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Difficulty: MediumWord and Syllable Stress

Match each polysyllabic word on the left with its corresponding primary stress placement pattern on the right.

  • diplomaticdip-lo-MAT-ic
  • photographypho-TOG-ra-phy
  • electricitye-lec-TRIC-i-ty
  • civilizationciv-i-li-ZA-tion

Answer

diplomatic matches dip-lo-MAT-ic; photography matches pho-TOG-ra-phy; electricity matches e-lec-TRIC-i-ty; civilization matches civ-i-li-ZA-tion.
Each word is matched according to standard English suffix stress rules: '-ic' assigns primary stress to the penultimate syllable ('MAT'), '-graphy' assigns primary stress to the antepenultimate syllable ('TOG'), '-ity' assigns primary stress to the antepenultimate syllable ('TRIC'), and '-ation' assigns primary stress to the penultimate syllable ('ZA').

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the suffix for each given polysyllabic word.
diplomatic (-ic), photography (-graphy), electricity (-ity), civilization (-ation).
Suffixes determine predictable stress shift patterns in English phonology.
2
Apply stress placement rules based on each suffix.
'-ic' conditions penultimate stress ('MAT'), '-graphy' conditions antepenultimate stress ('TOG'), '-ity' conditions antepenultimate stress ('TRIC'), and '-ation' conditions penultimate stress ('ZA').
Matching the phonological rule reveals which syllable receives primary stress.
3
Pair each word to its matching capitalized syllable pattern.
diplomatic -> dip-lo-MAT-ic, photography -> pho-TOG-ra-phy, electricity -> e-lec-TRIC-i-ty, civilization -> civ-i-li-ZA-tion.
Each pair correctly matches the word with its capitalized primary stress representation.

Key Concept

Suffix-conditioned primary stress placement
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Topics

Word and Syllable Stress

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