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Difficulty: HardWord and Syllable Stress

Complete the passage below by providing the correctly syllabified word forms with primary stress indicated by UPPERCASE letters for each indicated blank.

Answer:While a practitioner of 【pho-TOG-ra-phy】 focuses on capturing images, the technical quality of a modern camera's sensor is described as being strictly 【pho-to-GRAPH-ic】.

Answer

For blank 1: pho-TOG-ra-phy; for blank 2: pho-to-GRAPH-ic.
In English phonology, morphological derivatives alter stress patterns according to specific suffix rules. For four-syllable nouns ending in '-graphy', primary stress falls on the antepenultimate syllable ('pho-TOG-ra-phy'). Conversely, adding the adjectival suffix '-ic' forces primary stress onto the penultimate syllable directly preceding the suffix ('pho-to-GRAPH-ic').

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the morphological structure and suffix rule for 'photography'.
Nouns ending with the suffix '-graphy' place primary stress on the antepenultimate syllable (the third syllable from the end). Syllabification: pho-TOG-ra-phy.
English stress rules for four-syllable nouns ending in '-graphy' shift primary stress to the antepenultimate syllable.
2
Analyze the morphological structure and suffix rule for 'photographic'.
Adjectives ending with the adjectival suffix '-ic' place primary stress on the penultimate syllable (the second syllable from the end). Syllabification: pho-to-GRAPH-ic.
English accentuation rules specify that words derived with '-ic' take primary stress on the syllable immediately preceding the suffix.

Key Concept

Suffix-conditioned primary stress shifts (-graphy vs. -ic)
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Topics

Word and Syllable Stress

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