either unstressed or having secondary stress [Celce-Murcia et a1 1996:134]. In English, prefixes into one of two categories:

WORDS WITH SUFFIXES. We can identify three types of suffixes, from the point of view stress :

STRESS IN COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES. Compounds are composed of more than ore root morpheme but function grammatically and/or semantically as a single word. Compounds may be written as one word, e.g. dishwasher, or with a hyphen, e.g. user- friendly, or with a space between the two elements, e.g. season ticket. There is no systematic practice in the choice among these three ways, although there is a tendency for compounds with primary stress on the first element to be written as one word or with a hyphen, and for those with the primary stress on the final element to be written as two words.

When an adjective modifies the following noun, they make a phrase, and typically, they have a late stress, i.e. the second word has more stress than the first, e.g.ˌpolished 'wood, ,interesting 'book, ˌrunning 'water, ˌhard 'work, ˌdifficult 'course.

There are some guidelines for defining stress placement in compounds and phrases:

1)Compounds typically have early stress, the first element is more stressed than the second: 'firewood, 'library book, 'running shoes, 'homework, 'correspondence course.

Early stressis usual in compounds in which:

· the two elements are written as one word: 'headline, 'screwdriver; 'laptop, ׳laptop, ׳lifestyle.

· expressions consisting of NOUN+NOUN: 'picture frame, 'child abuse, 'theme park, 'tape measure.

· expressions consisting of Adjective+NOUN, N’s+N, N+V, N+Ving: 'batting average, 'bull's eye, 'crow's nest, 'landfill, 'ear-splitting, 'job-sharing,

· phrasal and prepositional verbs used as nouns: 'burn -out , 'lay-off, 'melt-down, 'set-up.

Late stress is usual in the following compounds as if they were phrases:

· when the first element is the material or ingredient out of which the thing is made: ֽcherry 'pie, ֽpork 'chop, ֽrice 'pudding, ֽbanana 'split, except for CAKE, JUICE and WATER: these have normal early stress: 'carrot cake, 'orange juice, 'mineral water.

· the first element is a proper name: ֽEuston 'Road, the ֽHilton 'Hotel, ֽOxford 'Circus, except for STREET: these have normal early stress: 'Oxford Street, 'Eastern .Street.

· the first element names a place or time: ֽcity 'centre, ֽtown 'hall, ֽsummer 'holiday, ֽEaster 'bunny, ֽChristmas 'pudding, morning 'paper, office 'party, kitchen 'sink.

· when both N1I and N2 are equally referential: acid'rain, aroma 'therapy, fridge 'freezer;

· when N1 is a value: 100 per cent 'effort, dollar 'bill, pound 'note.

Compound adjectives divide fairly evenly between those with initial primary stress: 'seasick, 'hen-pecked, 'ladylike, and those with final stress: deep-'seated, rent-׳free, skin deep, sky-׳blue.

Sometimes the same sequence of words can make a phraseor a compound. Here the late or early stress distinguishes them: