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Difficulty: HardWord and Syllable Stress

In English phonology, disyllabic noun-verb pairs shift primary stress according to grammatical function, whereas polysyllabic words ending in specific suffixes follow predictable stress placement rules. Fill in each blank using the syllabified word with primary stress indicated in UPPERCASE. Which syllabified forms correctly complete the sentence below?

Answer:When scholars attempt to 【con-TRAST】 the two philosophical theories, they often praise the 【re-li-a-BIL-i-ty】 of the empirical data.

Answer

The first blank requires the verb form 'con-TRAST' with primary stress on the second syllable, while the second blank requires the noun 're-li-a-BIL-i-ty' with primary stress on the antepenultimate syllable.
The first blank demands a verb after the infinitive particle 'to', which shifts primary stress to the final syllable (con-TRAST). The second blank requires a noun formed with the suffix '-ity', which systematically assigns primary stress to the antepenultimate syllable (re-li-a-BIL-i-ty).

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Determine the syntactic function and stress placement for the word in the first blank.
The word functions as a verb following the infinitive particle 'to', requiring primary stress on the second syllable: con-TRAST.
English disyllabic words that function as both nouns and verbs typically receive primary stress on the first syllable as nouns (CON-trast) and on the second syllable as verbs (con-TRAST).
2
Apply morphological stress rules for the polysyllabic noun in the second blank.
The word ending with the nominal suffix '-ity' places primary stress on the antepenultimate syllable (third from the end): re-li-a-BIL-i-ty.
Suffixes such as '-ity' cause a stress shift to the syllable immediately preceding the suffix.

Key Concept

Grammatical Category Stress Shift and Suffix-Determined Syllable Stress Placement
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Topics

Word and Syllable Stress

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