Morphology & Pronunciation

Have you heard anything about morphology before? Well, there's no need to worry because I'm gonna tell you all about it here. What are you waiting for?

In this lesson, first, we are going to see the rules of adding a suffix or a prefix to a word and then talk about compound nouns containing double consonants.

Affixes & Pronunciation

Prefixes always end with a consonant and are positioned before a word starting with a consonant. However, the two consonants are not considered to be digraphs. As a result, the pronunciation of such words is based on the main sound of each consonant.

unknown /ʌnˈnoʊn/

un + known (two consonants)

discharge /dɪsˈtʃɑːrdʒ/

disconnect /ˌdɪs.kəˈnekt/

Tip

If a word ends with a consonant and has only one vowel, like 'thin', to add a suffix, the final consonant must be repeated:

chopping /tʃɑːpɪŋ/

chop + p + ing

bigger /bɪɡɜːr/

big + g + er

thinnest /θɪnɪˈst/

thin + n + est

Compound Nouns & Pronunciation

A compound is made up of two or more elements that can be adjectives, verbs, nouns, etc., and makes an adjective, nouns, etc.
In terms of pronunciation, it is important to know that if two or more consonants stand together in a compound, they never make digraphs. In other words, each of them represents a single sound.

sharpshooter /ˈʃɑːrpˌʃuː.t̬ɚ/

sharp + shooter ('ps' is not a digraph.)

sheepshearing /ˈʃiːp ˌʃɪr.ɪŋ/

sheep + shearing

bighead /ˈbɪɡ.hed/

big + head ('gh' is not a digraph.)