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Question

Difficulty: HardWord and Syllable Stress

Identify the word form that correctly highlights the primary stress syllable in the five-syllable word enthusiastic.

  1. A
    en-THU-si-as-tic
  2. B
    en-thu-SI-as-tic
  3. en-thu-si-AS-ticAnswer
  4. D
    en-thu-si-as-TIC

Answer

The form with primary stress on the fourth syllable, written as en-thu-si-AS-tic, is correct.
In English phonology, words ending with the suffix '-ic' place primary stress on the syllable immediately preceding the suffix. For the five-syllable word 'enthusiastic', the syllable directly preceding '-ic' is the fourth syllable 'AS', making 'en-thu-si-AS-tic' the correct primary stress placement.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the morphological structure of the target word.
The word is 'enthusiastic', which consists of 5 syllables (en-thu-si-as-tic) ending in the adjectival suffix '-ic'.
Phonological rules for English stress assignment depend heavily on suffix types.
2
Apply the primary stress rule for words ending in '-ic'.
Primary stress is assigned to the syllable immediately preceding the suffix (penultimate position relative to the suffix), which is 'AS'.
Suffixes like '-ic', '-ial', and '-ian' consistently cause a stress shift to the syllable directly before them.

Key Concept

Suffix-conditioned primary word stress (-ic suffix rule)
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Topics

Word and Syllable Stress

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