Words and sounds: pronouncing words ending in “-ics”

🔊 المعلّمة تقرأ لك

« Ethics are moral beliefs about what is right or wrong. » « Ethics is the study of moral beliefs. » The same word — and the verb changes: are, then is. Now say the word out loud: which part of it is strong? Words ending in -ics fill the vocabulary of business and morality — ethics, economics, statistics. So how do you pronounce them, and which verb do they take?

🎓في نهاية هذا الدرس ستكون قادرا على:

نطق الكلمات المنتهية بـ ⁦-ics⁩ ونبر المقطع الذي يسبق هذه النهاية، مثل ⁦statistics⁩
ملاحظة انتقال النبر في عائلة الكلمة الواحدة: ⁦economy, economist, economic, economical⁩
اختيار الفعل المفرد أو الجمع بعد ⁦ethics⁩ و ⁦statistics⁩ بحسب المعنى
قراءة الرموز الصوتية لتحديد المقطع المنبور في الكلمة

🔑يفترض هذا الدرس أنّك تتقن:

معنى المقطع المنبور في الكلمة
قراءة رمز صوتيّ بين شرطتين مائلتين
الفعل المفرد والفعل الجمع في الحاضر البسيط

1. Words ending in -ics: where is the stress?

الكلمات المنتهية بـ ⁦-ics⁩ تُنطق نهايتها ⁦/ɪks/⁩، ويقع النبر غالبا على المقطع الذي يسبق هذه النهاية مباشرة. اقرأ الجمل بصوت مرتفع قبل أن تفتح الجواب.

Many nouns end in -ics, pronounced /ɪks/: ethics, statistics, economics, mathematics. Many of them are the names of subjects of study. In most of them, the stress falls on the syllable just before -ics: ethics /ˈeθɪks/, statistics /stəˈtɪstɪks/, mathematics /ˌmæθəˈmætɪks/, economics /ˌiːkəˈnɒmɪks/. Most — not all: politics /ˈpɒlətɪks/ is stressed on its first syllable.

Words in -ics and their stress

Word	Pronunciation	Stressed syllable
ethics	ˈeθɪks	eth
statistics	stəˈtɪstɪks	tis
mathematics	ˌmæθəˈmætɪks	mat
economics	ˌiːkəˈnɒmɪks	nom

IPA symbols are given bare; read them between slashes: ˈeθɪks = /ˈeθɪks/. The mark ˈ comes before the stressed syllable.

Consider these four sentences

A. Ethics are moral beliefs about what is right or wrong. B. Ethics is the study of moral beliefs. C. Statistics are collections of information in numbers. D. Statistics is a branch of mathematics.

Task 1 — What do you notice about the ending of ethics and statistics, and about the syllable you hear most?

ماذا تلاحظ في نهاية ⁦ethics⁩ و ⁦statistics⁩؟ وأيّ مقطع تسمعه أقوى؟

Both words end in -ics, said /ɪks/. And in both, the strong syllable is the one just before the ending: ethics, statistics. Say them slowly — eth-ics, sta-tis-tics — and let the voice rise on that syllable.

Task 2 — What do you notice about the verbs that come after these words? When do we use the singular?

ماذا تلاحظ في الفعل الذي يأتي بعد هاتين الكلمتين؟ ومتى نستعمل المفرد؟

A and C take a plural verb (are): the word refers to the things themselves — the moral beliefs, the collections of numbers.
B and D take a singular verb (is): the word names a subject of study — « the study of moral beliefs », « a branch of mathematics ».

So a noun in -ics that names a subject or a science takes the singular: « Mathematics is my favourite subject. » When it means the facts or the figures, it takes the plural: « The statistics of this report are worrying. »

Do this alone, out loud. ① Read sentences A to D out loud, putting the stress on the syllable before -ics: ethics, statistics. ② Record yourself on your phone, then listen back once. Ask yourself one question only: did the voice rise on eth and on tis — and not on the ending? ③ Read them a second time, and stop when the answer is yes.

أنجزها وحدك بصوت مرتفع: اقرأ الجمل الأربع ناطقا النبر على المقطع الذي يسبق النهاية، ثمّ سجّل صوتك واستمع إليه مرّة واحدة.

2. The stress moves: economy, economic

في عائلة الكلمة الواحدة قد ينتقل النبر: النهاية ⁦-ic⁩ تجذبه إلى المقطع الذي يسبقها، فنقول ⁦e-CON-o-my⁩ لكن ⁦e-co-NOM-ic⁩.

In a word family, the stress does not always stay in the same place. The endings -ic, -ical and -ics pull the stress onto the syllable just before them: economy, but economic. Before you say a new member of a family, look at its ending.

Put a stress mark on the syllable you hear most in each word

economize (v)economy (n)economist (n)economic (adj)economical (adj)uneconomical (adj)

Task 3 — the stress, and what you notice

حدّد المقطع المنبور في كلّ كلمة، ثمّ قل ماذا لاحظت.

Class	Word	Pronunciation
verb	economize	ɪˈkɒnəmaɪz
noun	economy	ɪˈkɒnəmi
noun	economist	ɪˈkɒnəmɪst
adjective	economic	ˌiːkəˈnɒmɪk
adjective	economical	ˌiːkəˈnɒmɪkl
adjective	uneconomical	ˌʌnˌiːkəˈnɒmɪkl

IPA symbols are given bare; read them between slashes: ˈeθɪks = /ˈeθɪks/. The mark ˈ comes before the stressed syllable.

Economize, economy and economist are stressed on the second syllable: econ-. Economic, economical and uneconomical are stressed on -nom-, the syllable just before -ic: the third syllable of economic and economical, the fourth of uneconomical. The prefix un- does not move the stress.

3. More nouns in -ics

كلمات أخرى تنتهي بـ ⁦-ics⁩: انطق كلّ واحدة، وابحث عن مقطعها المنبور.

Say each word and find its stressed syllable

physicselectronicsathleticsgeneticspoliticsmathematics

Task 4 — the stressed syllables

المقاطع المنبورة.

Word	Pronunciation	Stressed syllable
physics	ˈfɪzɪks	phys
electronics	ɪˌlekˈtrɒnɪks	tron
athletics	æθˈletɪks	let
genetics	dʒəˈnetɪks	net
politics	ˈpɒlətɪks	pol
mathematics	ˌmæθəˈmætɪks	mat

IPA symbols are given bare; read them between slashes: ˈeθɪks = /ˈeθɪks/. The mark ˈ comes before the stressed syllable.

Five words follow the rule: the stress is on the syllable before -ics. Politics is the exception: pol-i-tics, stressed on its first syllable. Learn it apart.

Pronunciation is examined in writing, not aloud: the paper asks you to classify words by their stressed syllable, or to find the odd one out. Have three things ready: ① the stress falls on the syllable just before -ic, -ical or -ics (economic, statistics); ② in a word family, the stress can move (economy → economic); ③ an -ics noun that names a subject takes a singular verb (Statistics is a branch of mathematics). ⚠️ The frequent mistake: stressing economic like economy. Find the ending, then step back one syllable — and remember the exception, politics.

What I keep — Nouns in -ics end in /ɪks/ and are usually stressed on the syllable just before the ending: ethics, statistics, mathematics, economics — but politics. In a family, the endings -ic, -ical and -ics pull the stress towards them: economy, economist, but economic, economical. And an -ics noun naming a subject takes a singular verb (Ethics is the study of moral beliefs), while the same word meaning the beliefs or the figures takes a plural one (Ethics are moral beliefs).

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