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Shifts in the Accent

This website uses symbols to transcribe phonemes (sounds). For an explanation of what these symbols represent, click here: vowels, consonants. The following special symbols are used:
ə Λ ā ē ī ō ū ű œ θ δ š ž č ĵ ŋ
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Note: an apostrophe ' is placed before the accented vowel.

Each English word has one accented syllable, which I mark with /'/ in transcription. Often, the accent shifts to a different syllable when a word is changed in some way. This often causes changes in the pronunciation of the vowels, such as vowel reduction.

There are several principles behind this, which I shall try to make as clear as possible. None of these principles operate in every posible case, but if you look at a lot of examples you may be able to see which principles have worked in each case. This should make it easier to remember the forms which exist as a result.

Principle: verbs tend to be accented on the final syllable: Observe the following pairs of words:
project /pr'oĵekt/ (or /pr'ōĵekt/) (substantive) vs. project /prəĵ'ekt/ (verb)
progress /pr'ōgres/ (or /pr'ogres/) (substantive) vs. progress /prəgr'es/ (verb)

These apear to have the underlying forms /prōĵekt/ and /prōgres/. As the substantives accented on the first syllable, these words may reduce their first vowel to /o/ but not all the way to /ə/. With the verbs accented on the final syllable, the first vowel reduces to /ə/.

English has some verbs in and adjectives ending with accented -ate, -ete, -it(e), which add the suffix -ion to form substantives in -ation, -etion, -ition, -ission:
inflate /infl'ēt/ (verb) vs. inflation /infl'ēšən/ (substantive)
complete /kəmpl'īt/ (verb) vs. completion /kəmpl'īšən/ (substantive)
delete /dil'īt/ (verb) vs. deletion /dil'īšən/ (substantive)
contrite /kəntr'ait/ (adjective) vs. contrition /kəntr'išən/ (substantive)
emit /im'it/ (adjective) vs. emission /im'išən/ (substantive)

Principle: final accent tends to become initial accent: Many of these verbs and adjectives have shifted their accent to the first syllable, but the substantives still have the accent in the older position:
imitate /'imitēt/ (verb) vs. imitation /imit'ēšən/ (substantive)
calculate /k'alkjūlēt/ (verb) vs. calculation /kalkjūl'ēšən/ (substantive)
simulate /s'imjūlēt/ (verb) vs. simulation /simjūl'ēšən/ (substantive)

Now note these words: the adjectives alternate and alternative both have accent on the second syllable, but the verb alternate has the pattern above:
alternate /olt'œrnət/ (adjective) vs. alternative /olt'œrnətiv/ (adjective)
alternate /'oltərnēt/ (verb) vs. alternation /oltərn'ēšən/ (substantive)

To understand why things like this happen, we must look consider these words as having an underlying form /oltœrnēt/ with no reduced vowels. This form does not occur in any of the four words: in each word, an unaccented vowel is reduced (/ē/ > /ə/ in the adjectives, and /œr/ > /ər/ in the other two words).

This word pair has the underlying for /dokjūment/, with the verb accented on the final syllable. The substantive has initial accent, and its final vowel is reduced to /ə/:
document /d'okjūmənt/ (substantive) vs. document /dokjūm'ent/ (verb)

Many speakers have moved the accent of the verb to the first syllable, so both words have initial accent, but the verb still has the full, non-reduced vowel. Thus the only difference between them is that the substantive has vowel reduction in an unstressed syllable where the verb does not:
document /d'okjūmənt/ (substantive) vs. document /d'okjūment/ (verb)

One of the most complex examples is the verb produce, with variations including produce /prəd'űs/ vs. product /pr'odΛkt/. For a discussion, see hard and soft stems.

Suffixes: adding more syllables to the end

Principle: if a long word is accented near the start, adding something to the end may shift its accent to a later position:
secondary /s'ekənderī/ + -ly > secondarily /sekənd'erilī/

Some speakers reduce the unstressed /e/ of secondary to zero giving /s'ekəndrī/.

We must see adjectives in -al with an underlying form /al/ rather than /əl/, as practical, underlying /praktikal/:
practical /pr'aktikəl/ + -al > practical /praktik'alitī/

In controversy + -al > controversial, adding underlying forms /kontrovœrsī/ + /al/ would create an extra syllable:
controversy underlying /kontrovœrsī/ > place accent /kontr'ovœrsī/ > unaccented vowels reduce /kəntr'ovərsī/
controversial underlying /kontrovœrsīal/ > place accent /kontrov'œrsīal/ > unaccented vowels reduce /kontr'əvœrsjəl/ > palatalise /kontr'əvœršəl/

The final pronunciation of controversial has the same number of syllables as controversy, but the accent has shifted because the underlying form would have more syllables. Once this shift has happened, the vowel reductions /ī/ > /j/, /o/ > /ə/ and /œr/ > /ər/ take place, and /sj/ becomes /š/ by palatalisation.

Adding a suffix can cause a shift in accent in shorter words, even those of two syllables:
sterile /st'erail/ + -ity > sterility /stər'ilitī/

Here the reverse of the usual pattern occurs: the letter i has a longer pronunciation /ai/ when unaccented, and a shorter pronunciation /i/ when accented. But in North America, adjectives in -ile are pronounced with /əl/, giving a more usual pattern with the unaccented vowel being reduced:
sterile /st'erəl/ + -ity > sterility /stər'ilitī/

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