Lecture 1 Phonetics as a Linguistic Science Plan

5. Accentual Structure of English Words

G.Torsuyev analyses the accentual structures of English words. He distinguishes 11 types of accentual structure of English words, the most widely spread of them are:

┴ (words with one primary stress as in “ˈafter”),

┴ ┴ (words with two primary stresses as in “ˈweek-ˈend”),

┯ and ┴ (words with one primary and one secondary stresses as in “ˈhair-ˌdresser, ˌmagaˈzine”).

These are the most typical accentual structure for the common English words. Besides, they are the most productive, i.e. borrowings and new words that appear in English are generally accentued accordingly.

The remaining accentual structures (┴ ┴ ┴ “ˈUˈSˈA”, ┴ ┴ ┴ ┴ “ˈUˈSˈSˈR”, ┴ ┴ ┯ “ˈunˈseaˌworthy”, ┴ ┯ ┴ “ˈmisˌinˈterpret”, ┴ ┯ ┯ “ˈunˌcircumˌcision”, ┯ ┯ ┴ “ˌindiˌvidualiˈzation”, ┯ ┴ ┯ “ˌgingerˈbeer-ˌbottle”) are less common in English.
6. The Place of Words Stress in English

The accentual structures of languages differ from each other by the position of word stress in the syllable structures of words.

There are languages in which the main stress falls on a definits syllable of any word. It may on the first syllable, as in Czech, Finnish, or the last syllable, as in French, Turkish.

E.g. nar odni, ci: sio, moh u – in Czech,

francai s, parler , bonjour – in French

Stress in such languages is said to be fixed. Fixed stress performs a delimitative function, because it delimits one word from another by signaling its boundaries, e.g. the stressed syllable in Czech signals the initial boundary of a word, in French it signals the final boundary of a word.

Stress that is not fixed to any particular in all words is called free. Stress in the English language is free.

Free word stress does not perform the delimitative function.

Free word stress may be of two subtypes:

1. The constant subtype – when word stress remains on the same morphemes in all the derivatives:

ˈwonderful phoˈnetic

ˈwonderfully phoˈnetically

ˈwonder phoˈnetics

2. The shifting stress which may fall on different morphemes in the derivatives of a word:

ˈphotograph ˈorigin

photoˈgraphic oˈriginal

phoˈtography


7. Functions of Word Stress

Word stress in English has several functions: the constitutive function, the distinctive function and the identificatory function.

Word stress has a constitutive function, as it moulds syllables into a word by forming its accentual structure. Without a definite accentual structure a word ceases to be a word and because a sequence of syllables.

Word stress has a distinctive function in English, because there exist different words in English with analogical sound structure which are differentiated in speech only by their accentual structure. E.g.,

Noun/Adjective Verb

ˈinsult inˈsult

ˈabˌstract ˌabˈstract or abˈstract

ˈacˌcent or ˈaccent ˌacˈcent or acˈcent

But are these words distinguished by different degrees of stress or are they distinguished by different accentual structures?

There exist two views on the problem.

Some linguists (G. Trager, A. Hill and V.Vassilyev) consider that degrees of word stress can be regarded as phonological units. Most of the American linguists consider degrees or word stress to be separate phonemes. Alongside the generally accepted phonemes they have introduced into their list 4 stress phonemes: primary, secondary, tertiary and weak stress phonemes.

V. Vassilyev analyses minimal pairs as “`ˈimport - imˈport” and states that in them primary stress and weak stress form phonological oppositions (primary stress vs. weak stress). The distinction in the meaning of the words “ˌcertifiˈcation-cerˌtifiˈcation”, according to V.Vassilyev, is based on the phonological opposition of secondary stress vs. weak stress.

On account of this, he regards the degrees of stress as phonological units, which he calls “accentemes”. He distinguishes three word accentemes in English, namely

primary accenteme,

secondary accenteme,

weak accenteme.

The second view is expressed by G. Torsuyev, H. Kurath, A. Gimson and others. They consider that it is the accentual structure of words that contrast with each other and not the degrees of stress.

Degrees of word stress can be perceived only in accentual structures as relatively strong, medium or weak stress, i.e. one syllables has stronger stress than any other, another syllable is less strong but stronger than the weak ones. Moreover in one accentual structure secondary stress may be stronger than primary stress in another accentual structure. Therefore, it is the accentual structures “primary stress + weak stress” and “weak stress + primary stress” that distinguish words as “ˈimport - imˈport”, “ˈinsult - inˈsult”.

Word stress has an identificatory function (or recognitive function) as well, because the accentual structures of words enable people to identify definite combinations of sounds as meaningful linguistic units, namely, words. A distortion of the accentual structure may either hamper understanding or produce a strange accent.

Word stress in English has no delimitative function, as it is free shifting word stress.

8. Accentual Tendencies in English

Though word stress in English is called free, it is not really free of any accentual tendencies. There are certain tendencies in English which regulate the accentuation of words to a certain extent.

Linguists, who have made a thorough study of English word stress, have agreed upon the existence of two main accentuation tendencies in English: the recessive tendency and the rhythmic tendency.

According to the recessive tendency stress falls on the first syllable which is generally the root syllable (e.g. “ˈmother, ˈfather, ˈsister, ˈbrother, ˈready, ˈwindow”) or on the second syllable in words which have a prefix of no special meaning (e.g. , “beˈcome, inˈdeed, forˈgive, beˈhind”).

The recessive tendency in stressing words is characteristic of words of Anglo-Saxon origin, and the recessive tendency has influenced many borrowings (e.g. “ˈexcellent, ˈgarage”).

The second tendency in word stress is the so-called rhythmic tendency.

In the English language a considerable part of the vocabulary consists of monosyllabic words, some of which are stressed, others not.” This created the rhythmic tendency to alternate stressed and unstressed syllables. According to the rhythmic tendency, stress is on the 3rd syllable from the end in a great number of words (e.g. “ˈrecognize, ˈpossible, possiˈbitity”).

It is the usual way of stressing four-syllabled words. E.G., “poˈlitical, deˈmocracy, iˈdentify, comˈparison”.

In word with more than four syllables we very often find the influence of both the rhythmic and the recessive tendencies. E.g., “ˌindiˈvisible, ˌinefˈficiency, ˌphysiˈology, ˌphonoˈlogical”

In rapid colloquial style the two tendencies very often coincide as one of the vowels is elided. E.g. ˈterrit (o) ry, ˈdiction(a)ry.

The rhythmic tendency remains a strong one and it affects the accentual structures of a large number of words in modern English. Thus, in some polysyllabic words there is a tendency nowadays to avoid a succession of weak syllables, especially is these have /ə/ or /I/.

As a result, there appears as accentuation shift with a rhythmic alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables. This tendency is clearly evident in the second (new) pronunciation of the following words:

ˈexquisite or exˈquisite ˈcapitalist or caˈpitalist

ˈprecedence or preˈcendence ˈcontroversy or conˈtroversy

ˈsonorous or soˈnorous ˈhospitable or hosˈpitable

Analyzing the accentuation structures of derivatives and their parent words, I. Wolfson noticed that the stress of the parent word is often retained in the derivatives.

Cf. ˈsimilar - assimiˈlation, simiˈlarity

ˈpersonal - ˌpersoˈnality, ˈnation -ˌnatioˈnality.

I. Wolfson calls it the retentive tendency in English.

There is one more accentuation tendency in English: the tendency to stress the most important elements in words. Such meaningful prominence is given to negative prefixes (as in “ˈunˈknown, ˈinarˈtistic, ˈmisbeˈhave”), meaningful prefixes (as in “ˈex-ˈpresident, ˈvice-ˈpresident, ˈsub-ˈeditor, ˈunderˈmine”), suffix “-teen” (as in ˈthirˈteen, ˈfourˈteen”), semantically important element in compound words (as in “ˈwell-ˈknown, ˈred-ˈhot, ˈbad-ˈtempered”).

These are the numerous tendencies that to some extent regulate the accentuation of words in English.