Section three

For the remaining words, the question at issue is: where is the main stress located? which syllable of the word is the most prominent?

For example, in the word borrow the stress is located on the first syllable. In the word remain it is on the second. In telephone it is on the first; in tomato it is on the second; and in understand it is on the third.

Some words may have more than one stressed syllable. In these words we ask for the position of the main stress. For example, in understand, it is the main stress that is located on the last syllable (-stand), while there may be a lesser stress on the first syllable (und-).

Some words have a stress pattern that varies according to their position in the sentence. The position we are interested in is the when the item is the LAST WORD in a sentence. For example,

To remind you of this point, we sometimes supply an example sentence.

applicable	(relevant, appropriate)
81-a	/"{plIk@bl/		Stress on the first syllable 	APP-licable
81-b	/@"plIk@bl/		Stress on the second syllable	ap-PLIC-able

controversy	(dispute, disagreement)
82-a	/"kQntr@v3:si, -@si/ 	Stress on the first syllable	CON-troversy
82-b	/k@n"trQv@si/		Stress on the second syllable	con-TROV-ersy

incomparable	(beyond compare)
83-a	/In"kQmp(@)r@bl/	Main stress on the second syllable
								in-COMP-arable
83-b	/%Ink@m"p{r@bl, -"pe@-/	Main stress on the third syllable									in-com-PAR-able
								incom-PAR-able

irrefutable	(that cannot be refuted or denied)
84-a	/I"refjUt@bl/		Main stress on the second syllable
								ir-REFF-utable
84-b	/%Iri"fju:t@bl, -r@-/	Main stress on the third syllable
								irre-FEWT-able

kilometre	(measure of distance)
85-a	/"kIl@0mi:t@/		Main stress on the first syllable
								KIL-ometre
85-b	/kI"lQmIt@/		Main stress on the second syllable
								ki-LOM-etre

respiratory	(to do with breathing)
86-a  /"resp(@)r@t(@)ri/	Stress on the first syllable; -a- weak as in 
					pirate			RESP-iratory
86-b  /"resp@reIt@ri/		Stress on the first syllable; -a- strong as in
					rate			RESP-i-RATE-ory
86-c  /ri"spIr@t(@)ri/		Stress on the second syllable, which is like 
					spir(it)		re-SPIRRa-tory
86-d  /ri"spaI@r@t(@)ri/	Stress on the second syllable, which is like
					spire			re-SPIRE-atory

transferable	(that can be transferred; e.g. Unfortunately, it's not
			transferable.)
87-a	/"tr{nsf(@)r@bl/ etc.	Stress on the first syllable	TRANS-ferable
87-b	/tr{ns"f3:r@bl/ etc.	Stress on the second syllable	trans-FER-able

Caribbean	(to do with the islands of the West Indies)
88-a	/%k{rI"bi:@n/		Stress on the third syllable	cari-BEE-an
88-b	/k@"rIbi@n/		Stress on the second syllable	ca-RIB-ean

mischievous	(full of mischief)
89-a	/"mIstSIv@s/		Stress on the first syllable	MIS-chievous
89-b	/mIs"tSi:v(i)@s/	Stress on the second syllable	mis-CHEEV-(i)ous

finance (noun)	(money)
90-a	/"faIn{n(t)s/		Stress on the first syllable	FI-nance
90-b	/faI"n{n(t)s/		Stress on the last syllable	fi-NANCE

princess	(e.g. Did you see the princess?)
91-a	/"prIn(t)ses, -@s/	Stress on the first syllable	PRINCE-ess
91-b	/(%)prIn(t)"ses/	Stress on the second syllable	prin-CESS

short cut	(a quicker route, as in Let's take a short cut.)
92-a	/"SO:t kVt/		Main stress on the first part, short   SHORT cut
92-b	/%SO:t "kVt/		Main stress on the second part, cut    short CUT

premature	(too early, before it's due: e.g. The baby was premature.)
93-a	/"prem@tSU@, -tj-/	Main stress on the first syllable  PREM-ature
93-b	/%prem@"tSU@, -"tjU@/	Main stress on the last syllable   prema-TURE

justifiable	(that can be justified; e.g. I don't think it was justifiable.)
94-a	/"dZVstIfaI@bl/		Main stress on the first syllable  JUST-ifiable
94-b	/%dZVstI"faI@bl/	Main stress on the third syllable  justi-FI-able

necessarily	(through necessity)
95-a	/"nes@s(@)r@li/		Main stress on the first syllable  NESS-essarily
95-b	/%nes@"ser@li/		Main stress on the third syllable  neces-SAR-ily

regulatory	(to do with regulating)
96-a	/"regjUl@t(@)ri/	Main stress on the first syllable; -a- weak as
				in regular			REG-ulatory
96-b	/"regjuleIt@ri/		Main stress on the first syllable; -a- strong as
				in late				REG-u-late-ory
96-c	/%regju"leIt@ri/	Main stress on the third syllable
								regu-LATE-ory

Lastly, please supply a little information about yourself.

(i) What is your age group? 97-a Up to 25 years 97-b 26-45 97-c 46-65 97-d 66 and up (ii) Which sex are you? 98-a male 98-b female (iii) Which of the following best describes you? 99-a English 99-b Welsh 99-c Scottish 99-d other: (specify) (iv) Where did you live between the ages of 4 and 15? (Please specify town/city/ county, as appropriate---several, if necessary.) (v) What is your profession or occupation? (If retired, former profession/occupation)

Please supply the following details in confidence:

date

Many thanks for your time and trouble in completing the questionnaire. Feel free to add comments if you like.


j.wells@ucl.ac.uk

John Wells, September 1998


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