However, there actually is a pattern in stress placement in
these words. All of them have suffixes such as -ic, -ity, -ify,
or -tion that have been added to their roots to make a change
in meaning. Certain su#xes, especially those which were
borrowed from Latin or Greek, cause words to be stressed on
a particular syllable. There are several groups of su#xes that
a"ect word stress in di"erent ways:
Group 1: Many su#xes cause the stress to be on the syllable
just before the su#x. Box 8.4 shows the most important ones.
congratuˈlations scienˈtific muˈsician
Group 2: A smaller number of su#xes cause the stress to
fall two syllables before the su#x. (Of course, if there is only
one syllable before the pre!x, that one is stressed, for
example: ˈdonate.) The most important su#x in this group is
-ate. (See Box 8.5.)
ˈgraduate ˈdemonstrate colˈlaborate
1108.4 GROUP 1: STRESS THE SYLLABLE
BEFORE THE SUFFIX8.4 GROUP 1: STRESS THE SYLLABLE
BEFORE THE SUFFIXSUFFIX EXAMPLES-tion, -sion, -ion conˈdition, exˈtension, oˈpinion-ity, -ety creaˈtivity, iˈdentity, elecˈtricity, anˈxiety-ic, -ical scienˈtific, eˈlectric, iˈdentical-al (sometimes) departˈmental, inciˈdental, adjecˈtival
-ial, -cial, -sial, -tial, -ual fiˈnancial, controˈversial, iˈnitial, reˈsidual
-ian, -cian, -sian, -ia muˈsician, phyˈsician, ˈPersian, ˈmania-ous, -ious, -eous, -uous mysˈterious, couˈrageous, amˈbiguous-ient, -ience, -iant, -iance ˈpatient, ˈpatience, ˈradiant, ˈradiance-ify iˈdentify, huˈmidify, eˈlectrify, ˈbeautify-ive, -itive, -ative posˈsessive, ˈpositive, ˈrelative-itude ˈgratitude, ˈaptitude, ˈlatitude, ˈattitude-graphy, -grapher phoˈtography, phoˈtographer, biˈography-logy, -logist biˈology, biˈologist, sociˈology, sociˈologist