Unit 14. Dis'organised and ,Recon'sider.
Prefixes and Word Stress (1)
Unit 14; Part A
Some words are made up of a prefx and a root: prefix→ |
| ←root |
Common prefxes include: de-, dis-, il-, re-, un-. Sometimes the root can be used as an independent word (e.g. like), but other roots cannot (e.g. renounce and denounce, but not 'nounce').
Unit 14; Part B
In some words the prefix is unstressed and is only made prominent (see Unit 10) for particular contrast. Compare: A: Do you enjoy driving? B: No, I really disLIKE it. A: I thought you LIKED driving? B: No, I really DISlike it. Words like this are usually shown as having only one (main) stressed syllable: dislike /dι'slaιk/ Other words like dislike include:
Other words with these prefixes have secondary stress on the prefix: ,decom'pose ,recon'sider ,unaf'fected (See Unit 15C for stress shift in words like these.) |
Unit 14; Part C
In words with de- and re- prefixes, the prefix is usually pronounced /dι-/ and /rι-/ if it is unstressed and /di:-/ and /ri:-/ if it has secondary stress. Compare: de'grade /di-/ but: ,decom'pose /di:-/ re'claim /rι-/ but: ,recon'sider /ri:-/ A few words with de- and re- prefxes are usually pronounced with an unstressed /-ι-/ in the prefix when they are used as a verb and a stressed /-i:-/ in the prefix when they are used as a noun. Compare: Interest is likely to decrease. (/dι'kri:s/) but: There has been a decrease (/'di:kri:s/) in interest. |
Unit 14; Part D
Some words beginning re- have the same spelling but a different stress and meaning depending on whether re- means 'again' or not. Compare:
Note: When re- means 'again', the words are sometimes spelt with a hyphen, e.g. re-cover, re-count. |
Exercises
| Unit 13 Unit 14 Unit 15 | |