Stress guidelines for compounds

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 669.

Stress in English compounds

Compounds in English are of two types: those which have their main stress on the initial element of the compound and those which have the main stress on the final element.

□ Initial Element Stress (IES) with main stress on the first part of the compound, e.g. 'apple pip, 'office boy, 'Russian class.

□ Final Element Stress (FES) with main stress on the last element of the compound, e.g. apple 'pie, office 'desk, Russian 'salad. Note that many books term this 'double stress' or ‘equal stress'.

(1) Word shape

Compounds written as one word nearly always have IES, but those written as two words, or with a hyphen, can be of either stress type.

(2) The Manufactures Rule (FES)

The most useful guides in terms of allocating stress in compounds are the 'Manufactures Rule' and the 'Location Rule'.

The Manufactures Rule implies that if the compound includes a material used in its manufacture (e.g. an apple pie is a pie made of apples), then FES applies, e.g. apple 'pie, plum 'brandy, paper 'bag, cotton 'socks, diamond 'bracelet. Compare non­manufactured items, which instead take IES, e.g. 'apple-tree, 'paper clip, 'plum stone,¹cotton-reel, 'diamond cutter.

(3) Location Rule (FES)

The Location Rule describes the strong tendency for a compound to take FES if location is in some way involved.

(a) FES applies if the first element is the name of a country, region or town: e.g. Turkish de'light, Russian rou'lette, Burmese 'cat, Scotch 'mist, Lancashire 'hotpot, Bermuda 'shorts, Brighton 'rock, London 'pride.

(b) The vast majority of place-names, geographical features etc. have FES. This category includes:

□ regions, towns, suburbs, districts, natural features, e.g. East 'Anglia, New 'York, Castle 'Bromwich, Notting 'Hill, Silicon 'Valley, Land's 'End, Botany 'Bay.

□ bridges, tunnels, parks, public buildings and sports clubs, e.g. Hyde 'Park, (the) Severn 'Bridge, Paddington 'Station, Carnegie 'Hall, Manchester U'nited.

□ all street names, except street itself, e.g. Church 'Road, Trafalgar 'Square, Thorner 'Place, Churchill 'Way, Fifth 'Avenue. Cf. 'Church Street, Tra'falgar Street, etc.

(c) Parts of a building tend to have FES, e.g. back 'door, bedroom 'window, garden 'seat, office 'chair. Exceptions: compounds with -room are IES, e.g. 'living room, 'drawing room (but front 'room).

(d) FES applies where positioning of any sort is involved, e.g. left 'wing, Middle 'Ages, upper 'class, bottom 'line. Time location also tends to FES, e.g. morning 'star, afternoon 'tea, January 'sales, April 'showers, summer 'holiday.