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Question

Difficulty: MediumWord and Syllable Stress

In standard English pronunciation, which option correctly indicates the primary stress placement in the word hospitality?

  1. hos-pi-TAL-i-tyAnswer
  2. B
    hos-PI-tal-i-ty
  3. C
    HOS-pi-tal-i-ty
  4. D
    hos-pi-tal-I-ty

Answer

The correct stress placement is hos-pi-TAL-i-ty.
In standard English, polysyllabic words ending with the suffix '-ity' consistently carry primary stress on the antepenultimate syllable (the syllable directly preceding '-ity'). For the five-syllable word 'hospitality', this places the stress on the third syllable, resulting in 'hos-pi-TAL-i-ty'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Divide the word into its individual syllables and identify any inflectional or derivational suffixes.
The word 'hospitality' is divided into five syllables: hos-pi-tal-i-ty, ending with the nominal suffix '-ity'.
Stress rules in multisyllabic English words depend on suffix types and syllable structure.
2
Apply the phonological rule for words ending in '-ity'.
The suffix '-ity' assigns primary stress to the syllable immediately preceding it (the antepenultimate syllable), which is 'TAL'.
Adding '-ity' causes a stress shift from the root noun 'HOS-pi-tal' to the antepenultimate syllable 'hos-pi-TAL-i-ty'.

Key Concept

Suffix-conditioned word stress placement
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Word and Syllable Stress

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