English Pronunciation Tip of the Day
Tip 39
Category:
Stress
Author: JAM
<-aire>, <-eer>, <-ette>
We have seen in Tip 11 and Tip 22 how some suffixes impose stress on a previous syllable. There is another group of suffixes which attract the main stress to themselves. These are called "auto-stressed" suffixes and <-aire>, <-eer> and <-ette> are three of this group. Examples:
| commissionaire | /k@%mIS@"ne@/ | |
| doctrinaire | /%dQktrI"ne@/ | |
| millionaire | /%mIlj@"ne@/ | |
| auctioneer | /%O:kS@"nI@/ | |
| engineer | /%endZ@"nI@/ | |
| mountaineer | /%maUnt@"nI@/ | |
| cigarette | /%sIg@"ret/ | |
| novelette | /%nQv@"let/ | |
| usherette | /%VS@"ret/ |
The last of these has a couple of exceptions, I'm afraid: etiquette /"etIket/, palette /"p{l@t/. Also cigarette is often /"sIg@ret/ in US English.