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    Stress shift towards word-final position
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    A strong tendency is present for primary stress, especially in multisyllabicmonomorphemes that have originally had stress on the initial syllable, to shift towards the end of such words, mainly to the final syllable, except in cases where this syllable is unstressed according to the Main Stress Rule of Afrikaans. Such stress shift is important independent evidence in support of this rule (see Overview of the Main Stress Rules of Afrikaans). Wissing describes a variety of such stress shifts towards the end of the word Afrikaans on the move.

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      In the following section, a representative number of examples of this phenomenon is given. Note that most of these examples are recognised by authoritative dictionaries, such as the pronunciation dictionary (Le Roux and Pienaar 1971) and HAT-6.

      Some of the cases mentioned here are, however, more recent shifts, noted personally by the author.

      Stress shift in simplexes
      Table 1: Stress shift in simplexes
      Examples
      akkusatief majesteit
      alikreukel marathon
      almanak marsepein
      asterisk medikus
      ewenaar nominatief
      halfkroon notule
      handhaaf Philander
      hinkepink rabbedoe
      holderstebolder redekawel
      horison samoerai
      hotnotsgot seldery
      hotnotsvy stadion
      inchoatief standaard
      infinitief Subaru
      Johann swetterjoel
      kakkerlak turksvy
      karnaval uniform
      kiepersol vennoot
      koggelmander waarsku
      kokkerot wederdoper
      korhaan Wilhelm
      lanterfanter Woltemade

      1. The position of stress in some of these words is in a state of flux; in some cases stress (still) varies between speakers, and even within the same speaker. This relates especially to ewenaar, kiepersol, majesteit, samoerai, stadion and uniform.
      2. Stress on the final syllable in handhaaf and waarsku is mostly heard in coloured Afrikaans.
      3. Items consisting of more than three syllables, like akkusatief, inchoatief, infinitief and nominatief, have word-final stress, which is in accordance with the MSR, that states that primary stress is final in words ending on closed syllables (see Short -oe in monomorphemes). Note that specifically these words are used in the case of Dutch as examples of exceptions to the Three-syllable Window Principle: "Primary stress can only fall on one of the last three syllables of a monomorphemic word" – see Booij (1995), Kager (1989) and Trommelen and Zonneveld (1989). In Afrikaans, in contrast, the relevant equivalents are exceptions neither to the MSR of Afrikaans nor to the more general Three-syllable Window Principle.
      4. The surname Woltemade has recently received penultimate stress; as is the case with many proper names of Germanic origin it originally exhibited initial stress.
      5. There is a growing tendency in Afrikaans for the stress in words ending on kus (as in medikus) to shift to the final syllable, cf. also longer words like akademikus and historikus, that originally had antepenultimate stress, similar to other -i- words (see Short -ie in monomorphemes).

      References
      • Booij, Geert1995The phonology of DutchOxfordOxford University Press
      • Kager, René1989A Metrical Theory of Stress and Destressing in English and DutchDordrechtForis
      • Le Roux, T.H. & Pienaar, P. de V1971Uitspraakwoordeboek van Afrikaans.Van Schaik
      • Trommelen, Mieke & Zonneveld, Wim1989Klemtoon en metrische fonologieMuiderbergCoutinho
      About this article
      Author(s): Daan Wissing
      Category: Afrikaans Phonology
      Keywords: stress shift
      Version: 1.0, May 2020
      Version history:
      version editor(s) date remarks
      1.0 Daan Wissing May 2020
      This is a beta version.
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