Stress in compound words - are there any rules for that?

English Fan   Tue Sep 12, 2006 2:25 pm GMT
Are there any rules for how compound words should be stressed? When I come across words like "answering machine", "winter jacket" or "life buoy" I always wonder how they should be stressed. Is it safe to assume that stress always falls on the first syllable of the first word, and then on the syllable that is normally stressed in the second word?
janek   Sun Sep 17, 2006 10:49 am GMT
Usually the first word of the phrase is stressed, but there are exceptions.
Sho   Sun Sep 17, 2006 1:59 pm GMT
Somehow some compound words tends to have stress on the primary stressed syllable of the second words, while the majority have them on the first word.

MOvie theater
INternet access

but

apple PIE
school PLAY

I'm not sure whether there's a rule or not.
Lazar   Sun Sep 17, 2006 4:17 pm GMT
<<Is it safe to assume that stress always falls on the first syllable of the first word, and then on the syllable that is normally stressed in the second word?>>

Um...no, in my speech at least, there are many compound words where the stress is (secondary...primary) rather than (primary...secondary). I'll be glad to show how I stress any compound words. (In the words below, the capitalization shows where I put the primary stress.)

"ANSWERING machine"
"LIFE buoy"
"INTERNET access"
"CREAM cheese"

"winter JACKET"
"apple PIE"
"school PLAY"
"thanksGIVING"
"backYARD"
francisco   Thu Sep 21, 2006 3:15 am GMT
I'm afraid that the stressing of compounds in English is impossible to master in a nativelike way. I try my best to remember those compouds I use, yet the list is never ending and some of them seem to have options. Nowadays Longman's pronunciation dictionary as well as Cambridge's can help you, in a sort of disjointed manner. If you want an exhaustive list, I refer you to "The Groundwork of English Stress", by Roger Kingdon (a very old book, but extremely thorough).
Asrar   Sun Jun 10, 2007 6:42 am GMT
Are the exceptions in stressing compound words?