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Difficulty: Very hardWord and Syllable Stress

Complete the following statement on English phonological stress rules by filling in the correct primary stress placement for each described category.

Answer:When the word 'contrast' functions as a verb, primary stress falls on the 【second】 syllable, whereas in the polysyllabic noun 'photoradiography', primary stress falls on the 【antepenultimate】 syllable.

Answer

Primary stress falls on the second syllable for the verb form of 'contrast' (con-TRAST) and on the antepenultimate (fifth) syllable for 'photoradiography' (pho-to-ra-di-OG-ra-phy).
For disyllabic words exhibiting grammatical stress shift, the verb form receives primary stress on the second syllable. For polysyllabic words ending with the suffix '-graphy', primary stress is assigned to the antepenultimate syllable, which is the fifth syllable in 'pho-to-ra-di-OG-ra-phy'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Determine the primary stress placement for the verb form of the disyllabic word 'contrast'.
The verb form is stressed on the second syllable (con-TRAST), whereas the noun form is stressed on the first (CON-trast).
English grammatical category stress shifts dictate that two-syllable noun/verb pairs shift primary stress from the initial syllable (noun) to the final/second syllable (verb).
2
Analyze the syllable structure and suffix rule of 'photoradiography' (pho-to-ra-di-og-ra-phy).
The word contains seven syllables, and words ending with the suffix '-graphy' place primary stress on the antepenultimate syllable.
The suffix '-graphy' forces stress onto the antepenultimate (third from last) syllable, which corresponds to the fifth syllable ('OG').

Key Concept

Grammatical Stress Shift and Suffix-Conditioned Antepenultimate Stress Placement
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Topics

Word and Syllable Stress

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