4.6.1.3. Nouns

If the final syllable is strong, it is optionally stressed, e.g. idea [ai'dia], machine [ma'Jm], dispute [dis'pju:t], afternoon [a:fta'nu:n], balloon [ba'lu:n], champagne [Jaem'pem],/>o//ce [pa'li:s].

Otherwise primary stress falls on the penultimate syllable, or (with reduced vowel in the penultimate) on the antepenultimate, or, rarely, on the ante-antepenultimate, e.g.

• strong final syllable, penultimate stress: profile ['praufail], tomato [ta'ma:tao], window [Vmdau], soprano [sa'pra:nau], moment ['maumant];

• strong final, antepenultimate stress: anecdote ['aenakdaut], appetite ['aepatait], telephone ['telifaon];

• weak final, penultimate stress: encounter [irj'kaunta], language ['laerjg-WKI3], pattern ['paetan], complexion [kam'plekjan], chocolate ['tjbkht];

• weak final, antepenultimate stress: quantity ['kwnntiti], discipline ['di-siplm], camera ['каетэгз], history ['histan], analysis [a'naehsis], inno­cence I'masans];

• weak final, ante-antepenultimate stress: helicopter .['hehkrjpta], televi­sion ['telrvi3n].

Some exceptions:

• final stress on weak syllables: hotel [hau'tel], personnel [p3:s9'nel], ciga-rette [siga'ret], (but ['sigaret] in GA and in young people's speech in UK).

/1/ sometimes functions as a reduced vowel, as in pedigree ['pedigri:], and sometimes as a full vowel, as in vanilla [va'mla], and sometimes has both functions in one word, as in wicked [Vikid].

It should particularly be noted that there are two competing stress patterns for nouns with strong final syllables, one with final stress and one with an earlier stress. The final syllable in the latter case is sometimes said to be "extrametrical", i.e. outside the rhythm of the word.

Cigarette illustrates the problem of deciding whether to treat a word as a single root or as a sequence of a root plus an affix, e.g. in the case of [siga'ret], the analysis root cigar plus suffix -ette would produce the correct stress pattern in the same way that disk becomes diskette. (A similar prob­lem arises in the treatment of compounds.)

4.6.2. Suffixes

Suffixes maybe added to a root, e.g. nation, national, or they maybe added to an already combined root plus suffix, e.g. national, nationalist, national­istic. This part of a word to which a suffix is added is called stem. Some suffixes have no effect on the stress pattern of stems and hence are called stress neutral; in the complex word the primary stress remains where it is in the stem, e.g. 'bitter, 'bitterness. Other suffixes regularly take the accent themselves (are stress attracting), e.g. 'disk, diskette. Yet others have the effect of fixing the accent on a particular syllable of the stem (are stress-fixing), on the final syllable, e.g. 'definite — definition, or on the penultimate syllable, e.g. 'infant — infanticide (where the stem is infanti-), or varying between final and penultimate according to the same principle as that for roots, i.e. whether the final syllable of the stem contains, on the one hand, a short vowel in an open position or followed by only one consonant or, on the other hand, a long vowel or short vowel plus two consonants, e.g. 'medicine — medicinal, but iritestine — in'testinalbut there is a second commonly used variant intes'tinal. Unfortunately, many suffixes are not entirely regular in the accentual patterns they induce, belonging in one group of words to one category, and in another group of words to another category. In many cases variation occurs which is dependent on the type of stem, i.e. whether it consists of a free or bound morpheme; thus disa'gree, disagreement, but segment, tor'ment. Where more than one suffix is applied to the stem, the last suffix determines the word's accentual pattern, e.g. 'rational, 'rationalize, rationalization; fa'miliar,familiarity,familiarization.

There are some endings derived principally from Greek which are like suffixes in that they occur attached to a number of stems, but which have other Greek elements preceding them which themselves are like prefixes, and neither element has a greater claim to be considered as a root, e.g. phonograph, microscope. These are not treated in this section, but dealt with as compounds, since their stress patterning is similar to compounds.