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Question

Difficulty: MediumWord and Syllable Stress

In standard English pronunciation, which syllable carries the primary stress in the word beneficial?

  1. A
    BEN-e-fi-cial
  2. B
    ben-E-fi-cial
  3. ben-e-FI-cialAnswer
  4. D
    ben-e-fi-CIAL

Answer

The correct stress pattern is ben-e-FI-cial, with primary stress on the third syllable.
In English phonology, words ending in suffixes such as '-ial', '-ian', and '-ic' place their primary accent on the syllable directly before the suffix. For 'beneficial' (ben-e-fi-cial), primary stress falls on the third syllable, transcribed as ben-e-FI-cial.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the morphological structure of the target word 'beneficial'.
The word consists of four syllables (ben-e-fi-cial) and features the suffix '-ial'.
Identifying suffix patterns determines which stress rule applies in English phonology.
2
Apply the suffix-conditioned stress rule for '-ial'.
Words ending in '-ial' consistently place primary stress on the syllable immediately preceding the suffix (penultimate syllable relative to the root/suffix boundary).
The syllable immediately before '-cial' is 'fi', making it the primary stressed syllable.

Key Concept

Suffix-conditioned word stress (-ial rule)
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Word and Syllable Stress

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