Rules
To determine the position of the stress of Latin terms:
- Vowels followed by two consonants are generally stressed. Thus Po-ten-tíl-la, as the I is followed by a double L.
- Diphthongs are to be stressed, too. Thus Al-tháe-a, as AE is a diphthong.
A word is normally stressed on the first syllable, unless there is a reason to put the stress somewhere else.
The "reason" is either suffixes (like -ity and -ion) or prefixes (like con-, dis-, ex- and in-).
If the suffix (ending) starts with the letters i or u, this will affect the position of stress in a word. Sample suffixes: -ion, -ual, -ial, -ient, -ious, -ior, -ic, -ity, etc. The stress comes on the syllable before the suffix. Examples: Atlantic, comic, sufficient, explanation, residual. There are only a very few exceptions to this rule.
Other suffixes do not affect the stress of a word. Sample suffixes: -al, -ous, -ly, -er, -ed, -ist, -ing, -ment Examples: permanent, permanently, develop, development
► Prefixes are not normally stressed in two-syllable words, except in some nouns or adjectives. Examples: To ex'pand, to de'fend; but an 'expert, a report. Disyllabic nouns starting with a prefix need to be learned individually.
► Prefixes are usually stressed in three-syllable nouns and adjectives, but not always stressed in verbs. Examples: 'Continent, 'incident, 'exercise; to con'sider, to en'visage but to 'indicate (All three-syllable verbs ending in -ate are stressed on the first syllable).
Rule 3 takes priority over all others, notably when a "rule 3 ending" is followed by a "rule 4 ending". Examples: perpetually, deliciously, conditional, conditioner, illusionist.
Read more about this topic: Syllable Stress Of Botanical Latin
Famous quotes containing the word rules:
“Ideas about life organize perception; names of emotions organize sensations; rules of syntax organize thought. But pain comes on its own.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Rules and particular inferences alike are justified by being brought into agreement with each other. A rule is amended if it yields an inference we are unwilling to accept; an inference is rejected if it violates a rule we are unwilling to amend. The process of justification is the delicate one of making mutual adjustments between rules and accepted inferences; and in the agreement achieved lies the only justification needed for either.”
—Nelson Goodman (b. 1906)
“If you do not regard feminism with an uplifting sense of the gloriousness of woman’s industrial destiny, or in the way, in short, that it is prescribed, by the rules of the political publicist, that you should, that will be interpreted by your opponents as an attack on woman.”
—Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957)