Word Formation and Stress - Adjectives

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“English words with more than one syllable mostly have a fixed stress pattern. There are not many rules to show which syllable of a word will be stressed: one usually has to learn the stress pattern of a word along with its meaning, spelling and pronunciation.” (Michael Swann, Practical English Usage (OUP, 2nd ed., 1995), p. 564).

In not having a typical stress pattern for words in the language, English is unlike some other languages. In Italian, for example, although there are many exceptions, stress tends to fall on a word’s penultimate syllable, while in German it is usually the first syllable of a word that has the stress, though, again, there are many exceptions.

Swann himself does not cite any of the rules which may determine the stress pattern of an English word, but here are some which readers of AWE may find helpful. The relevant examples fall into different categories: this page lists some of the suffixes which are used to form adjectives and determine the stress pattern of the adjectives they form.

The suffix –ic, used to form adjectives with the meaning ‘of’, ‘relating to’, or ‘resembling’ (whatever is denoted by the word’s stem), forms adjectives with the principal stress on the penultimate syllable, e.g., monarchic, eclectic, despotic, allergic, autistic, ecstatic, Germanic, periodic, rheumatic, economic, panoptic, problematic, synoptic, programmatic. (The suffix -ic is used with a technical meaning in Chemistry: for this use you are advised to consult a suitable textbook.)

The suffix –ical, used to form adjectives with the meaning ‘of’, ‘relating to’, or ‘resembling’ (whatever is denoted by the word’s stem), forms words with the principal stress on the pre-penultimate syllable (i.e., the third syllable from the end), e.g. fanatical, economical, puritanical, mathematical, astronomical, mystical, periodical, psychological, geographical, whimsical, cynical, paradoxical, rhetorical, diabolical.

Some adjectival suffixes form adjectives which preserve the stress pattern of the stem word - for example,

the suffix –ful, meaning ‘full of’, ‘characterised by’, ‘tending to’ - as in resentful (from resent), remorseful (from remorse), colourful (from colour), regretful (from regret), reposeful (from repose), disgraceful (from disgrace), flavourful (from flavour), successful (from success), merciful (from mercy), plentiful (from plenty), delightful (from delight);

the suffix –less, meaning ‘without’, ‘lacking’, ‘not able to’ – as in remorseless (from remorse), humourless (from humour), penniless (from penny), flavourless (from flavour), merciless (from mercy), colourless (from colour);

the suffixes –able and –ible, meaning ‘capable of’, ‘suitable for’, ‘deserving of’, 'inclined to’ – as in enjoyable (from enjoy), pitiable (from pity), separable (from separate), comfortable (from comfort), reasonable (from reason), despicable (from despise), reversible (from reverse); discernible (from discern), believable (from believe). Note, however, the existence of dome exceptions – admirable (from admire), recognisable (from recognise), reputable (from repute).

See also Word Formation and Stress – Nouns and Word Formation andSstress – Verbs.