Affixes

If the basic rules of stress looked rather untidy and replete with exceptions, the rules accompanying affixes can easily be said to overshadow the mono-morphemic roots. Since the addition of prefixes does not change word stress, our presentation will be on the varying effects of suffixes on word stress. We can classify the suffixes as:

(a) stress-bearing (attracting) suffixes;

(b) stress-shifting (fixing) suffixes;

(c) stress-neutral suffixes.

The common element between groups (a) and (b), when added to a root, is that they change the location of the stress from its original position. Stress-bearing suffixes attract the stress to themselves, while stress-shifting suffixes move the stress to some other syllable. Groups (b) and (c) have the common element of not carrying stress.