Pronunciation of Suffixes
or word endings:
The
plural form in written English with an s has three distinct sounds:
/s/ cups 
/z/ cubs
/iz/ horses, benches
Rule 1
When
a word ends in a voiceless sound as in /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/ the s that follows is
sounded as /s/:
Tap - taps
/s/
Pet - pets
/s/
Book - books
/s/
Rule 2
When a word ends in a voiced sound as in /b/, /d/, /g/ the s is
sounded as /z/:
Bag - bags
/z/
Tub - tubs
/z/
Kid - Kids
/z/
Rule 3
The plural morpheme /s/ or any word ending in s is sounded as /iz/
with words ending in s, z, dz, tò. It is applicable to
verbs too.
Bus - buses
/iz/
Bench - benches
/iz/
Bridge - bridges
/iz/
Wish - wishes
/iz/
/s/ sound
represented by
s - seek,
case
ss - essay,
pass
sc - science,
scene
c - cement,
cease
/z/ is
presented by
s - please,
cousin
ss - scissors,
dresses
z - zeal,
amaze
zz - puzzle,
dazzle
x - exact,
examination
Past tense form ending with the inflection ‘d’ has three distinct
sounds:
bag - bagged
/d/ 
wash - washed
/t/
add - added
/id/
Rule 1
If a verb ends in a voiced sound, its past tense has the /d/ sound
at the end:
bagged /d/
clubbed /d/
lived /d/
Rule 2
If a verb ends in a voiceless sound, its past tense has the /t/
sound at the end:
washed /t/
looked
/t/
stopped /t/
Rule 3
If a verb ends in /t/ or /d/ its past tense has the /id/ sound at
the end:
want - wanted /id/ state - stated
/id/
add - added /id/ wade - waded /id/
WORD
ACCENT / STRESS
Introduction
Word stress is a very important feature
of spoken English. Words are made up of
sounds. The words two /tu:/ and see /si:/ are made up of two sounds each. The
words cat /kaet/ and back /baek/ are made up of three sounds each. The words
sent /sent/ and build /bIld/ are made up of four sounds each. The common
feature of all these words is that they are all monosyllabic words.
SYLLABLE:
Syllable is the smallest unit of word which can be pronounced at a time or
without stopping in between, which contains an vowel sound.
If a word
has more than one syllable, all the syllables are not equally prominent: one of
the syllables is more prominent than the others. For example, the word Doc-tor
is made up of two syllables: Doc and
tor but only the first
syllable Doc is
stressed as it is more prominent than tor.
It implies that a syllable is made up
of a vowel and optionally consonant(s).
Consonant Clusters
A syllable must have a vowel, and zero,
one, or more consonants before the vowel or after it. When a sequence of two or
more consonants occurs either before or after a vowel in a single syllable, it
is known as a ‘Consonant Cluster’. Consonant clusters occur initially and
finally. Consonant clusters occurred initially are called initial consonant
clusters, if it occurs finally they are called final consonant clusters.
Initial Consonant Clusters:
Two-Consonant Clusters
/pl-/
plan, plot, place /fl-/
flask, flew, flap
/pr-/
pray, prize, proud /fr-/ free, fresh, fry
/kl-/
clean, club, climb /sp-/ speak, spend, spy,
/bl-/
blue, blink, blot /sm-/ small, smile, smoke
Three-Consonant Clusters
/spl-/
splash, spleen, split
/spr-/
spring, sprout, spray
/str-/
strong, strike, stroll
/skr-/
screen, scrub, scratch
/skw-/
squash, square, squint
Final Consonant Clusters:
Two-Consonant Clusters
/-pt/
kept, wrapped, slept /-gd/
mugged, begged
/-ks/
works, shocks, fox /-ft/
craft, coughed, laughed
/lk/
milk, silk, sulk /-bd/
rubbed, clubbed
Three-Consonant Clusters:
/-pts/
adopts, erupts /-lkt/
milked, sulked
/-kts/
facts, ducts /-lvd/
shelved
/-kst/
fixed, next /-lvz/
wolves
/-mpt/
tempt, prompt /-lks/
silks
Four-Consonant Clusters:
/-mpts/
prompts /-lfqs/
twelfths
/-mpst/
glimpsed /-ksqs/
sixths
/-ksts/
texts
/-lpts/
sculpts
Stress in English Words
Stress
in English words is fixed, i.e., the stress always falls on a particular
syllable in a given word. For example,
in the word miserable,
the stress is on the first syllable, i.e., mis, whether the word is said in isolation or in connected
speech. But at the same time, stress in
English words is free, i.e., it is not tied to any particular syllable in the
chain of syllables constituting the word.
For example, English words can be stressed on the first syllable as in ‘miserable, on the second syllable as in a’gree,
on the third syllable as in under’stand and so on.
The syllable that which receives
highest degree of prominence in a word is said to have the primary accent / stress. Any other prominent syllable which receives
prominence next to primary accent / stress is said to have secondary accent. Primary accent is marked with a vertical bar
above and in front of the syllable to which it refers. Secondary accent is marked with a vertical
bar below and in front of the syllable.
For example, in the following words:
,after’noon
,cigar’ette
,repre’sent
The primary stress is on the last
syllable and the secondary stress is on the first syllable. When such words are
used in connected speech, pitch movement can be initiated only on the
syllables, which have primary stress.
RULES
OF WORD STRESS:
Here are a few rules of word
stress. These will help one locate
stress in words.
Functional shift of stress:
There
are a number of words of two syllables in which the accentual pattern depends
on whether the word is used as a noun, an adjective or a verb. When the word is used as a noun or an
adjective, the stress is on the first syllable. When the word is used as a
verb, the stress is on the second syllable.
Here are a few examples:
Noun
/ Adjective Verb
‘absent ab’sent
‘object ob’ject
‘subject sub’ject
‘project pro’ject
‘Progress pro’gress
‘Decrease De’crease
Words
with prefixes / suffixes: their stress patterns
Here we discuss words with
prefixes / suffixes in terms of their stress patterns.
a) Verbs of
two syllables beginning with the prefix dis- are stressed on the last syllable.
dis’arm dis’may
dis’band dis’pel
b) Verbs of two
syllables
Verbs of two syllables ending in –ate, -ise/-ize, -ct are
stressed on the last syllable.
nar’rate cap’size
at’tract chas’tise
c) Words
ending in ‘ion, -ic, -ical, -ically, -ially, -ian, -ious, -eous
i) Words
ending in –ion have the stress on the penultimate (i.e., the last but one)
syllable.
-ion
appli’cation civili’zation
compo’sition ‘question
ii) Words ending in
–ic/-ical/ically, -ial/-ially, -ian have the stress on the syllable preceding
the suffix.
-ic
apolo’getic sympa’thetic
e’lectric patri’otic
-ical
-ically
apolo’getical apolo’getically
-ial -ian
me’morial lib’rarian
of’ficial mu’sician
iii) Words ending in
–ious, -eous have the stress on the penultimate (i.e., the last but one)
syllable
-ious -eous
‘anxious ‘piteous
in’dustrious cou’rageous
d) Words ending
in –ate, -ise,/-ize, -fy, -ity, -cracy, -crat, -graph, -graphy,
-meter, -logy
-meter, -logy
i) Words
of more than two syllables ending in –ate, -ise/-ize, -ify are stressed on the
ante-penultimate syllable (i.e., third from the end).
-ate -ise, ize -ify
‘complicate ‘colonise ‘justify
ar’ticulate mo’nopolize ‘classify
ii) Words
ending in –ity, -cracy, -crat, -graph, -graphy, -meter, -logy have the stress
on the ante-penultimate syllable (i.e., third from the end).
-ity -cracy -crat
a’bility au’tocracy ‘autocrat
elec’tricity de’mocracy ‘democrat
iii) Words
ending in –graph, -graphy, -meter, -logy have the stress on the
ante-penultimate syllable (i.e., third from the end).
-graph -graphy -meter -logy
‘autograph pho’tography ther’mometer psy’chology
‘paragraph spec’trography lac’tometer bi’logy
iv) Words ending
in –ain, -aire, -eer, -enta, -ential, -ese, -esce, -escence, -escent, -esque,
-ique, -it is, -ee, -ette, -ete, -ade have the stress on the suffix.
–ain
-aire -eer -ental,
Ob’tain millio’naire engi’neer experi’mental
Main’tain question’naire volun’teer acci’dental
Ascer’tain marke’teer pa’rental
Re’frain car’eer inci’dental
–ential
-ese -esce -escence,
Exis’tential bur’mese coa’lesce effer’vescence
Provi’dential chi’nese conva’lesce ado’lescence
–ee
-ette -ete -ade,
Pay’ee eti’quette de’lete barri’cade
Absen’tee ga’zette com’plete de’grade
e) Stress
Shift
Stress shift is quite normal in
derivatives. Here are a few examples :
a’cademy
aca’demic acade’mician
‘photograph pho’tographer photo’graphic
‘politics po’litical poli’tician
Here we have given you a few rules for marking stress in
English. We have also discussed
functional shift of stress. Please
remember these rules of stress are very useful for you to be able to pronounce
English words correctly.
