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Suffix

Grammar
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A morpheme appended to the end of a word to modify meaning or function

Detailed Definition
A suffix is a morpheme added to the end of a word to alter its meaning or grammatical function (e.g., “-ness,” “-ly,” “-tion”), and in poetry, suffixes can be manipulated for rhythmic effect, semantic nuance, or neologism; poets may emphasize or repeat suffixes to create sonic patterns (e.g., assonance in “-ation” endings) or coin words that extend conceptual boundaries, as in Shakespeare’s inventive derivations like “honey-tongued.”
Example
Example in poetry:
A suffix modifies a word’s meaning or function: “-ness” in “happiness” turns adjective to noun; “-ly” in “quickly” makes adverb; “-ful” in “hopeful” adds quality; “-less” in “fearless” negates.
Additional Notes
Suffix|An affix added to the end of a word to form a new word or to change its function (e.g., -ing, -ness, -ly); poets manipulate suffixes to create new words (neologisms) or alter rhythm.
Also Known As
Word ending Affix Morphological ending
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