paroxytone
/pəˈrɒksɪtoʊn/
noun
- A word that has the stress or accent on the second-to-last syllable.
- In English, 'banana' is a paroxytone because the stress falls on the second syllable.
- The teacher explained that many Spanish words are paroxytones, like 'casa' and 'mesa'.
- Linguists classify paroxytones as one of the common stress patterns in language.
adjective
- Having the stress or accent on the second-to-last syllable.
- In Italian, most words are paroxytone, making them easy to pronounce for learners.
- She studied the paroxytone pattern in ancient Greek poetry.
- The word 'computer' is paroxytone, with the stress on the 'pu' syllable.