Bisyllabic stress alternation

Bisyllabic stress alternation is a stress pattern that goes back to the Old English stress system, whereby verbs tended to have final (ultimate) stress, and nouns tended to have prefinal or penultimate stress. Today this survives in a few dozen pairs of words, including, oddly, some common words of Latin origin.

1 Latinate noun/verb pattern

Some words exist as verbs, and have an alternate life as nouns or adjectives. Some of these bisyllabic words have different stress patterns – ultimate stress for the verb forms, but changing to penultimate stress for their adjective or noun forms. A typical example is to recórd a récord. These are words from Latin that have become common enough to adopt the OE stress patterns. Most of these, like record, object, etc. are noun/verb [N/V] pairs, and most words in this list are also N/V pairs, except as noted, i.e., verb / adjective [V/Adj.] pairs and noun / adjective [N/Adj.] pairs. The word minute has distinct pronunciations: Noun=/mˈɪnɪt/, Adj.=/maɪnˈyu:t/.

noun		verb / adj.
cónflict	[controversy]	conflíct	[to clash]
cónduct	[one’s behavior]	condúct	[to lead, guide]
cóntent(s)	[subject matter]	contént	[be satisfied]
cóntest	[competition]	contést	[to dispute, challenge]
désert	[barren region]	desért	[to abandon]
dígest	[synopsis, summary]	digést	[to absorb]
éxploit	[notable act, adventure]	explóit	[to take advantage of]
íncrease	[enlargement]	incréase	[to make larger]
óbject	[item]	objéct	[to oppose, disagree]
pérmit	[written license]	permít	[to allow, consent]

The following is a complete list of such variations; those marked with an asterisk [*] are rare variants.

Noun	Verb/Adj.		Noun	Verb/Adj.
abstract	abstract		inset	inset
accent	accent		inset	inset*
addict	addict		insult	insult
affect	affect		interchange	interchange
affix	affix		interdict	interdict
alloy	alloy		intern	intern
ally	ally		introvert	introvert
alternate	alternate		invalid	invalid
annex	annex* [UK]		inverse	inverse
August	august		invite	invite
combat	combat		minute	minute
combine	combine		misconduct	misconduct
commune	commune		misprint	misprint
compact	compact		object	object
compound	compound		perfect	perfect
compress	compress		perfume*	perfume
concert	concert		permit	permit
concord	concord		pervert	pervert
conduct	conduct		postulate	postulate
confines	confines		prefix	prefix
conflict	conflict		presage	presage
conscript	conscript		present	present
conserve*	conserve		proceeds	proceeds
console	console		process	process
consort	consort		produce	produce
construct	construct		progress	progress
contact	contact		project	project
content	content		prolapse	prolapse
contest	contest		protest	protest
contract	contract		purport	purport
contrary	contrary		quadruple	quadruple
contrast	contrast		rampage	rampage
converse	converse		rebel	rebel
convert	convert		rebound	rebound
convict	convict		recap	recap
decoy	decoy		record	record
decrease	decrease		recount	recount
defect	defect		referee	referee
descant	descant		refill	refill
desert	desert (cf. dessert)		refit	refit
detail	detail		refund	refund
dictate	dictate		refuse	refuse
digest	digest		rehash	rehash
discard	discard		reject	reject
discharge	discharge		rejoin	rejoin
discount	discount		relay	relay
discourse	discourse*		remake	remake
entrance	entrance (=captivate)		remount	remount
escort	escort		replay	replay
essay	essay*		reprint	reprint
excess	excess*		rerun	rerun
excise	excise		resumé	resume
exploit	exploit		retake	retake
export	export		rethink	rethink
extract	extract		retread	retread
ferment	ferment		rewrite	rewrite
fragment	fragment		segment	segment
frequent	frequent		subcontract	subcontract
impact	impact		subject	subject
implant	implant		surmise*	surmise
import	import		survey	survey
impress	impress		suspect	suspect
imprint	imprint		torment	torment
incense	incense		transfer	transfer
incline	incline		transplant	transplant
increase	increase		transport	transport
indent	indent		upgrade	upgrade
inlay	inlay		uplift	uplift
insert	insert		upset	upset

2 Noun-verb compounds

More stress alternations like this occur with nouns and verbs build from phrasal verbs, e.g., <quotation> overlook, upset, outlay, foresee / foresight, outgrow / outgrowth, overload </quotation>

In compound nouns and verbs created from prepositions (like the particles off, over, out, up) plus a noun/verb word root, again a similar pattern is followed. In nouns, the first part of the compound receives primary stress, and the noun base (stem) receives secondary stress. In verbs, the verb stem receives primary stress, and the particle receives secondary stress.These words are usually from phrasal verbs (to hand óut, a hándout; an úpset, to be upsét), which are an Old English pattern. Most of these, like record, object, etc. are noun/verb [N/V] pairs, and most words in this list are also N/V pairs, except as noted, i.e., verb / adjective [V/Adj.] pairs and noun / adjective [N/Adj.] pairs.

NOUN prefix +stem	VERB prefix + stem
offset	offset
outgrowth	outgrow
overbid	overbid
overcharge	overcharge
overflow	overflow
overhang	overhang
overhaul	overhaul
overlap	overlap
overlay	overlay
overload	overload
overprint	overprint
overthrow	overthrow
overwork	overwork
undercharge	undercharge
undercut	undercut
underlay	underlay
underline	underline

3 Phrasal verb/noun patterns

Likewise, phrasal verbs are a type of compound verb, and usually the particle is stressed. But nouns derived from these phrasal verbs again have main stress on the first element.

NOUN prefix +stem	VERB prefix + stem
outcast	cast out
outlet	let out
outlook	look out
output	put out
turn-off	turn off