Transcript Document
LEVELS OF STRESS
Stress within the word:
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Looking at words said in isolation (a rather artificial situation except for ´yes`, ´no´, ´possibly´, ´please´, ´who?´, ´what?´) In a two-syllable word, e.g. ´around´, the stress always falls on the final syllable while the first syllable is weak / ә'raυnd/
Two-level analysis:
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Distinction between stressed and unstressed syllables with no intermediate levels BUT We have to recognise one or more INTERMEDIATE LEVELS.
Change of pitch
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On the second syllable the pitch of voice does not remain level, but rather falls from a higher to a lower pitch.
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This is the strongest type of stress called “primary stress”
Secondary stress
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In certain words there are patterns of stress weaker than primary stress but stronger than that of the first syllable of ´around´, e.g. in photographic anthropology It is called ´secondary stress´ and implies a third level which is the ´unstressed´
Unstressed syllables
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The unstressed level is regarded as the absence of any recognisable prominence
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Tertiary stress
It is possible in longer words to find another level of stress, e.g. in indivisibility / ֽındı vısı'bılıtı/
Stress within the word
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How can we select the correct syllable(s) to stress within a word?
In English word stress is difficult to predict – it is best treated as a property of the individual word Still, when English speakers come across unfamiliar words they usually know how to pronounce them: so, there must be some kind of “rules”
Decision on stress placement
depends on the following information: • • •
Whether the word is morphologically simple or complex (one or more affixes) or a compound
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What grammatical category it belongs to How many syllables the word has What the phonological structure of the syllables is
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Phonological structure of syllables
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affects many of the other rules:
Syllables can be divided into strong and weak Strong syllable has a rhyme composed of: long vowel/diphthong or a vowel + coda (1 or more cons.) - /'dai/ /'h α:t/ /'bæt/ Weak syllable has a syllable peak which is a short vowel and Ø coda unless the peak is / ә/ or /ı/, e.g.
/ r ı'dju:s/ /'hз: bı saıd/ /'әυ pәn/
It is true that
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We also find unstressed strong syllables (e.g. dialect)
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But
Only strong syllables can be stressed Weak syllables are always unstressed
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Two-syllable words
Stress is on either the 1 st or the 2 nd syllable In verbs, if the 2 nd syllable is strong, it is stressed ( ´apply´, ´arrive´) If the 2 nd syllable is weak, the 1 st syllable is stressed ( ´enter´, ´envy´) The 1 st syllable is also stressed in case the 2 nd syllable contains / әυ/ (´follow´, ´borrow´) Simple adjectives are stressed according to the same rule ´even´, ´correct´,´hollow´
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EXCEPTIONS:
Adjectives that end in strong syllables but are stressed on the 1 st : honest, perfect
• DIFFERENT RULE FOR NOUNS
: Stress on the 2 nd syllable unless it contains a short vowel: baloon, money Other two-syllable words seem to behave like verbs and adjectives
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Three-syllable words
VERBS
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Strong final syllable is stressed: ´entertain´
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If the final is weak, the preceding (penultimate) syllable (if strong) will be stressed: ´encounter´, ´determine´
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If they are both weak, the stress is on the 1 st : ´parody´
NOUNS
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Final weak syllable, or containing / әυ/, stress falls on the preceding: ´potato´, ´disaster´ If the final and penultimate are weak, stress is on the initial: ´quantity´ Stress tends to move to strong syllables!
But
:
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in 3-syllable simple nouns
with strong final syllable, stress still usually placed on the 1
st
: ´intellect´ • Adjectives behave in similar way: ´opportune´, ´insolent´
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The rules mentioned apply to major word classes: nouns, adjectives, verbs, not to function words
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Loan words would be interesting to study Alternative stress patterns: ´controversy´ Change of word stress according to the context