-ity Suffix Syllable Stress & Pronunciation Pattern

-ity suffix pronunciation

The /t/ of the -ity suffix is pronounced as an alveolar stop and is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /t̬/. The alveolar stop is known for sounding very similar to a quick /d/ sound. Because of the alveolar stop, the word "quality" sounds more like it is spelled "qualidy."  Learn more about /t/ being pronounced as /t̬/ when the /t/ is between vowel sounds here.

-ity suffix syllable stress pattern

The -ity suffix is a stress-controlling suffix and causes words that include it to be stressed on the third-from-last syllable.

classic: /ˈklæs ɪk/
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electric: /ɪ ˈlɛk trɪk/
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economic: /ˌɛk ə ˈnɑm ɪk/
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-ical, -ically Suffix Stress Examples

classical: /ˈklæs ɪk əl/
classically: /ˈklæs ɪk li/
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