A Few General Rules

(a) Always stress the syllable before one that's pronounced [fn] -ssion/-tion, [fs] -cious/-tious, [fl] -cial/-tíal, etc.

e. g. a'ttention 'spacious,arti'ficial.

permission,consci'entious sub’stantial

(b) In words ending in -ic, -ical, -ically the stress is on the syllable before -ic (historic — historical — historically),

except 'Arabic, a'rithmetic, 'lunatic, 'heretic, 'politics, 'rhetoric (but in adjectives;. arith'metic, he'retical, po'litical, rhe'torical).

(c) A great many words are stressed on the last syllable but two. e. g. i'lluminate, ther'mometer, ge'ology, phi'losopher.

 

Words ending in -ology, -onomy, -osophy, -ologist, etc. always follow this rule.

 

(d) Words ending in -ese have the stress on this syllable, e. g. Chinese, journa'lese.

The following groups of words have two primary stresses:

1. Polysyllables with separable prefixes having a distinct meaning of their own:

Negative prefixes un-, dis-, поп-, in-, ir-, -il, im-; mis-:

‘ un 'able, ' disa 'ppear, ʼnon -'smoker, 'in'accurate, 'illegal, 'i'rregular, 'i'mmoral, 'misunderstand.

but: un'usual, im'possible, mi'stake.

2. Numerals from 13 to 19.

3. Compound numerals, e. g. 'twenty-'three.

4. Compound adjectives, e. g. 'well-'known, 'absent-'minded.

5. Compound verbs, e.g. to 'give 'in, to 'take 'off, to 'try 'on.

The majority of compound nouns are usually single-stressed: 'reading-room, 'apple-tree, 'raincoat, 'blackboard.

Double-stressed compound nouns are rare; e. g. 'gas-'stove, 'gas-'ring, 'absent-'mindedness, 'ice-'cream.

Compound adjectives have generally two stresses: 'clean-'shaven, Vell-'bred, 'first-'class.

Compound adjectives with only one stress on the first element occur when the second element is semantically weak, e. g. 'springlike, 'oval-shaped.

Exercise I. Read the following:

(a) un'aided, Warmed, 'anticy'clonic, ʼnon-'resident, 're'pack, 'ex-'minister, 'pre'paid, 'mi'sspell, 'mis'place, ʼnnder'dressed, Vice-'admiral, 'pre-'history, 'ultra-'fashionable.

(b) 'good-'looking, 'old-'fashioned, 'bad-'tempered, 'absent-'minded, 'home-'made, 'yeĩlowish-'looking, 'square-'shaped.

(c) 'carry 'out, 'come a'cross, "get 'up, 'see 'off, 'go 'on, 'point 'out, 'sit 'down, 'fall 'out, 'blow 'out, 'fall 'back, 'bring 'forth.

(d) 'apple-tree, 'bystander, 'daybreak, 'birthday, 'pillow-case, 'schoolboy, 'suitcase, 'time-table, 'hair-do, 'housewife, 'nothing, 'nonsense, 'everything, 'fireplace.

(e) 'butterfly, 'newcomer, 'blacksmith, 'airplane, 'bluebottle, 'blackbird, 'strongbox, 'overwork.

(f) 'abstract — to ab'stract; 'commune — to co'mmune;

"contest — to con'test; 'rebel — to re'bel;

'import — to im'port; 'forecast — to fore'cast;

'produce — to pro'duce.

(g).modification,,aristo'cratic,.mathematician,.qualification,,archaeo'logical,.ornamen'tation,,represen'tation, ad.mini'stration, a,ssimi'lation, con.side'ration, examination.

Exercise II. Mark the stresses and read the words.

(a) completion, efficient, invasion, financial, advantageous, vivacious, photogenic, scientific, materiaĭistic, musical, geographical, technical, psychology/psychological, meteorology/meteorologist, ideology/ideologist, Viennese, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Cantonese, Balinese.

(b) photograph, photographer, photographic;

politics, political, politician;

competing, competitor, competition;

analyse, analysis, analytical.

(c) teapot, washstand, mail-bag, grandfather, handwriting, shopkeeper, office-boy, waiting room, tape-recorder, ground-floor, crossquestion, flat-footed, second-hand, post-graduate, vice-president, greenish-looking, underpopulated, ultra-modern, non-payment, antinational, non-stop, reread, misuse, put on, fix up, pick out, make up, bluebell, black-face, bread-and-butter, red-book, blue-stocking.

(d) insult — to insult; object — to object,

subject — to subject; present — to present;

protest — to protest; outlay — to outlay,

outgo — to outgo; record — to record.

Exercise III. Read and memorize:

(a) 1. 'bad-'tempered 2. 'eigh'teen

a 'bad-tempered 'boy 'eighteen 'students

'John's bad-'tempered 'number eigh'teen

(b) 1. 'How can such a 'good-natured "woman 'have such a 'badtempered _vdaughter? 2. The 'mother's ex'tremely good-_xnatured | but the 'daughter is unbelievably bad-_vtempered. 3. There's a 'goodlooking _xgirl over,there. 4. She's 'quite good-Rooking. 5. The 'train 'leaves at 'three sixteen. 6. She's 'bought 'twenty-five _vbooks. 7. It 'happened in 'nineteen twenty-_xfive. 8. He was 'born in 'nineteen nineteen. 9. /Thirteen /fourteen /fifteen,sixteen /Seventeen /eighteen _xnineteen. 10. They were 'eighteen. 11. I said it 'sixteen _xtimes.

c) 'Picca'dilly 'Piccadilly 'Circus

Waterloo "Waterloo 'Station

Tra'fąlgar 'Square Trafalgar Square 'Fountains

'Hyde "Park 'Hyde Park 'Corner

The 'Albert 'Hall The 'Albert Hall 'concert

'Covent 'Garden 'Covent Garden "Market

Exercise IV. Transcribe, intone and read the dialogue:

Photography or Politics?

Diana: What have you decided to do after college, Jeremy?

Jeremy: I'm going to take up photography. Mr McKenzie's recommended the course at the Institute. He believes I could make a career as a photographer.

Diana: You'll have to develop your own photographs. That requires technical skill. Jeremy, you're not a technician! And photographic materials are very expensive.

Jeremy: Well, Diana, Mr McKenzie thinks there's a possibility I might win the Observer competition. I sent in four entries. All the competitors are amateurs, like myself.

Diana: I detest competitions. I never agree with the decision of the judges! I'm going to be a politician. I shall become the most distinguished woman on the political scene!

Jeremy: I thought you hated competing! Don't tell me politics isn't competitive!