SUFFIXES AND STRESS
Suffixes are
endings that add meaning to root words.
For example, “-ee” or “-eer” mean a person who does something, so an
“engineer “ is a person who makes or uses an engine and a “trustee” is someone
who is entrusted with another person’s property.
Because some languages have a regular,
predictable pattern of stress and other languages have an even intensity
pattern from syllable to syllable, the irregularity of American English
syllable stress can be confusing. However, there are rules of syllable stress
associated with suffixes. For example,
whenever you see “-ee” or “–eer” at the end of a word you know you should
emphasize that last syllable because it is usually the stressed syllable –
“en-gi-NEER”, “trus-TEE.” For words
with these suffixes: “-ity,” “-ic,”
“-ical,” and “tion,” the stress is on the syllable before the suffix.
a-BIL-i-ty
QUAL-i-ty
op-por-TUN-i-ty
LOG-ic
e-co-NOM-ics
QUES-tion
in-for-MA-tion
NA-tion-al