An investigation on word stress errors commonly made by third year english major students at hanoi pedagogical university n02 and some suggested solutions

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY N02
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY

DOANH THI HONG CHUYEN

AN INVESTIGATION ON WORD STRESS ERRORS
COMMONLY MADE BY THE THIRD YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR
STUDENTS AT HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY N02 AND
SOME SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI HA ANH, M.A

HANOI, 2016


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor, Mrs.
Nguyen Thi Ha Anh, M.A., for her valuable instructions, advice, suggestions,
as well as encouragement.
In addition, I would like to thank the teachers in the Foreign Language
Faculty for their helpful suggestions and comments. Furthermore, I would like
to acknowledge my gratitude towards the K39 English major students for their
participation in the test survey and recording.
And I would like to thank all my friends who always encourage and
support me to finish my thesis.
Lastly, I own a debt of gratitude to my family for their encouragement
and endless support.

ABSTRACT

It cannot be denied that word stress is one of the essential factors in
Phonetic and Phonology. Word stress is frequently used in speaking to help
people communicate effectively. Stress is put on the main syllable, so it helps
listeners distinguish words which have similar form and understand the
speaker’s purpose. However, it is hard for learners to remember all the stress
rules.
The subjects of the research were K39 English Bachelor and K39 English
Pedagogy at Hanoi Pedagogical University N02. Because the third year English
major students often make errors when they speak, this research work focused
on analysis common errors in the pronunciation of word stress and aimed to
help the students pronounce more effectively.
The author used test survey and recording method to find out the errors
and suggested some solutions to improve that situation.


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Title: An investigation on word stress errors commonly made by the third
year English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N02 and some
suggested solutions
I certify that no part of this thesis has been copied from other author’s
works without acknowledgement and this thesis is written by me under the
instructions from my supervisor.

Date submitted: May 2016
Student

Supervisor

DOANH THI HONG CHUYEN

NGUYEN THI HA ANH, M.A


TABLE OF CONTENT

PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
I. Rationales of the study ...................................................................................1
II. Research objectives .......................................................................................2
III. Research presupposition ..............................................................................2
IV. Research scope ............................................................................................2
V. Research methods .........................................................................................3
VI. Significance of the proposed research .........................................................3
VII. Organization of the research work .............................................................3

PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
I.1. Literature review in brief .............................................................................5
I.2. Definition of pronunciation .........................................................................6
I.3. Aspects of pronunciation .............................................................................6
I.4. Factors that affect pronunciation learning ...................................................8
I.4.1. The native language ............................................................................8
I.4.2. The age factor ......................................................................................8
I.4.3. Amount of exposure ............................................................................8
I.4.4. Phonetic ability ....................................................................................9
I.4.5. Attitude and identity ............................................................................9

I.4.6. Motivation and concerns for good pronunciation ...............................9
I.5. Concepts of English word stress .................................................................9
I.5.1. Basic concepts related to English syllables.........................................9


I.5.2. Definition of English word stress ........................................................10
I.5.3. Nature of stress and levels of stress ....................................................11
I.5.4. Function of stress ................................................................................12
I.5.5. Placement of stress ..............................................................................12
I.5.5.1. Two-syllable words .....................................................................13
I.5.5.2. Three-syllable words and more than three-syllable words .........14
I.5.5.2.1. With verbs ...........................................................................14
I.5.5.2.2. With nouns ..........................................................................14
I.5.5.2.3. With adjective .....................................................................15
I.5.5.3. Complex words ...........................................................................15
I.5.5.3.1. Suffixes and prefixes...........................................................14
I.5.5.3.2. Compound words ................................................................17
I.5.5.4. Word-class pairs ..........................................................................17
I.6. Concepts of sentence tress ...........................................................................18
I.7. How to pronounce English effectively ........................................................18
CHAPTER TWO
THE STUDY
II.1 Survey..........................................................................................................22
II.1.1. Purpose of the survey ..............................................................................22
II.1.2. Population of the survey .........................................................................22
II.1.3. Form of the survey ..................................................................................23
II.1.4. Construction of the test ...........................................................................23
II.1.5. Preparation of the survey ........................................................................24
II.1.5.1. Test items ........................................................................................24
II.1.5.2. Arrangement of the test items .........................................................24

II.1.6. Data analysis procedures .........................................................................25
II.2. Recording ...................................................................................................26


II.2.1.Purpose of recording ................................................................................26
II.2.2. Population of recording ..........................................................................26
II.2.3. Construction of recording paper .............................................................26
II.2.4. Preparation of recording ..........................................................................26
II.2.4.1. Recording paper ..............................................................................26
II.2.4.2. Arrangement of the recording paper ...............................................26
II.2.5. Data analysis procedures .........................................................................27
II.3. Common errors in the placing English word stress and causes .................27
II.3.1. Results of the survey ...............................................................................27
II.3.2. Common errors in the placing English word stress and causes ..............29
II.3.2.1. Errors and causes in putting stress on three-syllable verbs ............29
II.3.2.2. Errors and causes in putting stress on the mixture of both two and
three-syllable words ......................................................................................30
II.3.2.3. Errors and causes in placing stress on the syllable of two-syllable
adjectives ......................................................................................................31
II.3.2.4. Errors and causes in putting stress on the mixture of three-syllable
words and more than three-syllable words ...................................................31
II.3.2.5. Errors and causes in placing stress on the syllable of two-syllable
nouns .............................................................................................................32
II.3.2.6. Errors and causes in putting stress on three-syllable and more than
three – syllables nouns ..................................................................................32
II.3.2.7. Errors and causes in distinguishing part of speech based on stress of
two-syllable words ........................................................................................32
II.3.2.8. Errors and causes in putting stress on three-syllable adjectives .....33
II.3.2.9. Errors and causes in placing stress on the syllable of two-syllable
verbs ..............................................................................................................33

II.3.2.10. Errors and causes in placing stress on the syllable of two-syllable
adverbs and the mixture of two-syllable words............................................33
II.4. Recording ...................................................................................................34
II.4.1. Results of recording ................................................................................34
II.4.2. Common errors in the pronunciation of English word stress .................34
II.4.2.1. Errors and causes in the pronunciation of three-syllable and more
than three-syllable words .............................................................................34
II.4.2.2. Errors and causes in pronouncing with equal stress for
all syllables ...................................................................................................35
II.4.2.3. Errors and causes in the pronunciation of two-syllable words .......35
II.5. Suggested solutions ....................................................................................36
II.5.1. To the teachers ........................................................................................36
II.5.2. To the students ........................................................................................33

PART THREE
CONCLUSION
References ..........................................................................................................42
Test survey
Words for recording
Key


PART ONE
INTRODUCTION

I. RATIONALES OF THE STUDY
English, the international language, has been learned widely; it helps
people communicate with other parts of the world. Undoubtedly, English is

required in many sectors such as educational sector, medical sector, private
sector, bank, transportation, etc. For students who are English learners, they can
build up a good career by having good English; therefore, it is very essential to
learn this language.
Vietnamese learners have met a lot of difficulties in learning English
especially the pronunciation of English words. To improve their speaking skill,
learners can focus on every aspect of pronunciation. One of the most effective
aspects that can change significantly a person’s pronunciation is stress.
In order to improve pronunciation, speakers must know the placement of
the word stress and sentence stress. It is very difficult for listeners to listen to
the words that are stressed incorrectly. Some words might be misunderstood
because they may have more than one meaning based on stress placement. In
addition, sentences are pronounced with wrong stress can bring different nuance
and meaning.
If students are good at speaking, this skill could support to listening
comprehension. The third year English major students at HPU2 have been
studying English for year as their major, but they still make mistakes in
pronouncing word stress. Additionally, observing the third year English major
students while they are studying Phonetic and Phonology, I see that they still
make mistakes in stress. Therefore, being aware of the problems and hoping to
help the third year English major students better in pronunciation, the topic
1


named an investigation on word stress errors commonly made by the third year
English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N02 and some
suggested solutions was conducted.
II. REASERCH OBJECTIVES
The study aims to get the following targets:
1. To help the third year English major students at HPU2 be better at

pronouncing based on stress.
2. To point out the main errors in English stress commonly made by the
third year English major students at HPU2.
3. To find out the causes of the errors English stress commonly made by the
third year English major students at HPU2.
4. To propose some solutions to minimize the errors commonly made by the
third year English major students at HPU2.
III. RESEARCH PRESUPPOSITION
To achieve the aims mentioned above, some questions are raised:
 What are the most common word stress errors made by the third year
English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N02?
 What are the causes of these errors?
 What should be done to limit the student’s errors in order to improve
their pronunciation?
IV. RESEARCH SCOPE
Stress, which is one of the most important parts of English pronunciation,
includes word stress and sentence stress. However, because of limited time and
experience, the author only focused on the errors in the pronunciation of
English word stress commonly made by the third year English major students at
HPU2. The number of students involved in the research was 100 (69 students
from K39 English Bachelor & 31 students from English Pedagogy). They were
2


in the third year at university and their knowledge of English and skills were
nearly accomplished. Moreover, they had been studying Phonetic and
Phonology.
V. RESEARCH METHODS
To gain the aims of the research, there are two methods that the
researcher employed:

1. Conducting test survey and analyzing the results
2. Recording the student’s voice and examining the pronunciation of stress
3. Proposing suggestions and solutions to the problems.
The causes of word stress errors were found by private talk and the
author own experience. After conducting test survey, the author saw that there
were lots of wrong answers, so a private talk was hold with 5 students to find
out the reason why they made mistakes. Besides, the author gained experience
when studied Phonetic and Phonology last year as the third year English major
student.
VI. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH
There had been a phenomenon: the third year English major students
have been studying English for years, but they still make mistakes in
pronouncing word stress. To solve this problem, the study was conducted. The
study brings some benefits for the third year English major students in order to
help them pronounce correctly word stress, better their speaking skill and they
can communicate effectively.
VII. ORGANIZATION OF THE RESEARCH WORK
The research is divided into three main parts: Introduction, Development,
and Conclusion.

3


Part one Introduction includes the rationales, research presupposition and
the aim of the study. In addition, it provides the scope, methodology, the
signification and the organization of the study.
In part two, there are two chapters. The first is theoretical background,
then common errors in pronunciation of English stress.
Part three Conclusion summaries the whole research and suggests some
solutions.

4


PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
I.1. LITERATURE REVIEW IN BRIEF
English stress has been defined and focused by several phoneticians,
grammarians, and doctors. Almost, they pay attention to the definition, rules
and ways of pronouncing from Vietnamese people.
In the book English phonetics and phonology, Roach (1983) presents the
basic theoretical background with 20 unit courses. Stress pattern is put on the
pages 72 to 87 and intonation from 119 to 159. In fact, this is a book that has
the best overview on phonetics and its practical exams are also helpful.
Nguyen, (2008) has A research into word stress patterns in English. The
study mainly focused on word stress. In part two, chapter 1, he mention the
definition & the knowledge to place the stress. Chapter 2 talks about the rules of
placement within the simple words concluding two-syllable ones. Others, he
works on complex words and word class pairs. The research is useful and in
detail work. However, the author just writes about word stress and related
problems and he does not point out the mistakes.
An, (2010)’s thesis is An analysis on word stress errors commonly made
by 12th grade students in Le Quy Don High School, Hai Phong and some
solution. The study finds out the most common word stress errors and the
causes of the errors then suggests possible solutions. But, its subject is high
school students, not English major students.
In the book The pronunciation of English, Charles W. Kreidler (1989)
mentions deeply all the issues related to pronunciation such as language and

speech, consonants, vowels and glides, the rhythm of English speech, intonation
and in particular, predicting word stress.
5


Throughout the book Teaching English Pronunciation, the author, Joanne
Kenworthy emphasizes on pronunciation and developed speaking skill. Part one
mentions the basic principles of teaching pronunciation, intelligibility and its
assessment, building awareness and concern for pronunciation, sound and
spelling, etc. Part two is about some problems encountered by speakers in some
countries and it suggests strategies in each case.
In general, they work on the theory of English word stress some of them
talk about errors in word level. However, they do not study deeply on common
errors and it is necessary to have a study on that problems. Therefore, I decide
to have a research on word stress errors commonly made by the third year
English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N02 and some
suggested solutions to help the students pronounce more effectively.
I.2. DEFINITION OF PRONUNCIATION
Pronunciation is the way a word or language is spoken or the manner in
which someone utters a word.
Pronunciation plays a very important role in communication for learners.
To communicate effectively they must speak clear and make themselves
understood. Sometimes simply using the right vocabulary and structure is not
enough.
I.3. ASPECTS OF PRONUNCIATION
 Combination of sound
Sounds can occur in groups sometimes. For example, two consonants
occur at the ends of the word “salt”; it is called a consonant cluster.
(Kenworthy, 1987)
 Linkage of sound

In connected speech, words tend to link together without any break
between them, for linking the words is not always similar to those when they
are pronounced individually.

6


 Word stress
Word stress is an extra force put on a particular syllable of the word in
spoken language; it is usually fixed. That syllable will be pronounced higher,
louder, and longer.
 Rhythm
Rhythm is the relatively equal beat between stressed syllables. It has
often been claimed that English speech is rhythmical and that rhythm is
detectable in the regular occurrence of stressed syllables. English has stresstimed rhythm means stressed syllables will tend to occur at relatively regular
intervals whether they are separated by unstressed syllables or not.
(Roach, 1983)
 Weak forms
When the monosyllabic word is unstressed in a sentence, its
pronunciation is quite different from when it is stressed. The vowel will be
quite short and distinct and it often is schwa /ə/. An example is an unstressed
form of “not”. In sentences, it is written as “n’t” and other forms such as “I’m”,
“you’re”…
 Sentence stress
Sentence stress is music of spoken English; it helps listeners understand
quickly and deeply speaker’s words and purposes. In a sentence, stress is placed
on the important words such as main verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs and
negative auxiliaries.
 Intonation
Intonation is the way the voice goes up and down in pitch when we are

speaking; it also is the way people express their thoughts and purposes. In
addition, it helps identify grammatical structure, and it shows what information
is new in speaker’s utterance and what is known.
7


I.4. FACTORS THAT AFFECT PRONUNCIATION LEARNING
I.4.1. The native language
The native language seems to be a minor factor which effects
pronunciation learning, but in fact, it is a very important one. Students from
different nationalities have various degrees of difficulty learning proper
pronunciation. The difficulty depends on how their native language is different
from English. Phonemes are different between 2 languages and the way the
mouth, teeth, and tongue used are also different. For example, there are some
differences between Vietnamese and English in term of phonetic. The
pronunciation of consonant “d” in English differs from Vietnamese. Moreover,
the “th” sound does not exist in the Vietnamese language.
I.4.2. The age factor
It is believed that if someone wants to learn the pronunciation of a second
language like a native speaker, he should start it as a child. The younger
students are, the easier it is for them to get accurate pronunciation. Adults still
tend to remain their mother-tongue accent when they pronounce other
languages.
I.4.3. Amount of exposure
Amount of exposure that learners receive is also affect learning English.
If the learners live in an English-speaking country for long time, the constant
exposure will affects pronunciation skill. They have more opportunities to listen
and use English then their English will be better. In contrast, if they do not live
in an English-speaking environment, there is no such advantage. However, this
is not always true in term of residency. Some people use other languages when

they live in English-speaking environment while some speakers use English a
lots in their work and study in non-English-speaking countries and their ability
is quite good.
8


I.4.4. Phonetic ability
There are some people who have original ability of learning foreign
language while others do not. They are able to distinguish among sounds better
and imitate sounds more accurate; hence, this is an advantage that helps them
get good results. “Poor discriminators” do not have benefits from pronunciation
drills and tasks. In fact, all people have this basic phonetic ability except who
are deaf, if not they cannot speak their mother tongue.
I.4.5. Attitude and identity
Person’s “sense of identity” and feelings of “group affiliation” are two
factors that strongly affect the achievement of accurate pronunciation of foreign
language. In conversation, if speakers adopt and imitate the way partners speak,
it makes the receivers feel familiar to the speakers. Those getting positive
feelings tend to develop more accurate and native-like accents; it also a
motivation. When it comes to identity, the factors influence the development of
an accent in a speaker’s first language also is a part in the development of an
accent in a foreign language.
I.4.6. Motivation and concerns for good pronunciation
Among English learners, some of them seem to concern more about
pronunciation than other learners and those often have better pronunciation. The
desire to pronounce well is also a motivation; in contrast, if learners do not care
about pronunciation or its value, they won’t be motivated to do it well. They
need to understand their way of speaking impacts listener’s understanding and
feelings.
I.5. CONCEPTS OF ENGLISH WORD STRESS

I.5.1. Basic concepts related to English syllables
Peter Roach presents that a syllable is a unit which consists of a vowel as
the centre and/or consonant(s) before and after it. A syllable can be part of a
word or it can coincide with a word.
9


Consonants are the sounds in the production of which one articulator
moves towards another or two articulators comes together, obstructing the airstream can’t get out freely. For example: /m/, /p/, /k/, /v/, z/
According to Peter Roach (19983), “vowels are sounds in which there is
no obstruction to the flow of air as it pass from the larynx to the lip”.
Longer vowels tend to be longer than shorter vowels in similar context.
The symbols consist of one single vowel plus a length mark made of two dots.
They are different from short vowels not only in length but also in quality,
resulting from differences in tongue shapes and lip positions.
Long vowels: /iː/, /ɜː/, /aː/, /ɔː/, /uː/
Short vowels: /æ/, /e/, /ʌ/, /ɒ/, /ʊ/, /ɪ/, /ə/
(Roach, 1983)
The book Accurate English written by Rebecca M. Dauer (1992) says
stressed syllables sound louder, are usually longer, and have clear vowels and
stronger consonants. In a word said in isolation, stressed syllables are higher
pitched; in sentences, a pitching change (a change in melody from high to low
or low to high) often occurs on stressed syllables.
In addition, he also states unstressed syllables sound softer, are usually
shorter, and are frequently reduced or centralized. This means that the vowels
tend to become /ə/, /ɪ/, /ɚ/ or /ʊ/ and the consonants are weaker. The pitch does
not change direction on unstressed syllables.
I.5.2. Definition of English word stress
There are several definitions of English stress.

Daniel Jones (1909)

defined stress is the degree of force which a speaker pronounces a sound or a
syllable. One of the definitions stated by Rebecca M. Dauer (1992) is that in all
words of two or more syllables, one syllable is more prominent, louder, or more
noticeable than the other syllables in that word.
10


In the book A university grammar of English, Randolp Quick (1976) says
stress is concerned with the perception of relative PROMINENCE.
Additionally, we speak of “stress” when we are considering the prominence
with which one part of the word or of a longer utterance is distinguished from
other parts.
Randolp Quick also mentions the stress within the word that this is a
binary opposition – stress verse no stress – though it is often relevant to
distinguish an intermediate or secondary stress. We mark stress with a high
vertical stroke before the syllable carrying the stress.
Within a word, there is another stress mark called secondary stress which
is the weaker of two degrees of stress in the pronunciation of a word; the
stronger degree of stress being called primary. The International Phonetic
Alphabet symbol for secondary stress is a short vertical line preceding and at
the foot of the secondarily stressed syllable.
I.5.3. Nature of stress and levels of stress
Generally, each English word is made up of one or more syllable. For
example, the words “nice”, “plan”, “day”,… are single syllable; “depend” and
“content” are two syllables; and so on.
Stressed syllables have the same characteristic is “prominence” according
to Peter Roach. It can be seen that the stressed syllable will be pronounced
louder and stronger than others. Considering two aspects production and

perception, first, the production of stress use more muscular energy than
unstressed syllables. Discussing the perception, there are four factors that make
a stressed syllable prominent: loudness, length, pitch and vowel quality.
The levels of English stress are presented by Peter Roach (1983) as three
levels: primary stress, secondary stress, and unstressed. Primary stress, the
strongest type, is marked by a small vertical line high up before the syllable it
11


relates to. The next is secondary stress which is stronger than unstressed
syllables but weaker than primary stress. It is found in four or five-syllable
words and signed by a low mark. The third is unstressed which is the absence
of any recognizable amount of prominence.
I.5.4. Function of stress
Stress is extremely important in the process of learning pronunciation. It
is not appeared in all languages but English. Speaking with correct stress helps
the listeners understand deeply. Pronouncing with stress is exactly the way
native speaker communicate. Without stress, it is impossible to fully
comprehend the expression and implications that go with words. In English,
some words often make the confusion for the learners because of its
complication. For example, 2 words with the same spelling can be in two parts
of speech. And, in dialogue, it can be distinguished by stress only. The speaker
who is good at stress can speak more attractively.
I.5.5. Placement of stress
If we want to recognize the placement of stress word, we should consider
these following aspects:
- Word forms: Two syllables or more, complex words, derived words or
compound words…
- The parts of speech of the words: Nouns, verbs or adjectives…
- The numbers of syllables.

- The phonology structure of the syllables in the words.
And other rules that users should remember: A word can only have one
stress, and only vowels are stressed, not consonants.
Monosyllabic words do not have stress

12


I.5.5.1. Two-syllable words
Peter Roach (1983), in the book Phonetic and Phonology, worked out
some rules of stress placement for two-syllable words presented as below:
Either the first or the second syllable will be stress – not both. The basic
rule for verbs and adjectives:
The second syllable is stressed if it has a long vowel and a diphthong or it
end with more than one consonant. For examples:
Relax /rɪˈlaks/

Depend /dɪˈpɛnd/

Complete /kəmˈpliːt/

Sincere /sɪnˈsɪə/

The first syllable will be stressed if another one consist of a short vowel
and end with one or no consonant. For examples:
Equal /ˈiːkw(ə)l/

Answer /ˈɑːnsə/

Correct /kəˈrɛkt/

Heavy /ˈhɛvi/

The last syllable will be unstressed if it has /əʊ/. For examples:
Borrow /ˈbɒrəʊ/

Below /bɪˈləʊ/

Nouns require different rules: if the second syllable contains a short
vowel the stress will always come on the first syllable. Otherwise, it will be on
the second syllable.
Reason /ˈriːz(ə)n/

Money /ˈmʌni/

Balloon /bəˈluːn/

Delight /dɪˈlʌɪt/

Other two-syllable words such as adverbs and presuppositions seem to
behave like verbs and adjectives. In most two syllable words which are
preposition, the stress is on the second syllable. For examples:
Beyond /bɪˈjɒnd/

Before /bɪˈfɔː/

Aside /əˈsʌɪd/

Between /bɪˈtwiːn/

However, there are little exceptions to these rules.

13


I.5.5.2. Three-syllable words and more than three-syllable words
I.5.5.2.1. With verbs
Besides, Peter Roach (1983) also lists some stress rules for three-syllable
words and more than three-syllable words such as:
If the last syllable has a short vowel and ends with more than one
consonant, stress will be placed on the preceding syllable. For examples:
Determine /dɪˈtəːmɪn/

Remember /rɪˈmɛmbə/

Otherwise, the final syllable has a long vowel or diphthong, or ends with
more than one consonant, it will be stressed. For examples:
Recommend /rɛkəˈmɛnd/

Introduce /ɪntrəˈdjuːs/

If the last syllable and the middle syllable of a word have a long
diphthong or vowel (which contains /i/ or /u/ or /ə/), the first syllable will be
stressed.
I.5.5.2.2. With nouns
The last syllable has a short vowel or /əʊ/, it will be unstressed. And if
middle one contains a long vowel or a diphthong, or it ends with more than one
consonant, it will be stressed. For examples:
Advantage /ədˈvɑːntɪdʒ/

Potato /pəˈteɪtəʊ/

If the third syllable has a short vowel and the middle syllable has short
vowel too, and ends with mo more than one consonant, both of them are
unstressed. The stress is put on the first one. For examples:
Animal /ˈanɪm(ə)l/

Company /ˈkʌmp(ə)ni/

If a long vowel or a diphthong or it ends with more than one consonant
are appeared in the final syllable of a word, the first syllable will be stressed.
For examples:
Paradise /ˈparədʌɪs/

Photograph /ˈfəʊtəɡrɑːf/

14


I.5.5.2.3. With adjective
Adjectives which have three or more than three syllables have the rules
of placing stress as three-syllable nouns and more than three-syllable nouns.
I.5.5.3. Complex words
Complex words have two major types: words are made from a basic stem
word with the addition of an affix, and compound words, which are made of
two independent English words.
I.5.5.3.1. Suffixes and prefixes
There are so many suffixes, so only a small of them which are common
and productive are mentioned here. If we examine English words with suffixes,
a similar tendency is revealed: suffixes are never stressed. Another tendency is

for the stressed syllable to be somewhere in the middle of the word, rather than
on the first or last syllable in words of four, five, or six syllables.
(Kenworthy, 1987)
The suffixes carrying primary stress themselves
“ain” (only for verbs) entertain
“ee” refugee /ˌrefjuˈdʒiː/
“eer” mountaineer /ˌmaʊntəˈnɪə(r)/
“ese” Vietnamese /ˌvjetnəˈmiːz/
“ette” cigarette /ˌsɪɡəˈret/
“esque” unique /juˈniːk/
(Roach, 1983)
Suffixes that do not affect stress placement
“-able” comfort /ˈkʌmfərt/

comfortable /ˈkʌmftəbl/

“-age” anchor /ˈæŋkər/

anchorage /ˈæŋkərɪdʒ/

“-al” refuse /rɪˈfjuːz/

refusal /rɪˈfjuːzl/

“-en’ wide /waɪd/

widen /ˈwaɪdn/
15

“-ful” wonder /ˈwʌndər/

wonderful /ˈwʌndərfl/

“-ing” amaze /əˈmeɪz/

amazing /əˈmeɪzɪŋ/

“-ish” devil /ˈdevl/

devilish /ˈdevəlɪʃ/

(For suffix “ish”, this is rule for adjectives; if verbs have more than one
consonant in stem, stress will be put on the syllable preceding “ish”)
“-like” bird /bɜːrd/

birdlike

“-less” power /ˈpaʊər/

powerless /ˈpaʊərləs/

“-ly” hurried /ˈhɜːrid/

hurriedly /ˈhɜːridli/

“-ment” punish /ˈpʌnɪʃ/

punishment /ˈpʌnɪʃmənt/

“-ness” yellow /ˈjeloʊ/

yellowness /ˈjeloʊnəs/

“-ous” poison /ˈpɔɪzn/

poisonous /ˈpɔɪzənəs/

“-fy” glory /ˈɡlɔːri/

glorify /ˈɡlɔːrɪfaɪ/

“-wise” other /ˈʌðər/

otherwise /ˈʌðərwaɪz/

“-y” fun /fʌn/

funny /ˈfʌni/
(Roach, 1983)

Suffixes that influence stress in the stem
 Primary stress on the last syllable of the stem
“-eous” advantage /ədˈvæntɪdʒ/

advantageous /ˌædvənˈteɪdʒəs/

“-graphy” photo /ˈfoʊtoʊ/

photography /fəˈtɑːɡrəfi/

“-ial” proverb /ˈprɑːvɜːrb/

proverbial /prəˈvɜːrbiəl/

“-ic” climate /ˈklaɪmət/

climatic /klaɪˈmætɪk/

“-ion” perfect /ˈpɜːrfɪkt/

perfection /pərˈfekʃn/

“-ious” injure /ˈɪndʒər/

injurious /ɪnˈdʒʊrəriəs/

“-ty” tranquil /ˈtræŋkwɪl/

tranquility /træŋˈkwɪləti/
(Roach, 1983)

 The suffixes “-ance” and “-ary”
If single-syllable stems consist of these suffixes, the stress is always
placed on the stem. If the stem has two syllables and the final of stem contains a
long vowel or diphthong or it ends with more than one consonant, that syllable
16


will be stressed. In contrast, the syllable immediately before the last one is

stressed.
(Roach, 1983)
Prefixes do not regularly affect to the place where stress is on and are
unpredictable; they are different with suffixes. Therefore, stress in words which
have prefixes is the same rule as those words without prefixes.
I.5.5.3.2. Compound words
A compound word is made up of at least two words, both of which can
exist independently as English words. The most common type of compound is
the one which consists of two nouns, and the stress often put on the first noun.
For example:
Typewriter /ˈtʌɪprʌɪtə/
Suitcase /ˈsuːtkeɪs/
Car-ferry /kɑː/- /ˈfɛri/
(Roach, 1983)
I.5.5.4. Word-class pairs
Peter Roach (1983) presents that there are several dozen pairs of twosyllable words with identical spelling which differ from each other in stress
placement, apparently according to word class (noun, verb or adjective). Stress
often is placed on the second syllable of the verb but on the first syllable of the
noun or adjective. For example:
Abstract /ˈabstrakt/
Export /ɛkˈspɔːt/
Desert /dɪˈzəːt/
Conduct /ˈkɒndʌkt/

17