A Few General Rules

(a) Always stress the syllable before one that's pronounced [fn] -ssion/-tion, [fs] -cious/-tious, [fl] -cial/-tí al, etc.

e. g. a'ttention 'spacious, arti'ficial.

permission, consci'entious sub’stantial

(b) In words ending in -ic, -ical, -ically the stress is on the syllable before -ic (historic — historical — historically),

except 'Arabic, a'rithmetic, 'lunatic, 'heretic, 'politics, 'rhetoric (but in adjectives;. arith'metic, he'retical, po'litical, rhe'torical).

(c) A great many words are stressed on the last syllable but two. e. g. i'lluminate, ther'mometer, ge'ology, phi'losopher.

Words ending in -ology, -onomy, -osophy, -ologist, etc. always follow this rule.

(d) Words ending in -ese have the stress on this syllable, e. g. Chinese, journa'lese.

The following groups of words have two primary stresses:

1. Polysyllables with separable prefixes having a distinct meaning of their own:

Negative prefixes un-, dis-, поп-, in-, ir-, -il, im-; mis-:

‘ un 'able, ' disa 'ppear, ʼn on -'smoker, 'in'accurate, 'illegal, 'i'rregular, 'i'mmoral, 'misunderstand.

but: un'usual, im'possible, mi'stake.

2. Numerals from 13 to 19.

3. Compound numerals, e. g. 'twenty-'three.

4. Compound adjectives, e. g. 'well-'known, 'absent-'minded.

5. Compound verbs, e.g. to 'give 'in, to 'take 'off, to 'try 'on.

The majority of compound nouns are usually single-stressed: 'reading-room, 'apple-tree, 'raincoat, 'blackboard.

Double-stressed compound nouns are rare; e. g. 'gas-'stove, 'gas-'ring, 'absent-'mindedness, 'ice-'cream.

Compound adjectives have generally two stresses: 'clean-'shaven, Vell-'bred, 'first-'class.

Compound adjectives with only one stress on the first element occur when the second element is semantically weak, e. g. 'springlike, 'oval-shaped.

Exercise I. Read the following:

(a) un'aided, Warmed, 'anticy'clonic, ʼn on-'resident, 're'pack, 'ex-'minister, 'pre'paid, 'mi'sspell, 'mis'place, ʼn nder'dressed, Vice-'admiral, 'pre-'history, 'ultra-'fashionable.

(b) 'good-'looking, 'old-'fashioned, 'bad-'tempered, 'absent-'minded, 'home-'made, 'yeĩ lowish-'looking, 'square-'shaped.

(c) 'carry 'out, 'come a'cross, " get 'up, 'see 'off, 'go 'on, 'point 'out, 'sit 'down, 'fall 'out, 'blow 'out, 'fall 'back, 'bring 'forth.

(d) 'apple-tree, 'bystander, 'daybreak, 'birthday, 'pillow-case, 'schoolboy, 'suitcase, 'time-table, 'hair-do, 'housewife, 'nothing, 'nonsense, 'everything, 'fireplace.

(e) 'butterfly, 'newcomer, 'blacksmith, 'airplane, 'bluebottle, 'blackbird, 'strongbox, 'overwork.

(f) 'abstract — to ab'stract; 'commune — to co'mmune;

" contest — to con'test; 'rebel — to re'bel;

'import — to im'port; 'forecast — to fore'cast;

'produce — to pro'duce.

(g).modification,, aristo'cratic,.mathematician,.qualification,, archaeo'logical,.ornamen'tation,, represen'tation, ad.mini'stration, a, ssimi'lation, con.side'ration, examination.

Exercise II. Mark the stresses and read the words.

(a) completion, efficient, invasion, financial, advantageous, vivacious, photogenic, scientific, materiaĭ istic, musical, geographical, technical, psychology/psychological, meteorology/meteorologist, ideology/ideologist, Viennese, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Cantonese, Balinese.

(b) photograph, photographer, photographic;

politics, political, politician;

competing, competitor, competition;

analyse, analysis, analytical.

(c) teapot, washstand, mail-bag, grandfather, handwriting, shopkeeper, office-boy, waiting room, tape-recorder, ground-floor, crossquestion, flat-footed, second-hand, post-graduate, vice-president, greenish-looking, underpopulated, ultra-modern, non-payment, antinational, non-stop, reread, misuse, put on, fix up, pick out, make up, bluebell, black-face, bread-and-butter, red-book, blue-stocking.

(d) insult — to insult; object — to object,

subject — to subject; present — to present;

protest — to protest; outlay — to outlay,

outgo — to outgo; record — to record.

Exercise III. Read and memorize:

(a) 1. 'bad-'tempered 2. 'eigh'teen

a 'bad-tempered 'boy 'eighteen 'students

'John's bad-'tempered 'number eigh'teen

(b) 1. 'How can such a 'good-natured " woman 'have such a 'badtempered _vdaughter? 2. The 'mother's ex'tremely good-_xnatured | but the 'daughter is unbelievably bad-_vtempered. 3. There's a 'goodlooking _xgirl over, there. 4. She's 'quite good-Rooking. 5. The 'train 'leaves at 'three sixteen. 6. She's 'bought 'twenty-five _vbooks. 7. It 'happened in 'nineteen twenty-_xfive. 8. He was 'born in 'nineteen nineteen. 9. /Thirteen /fourteen /fifteen, sixteen /Seventeen /eighteen _xnineteen. 10. They were 'eighteen. 11. I said it 'sixteen _xtimes.

c) 'Picca'dilly 'Piccadilly 'Circus

Waterloo " Waterloo 'Station

Tra'fą lgar 'Square Trafalgar Square 'Fountains

'Hyde " Park 'Hyde Park 'Corner

The 'Albert 'Hall The 'Albert Hall 'concert

'Covent 'Garden 'Covent Garden " Market

Exercise IV. Transcribe, intone and read the dialogue:

Photography or Politics?

Diana: What have you decided to do after college, Jeremy?

Jeremy: I'm going to take up photography. Mr McKenzie's recommended the course at the Institute. He believes I could make a career as a photographer.

Diana: You'll have to develop your own photographs. That requires technical skill. Jeremy, you're not a technician! And photographic materials are very expensive.

Jeremy: Well, Diana, Mr McKenzie thinks there's a possibility I might win the Observer competition. I sent in four entries. All the competitors are amateurs, like myself.

Diana: I detest competitions. I never agree with the decision of the judges! I'm going to be a politician. I shall become the most distinguished woman on the political scene!

Jeremy: I thought you hated competing! Don't tell me politics isn't competitive!