Segments and suprasegments in English Universidad San Sebastin Professor: Marcelo Andrade

Stress syllables are recognised as stressed because they are

more prominent than the unstressed syllables, but

What makes a syllable prominent?

There are four factors

to consider

Loudness
In a sequence of identical syllables (e.g. ba: ba: ba: ba:

ba:) , if one syllable is louder than the others, it will be heard as stressed.

Length
If one of the syllables in the sequence of identical

syllables (e.g. ba: ba: ba: ba: ba:) one of them is made longer, there is a tendency to hear it as stressed.

Pitch
If all syllables are said with a low pitch and one with a

high pitch, this one will be heard as stressed.

Vowel quality
If one of the syllables in the sequence of identical

syllables (e.g. ba: ba: ba: ba: ba:) one of them is made longer, there is a tendency to hear it as stressed.

Stress in simple words

The first syllable of a word is stressed if the second

syllable contains a short vowel sound, only one or no consonants or the sound /@U/

The second syllable of a word is stressed if it contains a

long vowel sound, diphthong or more than one consonant.

What syllables are stressed in these words? Why?

Captain
Paper

Detest
Menace protect

disaster cinema emperor quantity

Complex words are of two types:

Words made from a basic word (which we call the

stem) with the addition of an affix and,

Compound words, which are usually made of two (or

occasionaly more) independent English words (icecream, armchair)

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 Some words are made of a prefix and a root:

prefix dis like root

Common prefixes include: de- : degrade, deflect, defraud

dis- : discolour, discourage, disintegrate

il- : illegal, illegible, illiterate

re-: reclaim, refresh, replace

un-: uneasy, unpack, unwise

 Some words beginning with re- have the same spelling

but a different stress and meaning depending on whether re- means again or not. recover recount reform remark resort resign

Prefixes that carry the stress

sub-: subway, subsection, subsoil, subtext.
co- : co-driver, co-writer, co-star

counter-: counterpart, counterclock, counterattack

hyper-: hyperspace, hyperlink, hypertext inter-: internet, interface, interchange

super-: supermarket, superstructure, supermodel

under-: underground, undergrowth, underwear

 However, some words with this prefix carry the

primary stress on the root: sub-: subconscious, substandard, subtropical. co- : co-education. cooperate, co-exist counter-: counterproductive, countermand hyper-: hyperactive, hypersensitive, hypercritical inter-: interactive, intercontinental, interchangeable super-: supernatural, superabundant, superimpose under-: underage, undercover, underline

Suffixes that do not affect stress placement:

-able: comfort; comfortable
-age: anchor; anchorage

-al: music; musical

-en: wide; widen -ful: beauty; beautiful

-ing: amaze; amazing

-ish: child; childish

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 -like: bird; birdlike

Less: power; powerless

-ly: quick; quickly

-ment: punish, punishment -ness: yellow; yellowness

-ous: poison; poisonous

-fy: glory; glorify

-wise: other; otherwise

-y. (adjective or noun) fun; funny
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Suffixes that carry primary stress themselves

-ee: refuge; refugee
-eer: mountain, mountaineer

-ese: Japan; Japanese

-ette: cigar; cigarette -esque: picture, picturesque

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Suffixes that influence stress in the stem:

-eous: advantage; advantageous
-graphy: photo; photography

-ial: proverb: proverbial

-ic: history; historic -ion: perfect; perfection

-ious: injure; injurious

-ty: tranquil, tranquility

-ive: reflex; reflexive

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Compound words
Stress on first syllable

Two nouns: suitcase, sunrise, tea-cup, bookshop This happens when the first word tells the kind of thing it is: Current account, headache, teaspoon

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 Another important type of compounds is formed by

the combination of adjectives and nouns. Normally , when a noun is preceded by an adjective, both are stressed. However, when this combination constitutes a specific long-established compound, the first component tends to carry the primary accent, as in the following examples:

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 blackberry
grandfather

folk music
greengrocer swimming pool

shopping centre

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 Double-accented compounds occur when: a) The first noun indicates the position of the second

one, as in: country-house, kitchen cupboard

a) The second noun is made of the first one, as in:

apple sauce, olive oil.

b) Other common noun+noun compounds are:

Mother tongue, city centre, science fiction, ground floor, shop window,
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 Common adjective+noun compounds with double

stress: common sense, civil war, Prime Minister, vicious circle, best seller, barbed wire, falling star, developing country.

Common noun+adjective compounds: brand new, navy blue, snow white, world wide.

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