Compound stress is a lexical①stress pattern that you should payattention to！When you place inappropriate stress within a compound phrase，it makes the intonation②of the whole sentence soundstrange．
First of all，what is a compound noun or phrase？Basically，it is a noun phrase composed oftwoother nouns．It can be one word，in the case of“doghouse”，or twowords，like“English teacher”，or，“compound stress”．When youform a construction like this，alwaysplace emphasis on the first of thetwo nouns．
The one-word compoundnounsare fairly easy to get right，as most multisyllable words inEnglish conform to this pattern．One-word compounds are composed of two separate words：often they are nouns，but they can alsobe composed of an adjective and anoun，a verb and a noun，an adverb and a noun，an adverb and averb or many other possible combinations and in any case arestressed the same way！
Noun ＋Noun
sunshine
doghouse
lampshade
Two-word compound nounphrases are all around us！eg．
Places：
barber shop
post office
movie theater
Don't confuse a compoundnoun phrase with aregular adjectival noun phrase！Theemphasis on these is always onthe noun，and not the adjective．
a red rose
some pretty girls
a digital camera
However，certain compound phrases are composed of an adjective ＋nounconstruct，like“Chinese food”and“primary school”．and these phrases arepronounced just like noun ＋noun compounds．You can sometimes make a goodguess about these by analyzing theirmeaning ，but a lot of the time they'rejustidiosyncrasies①you may have to remember．
Compounds made of three or more words are always kind of tricky．Seeif you can understand these noun compounds！
the coffee pot lid
a fairy tale ending
a middle school student
Just like most other grammar patterns in English，there are some exceptionsto the compound noun rule．Sometimescompound stress is used to distinguisha proper noun or other compound noun from an adjectival noun phrase．Forexample，“white house”could mean any house that is painted white，but“WhiteHouse”means The White House in Washington，D．C．，where the President of theUnited States resides．Also，a“TOYstore”is a store where toys are sold，but a“toy STORE”is a miniature store that is actuallya toy．
Also，when citing street names in English，be careful！Listen to the fol-lowing street names and see if you cantell which of them follow a pattern ofcompound stress：
Linden Lane
University Avenue
Main Street
Ridgewood Drive
When discussing professions or occupations，as a general rule，usecompound stress：
ballet dancer
guidance counselor
movie star
However，there are a few exceptions to this：
school nurse
district attorney
With this understanding of compoundstress，you should be well on yourway to good English intonation！Congratulations！
