stress of polysyllabic words

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………….2

1 WORD STRESS……………………………………………………………..4

1. 
   Stress in polysyllabic words…………………………………………………4
   
2. 
   Stress as a complex phenomenon……………………………………………6
   
3. 
   Degrees of stress…………………………………………………………….10
   
4. 
   Stress change in polysyllabic words………………………………………...18
   

2 SENTENCE STRESS……………………………………………………….21

2.1 Components of stress-and-pitch in a sentence……………………………..21

2.2 Stress change in polysyllabic words in a phrase…………………………..22

2.3 Alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in a phrase………………23

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………...26

REFERENCIES…………………………………………………………………..27

INTRODUCTION

Speech can be broken into minimal pronounceable units into which sounds are divided. These smallest phonetic groups are called syllables. The syllable is a complicated phenomenon and like a phoneme it can be studied on four levels - articulatory, acoustic, auditory andfunctional.

The sequence of syllables in the­ word is not pronounced identically. The syllable or syllables which are uttered with more prominence than the other syllables of the word are said to be stressed or accented. The correlation of varying prominences of syllables in a word is understood as the accentual structure of the word or its stress pattern.

The theme of the course paper is extremely important for the English language learners. That’s why we think that this theme is actual for the study of English language and for the development the English language study.

The subject of the investigation is accentual structure of polysyllabic words.

The object of the investigation covers word stress of polysyllabic words, degrees of stress, stress change in polysyllabic words, stress change in polysyllabic words and change of their meaning, it also covers sentence stress.

The aim of the investigation is to clear out the correct pronunciation of English polysyllabic words, to describe the main rules of stress change of polysyllabic words in a phrase.

The objectives of the work are the following:

1. 
   Give a definition to the concepts word stressand sentence stress;
   
2. 
   Investigate the peculiarities of stress in polysyllabic words;
   
3. 
   Observe differentiation of stress position on polysyllabic word and its meaning;
   
4. 
   Observe alternation of stress in polysyllabic words in a phrase.
   

As the material base of the investigation in this paper were used works of such scientists as Buraya E.A. “Phonetics of Modern English Language”, Vasiliev V.A. “English Phonetics”, Krassa S.I. “Theoretical Phonetics of English Language”, Leontieva S.F. “Theoretical Phonetics of Contemporary English Language”.

The structure of the work includes introduction, two chapters and conclusion.

In the introduction are set object, subject, aim and objectives of the paper. In it is observed the importance of the work and the material base of it. Also in the paper is presented the structure of it and are given the main features of introduction, of the first and second chapters and of conclusion of this paper.

In the first chapter a word stress is investigated. In this chapter we observe stress in polysyllabic words, the constituted parts of word stress such as pitch direction, quantitative and qualitative characteristics of word stress, degrees of stress and stress change of polysyllabic words.

In the second chapter the sentence stress is observed. In the centre of the investigation in this chapter lay components of stress-and-pitch in a sentence, stress change in polysyllabic words in a phrase and alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in a word.

1. 
   WORD STRESS
   

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In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word, or to certain words in a phrase or sentence. The term is also used for similar patterns of phonetic prominence inside syllables. The word accent is sometimes also used with this sense.

1. 
   Stress in polysyllabic words
   

Word stress in a language performs three functions.

1. Word stress constitutes a word, it organizes the syllables of a word into a language unit having a definite accentual structure, that is a pattern of relationship among the syllables; a word does not exist without the word stress Thus the word stress performs the constitutive function. Sound continuum becomes a phrase when it is divided into units organized by word stress into words.

2. Word stress enables a person to identify a succession of syllables as a definite accentual pattern of a word. This function of word stress is known as recognitive. Correct accentuation helps the listener to make the process of communication easier, whereas the distorted accentual pattern of words, misplaced word stresses prevent normal understanding.

3. Word stress alone is capable of differentiating the meaning of words or their forms, thus performing its distinctive function. The accentual patterns of words or the degrees of word stress and their positions form oppositions, e.g. 'import — im'port, 'billow — below [11].

The accentual structure of English words is liable to instability due to the different origin of several layers in the Modern English word-stock. In Germanic languages the word stress originally fell on the initial syllable or the second syllable, the root syllable in the English words with prefixes. Most English words of Anglo-Saxon origin as well as the French borrowings are subjected to this recessive tendency. Unrestricted recessive tendency is observed in the native English words having no prefix, e.g. mother, daughter, brother, swallow, in assimilated French borrowings, e.g. reason, colour, restaurant. Restricted recessive tendency marks English words with prefixes, e.g. foresee, begin, withdraw, apart. A great number of words of Anglo-Saxon origin are monosyllabic or disyllabic, both notional words and form words. They tend to alternate in the flow of speech, e.g. 'don't be'lieve he's 'right [12].

The rhythm of alternating stressed and unstressed syllables gave birth to the rhythmical tendency in the present-day English thinks Pocheikina J.A. This tendency causes the appearance of the secondary stress in the multisyllabic French borrowings, e.g. revolution, organisation, assimilation. It also explains the placement of primary stress on the third syllable from the end in three- and four-syllable words, e.g. 'cinema, 'situate, ar'ticulate. The interrelation of both the recessive and the rhythmical tendencies is traced in the process of accentual assimilation ofthe French-borrowed word personal on the diachronic level, e.g. perso'nal — 'perso'nal — 'personal [12].

The appearance of the stress on the first syllable is the result of the recessive tendency and at the same time adaptation to the rhythmical tendency. The recessive tendency being stronger, the trisyllabic words like personal gained the only stress on the third syllable from the end, e.g. 'family, 'library, faculty, 'possible.

Another tendency was traced in the instability of the accentual structure of English word stress: a derivative often retains the stress of the original or parent word, e.g. 'similar — as'simitate, recom'mend — recommen 'dation.

The structure of English syllables can be summarized as follows:

1. Many syllables have one or more consonants preceding the nucleus. These make upthe syllable onset: me, so, plow.

2.Many syllables have one or more consonants, following the nucleus. They make up the syllable coda. They are traditionally known as closed syllables: cat, jump.

3.The combination of nucleus and coda has a special significance, making up the rhyming property of a syllable [1].

2. 
   Stress as a complex phenomenon
   

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The English linguists say that in English language word stress or accent is a complex phenomenon, marked by the variations in force, pitch, quantity and quality. The dynamic and the tonic features of English word stress prevail over the others. It should be noted that when the tonic or musical component of word stress is involved it is the change of pitch level that is significant in making the syllable prominent, but not the type of tone direction. According to this Sokolova, M.A. presents the words ‘import (n) and im’port (v). These words are pronounced on a level tone and each vowel has its own length. It is very difficult to distinguish these words from each another. These words are subject to pitch change, which contributes to the syllabic prominence. [7, p.122] Let us turn to the following scheme:

‘ Import

Im’port

S okolova, M.A. notes that “the placement of the pitch change marks the seat of the stress” and that “ the very type of pitch change, its direction, does not influence the word stress”.[7, p.122]. For example:

‘Import.

‘Import?

According to this example we can see that the pitch direction was changed but the stress remained the same.

For word stress qualitative and quantitative components are very significant, too. Certain distinctions of the vowel length are reduced or lacking in unstressed syllables. Accentuation is influenced by the vowel length and quality. The vowel in the stressed syllable is never subject to reduction or obscure and pronounced longer than the vowel in the unstressed syllable.

The accentual structure of words is actually very closely connected with their semantic value. By way of illustration we shall now analyze a fairly large class of words in English which are marked by two primary stresses (Accentual Type II). They are either compounds consisting of two semantically imp­ortant stems or words with semantically relevant separable prefixes or the suffix -teen. The accentual pattern of this group of words is regulated by the meaningful weight of the elements of ­the com­ pounds. Word stress establishes contrastive relationship of the elements and often creates opposition to comparable words. Most of compound adjectives have two equal stresses as both elements in them are semantically important.

'absent-'minded,

'lelt -'handed,

'good -'looking.

As soon as the significance of .one of the elements of a compound adjective is weakened, its accentual pattern is chang­ed.

e.g. 'spring-like, 'nymph-like, 'powder-like;

'oval-shaped, 'bow-shaped.

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The same tendency is observed in compound nouns: If their elements are semantically important both elements are equally stressed (Accentual Type II), e.g. 'north-'east, 'north-'west, 'south-

'west.

At the same time, as we very well know, most of compound nouns have one stress on the first element which is more signifi­cant than the second one. They are sometimes opposed to other compounds with the same second element.

'dining-room

'bedroom

'bathroom

'living-room

'shop-girl

'ballet-girl.

Compound verbs have two equal stresses as their postpositions change the actual meaning of the verb itself as it is illustrated in the following example:

What shall I do with it?

- 'Put it where it ,was.

- 'Put it ,on.

- 'Put it ,off.

­ Oppositions are also found among compound verbs:

to 'switch 'on to 'switch 'off

to 'turn 'on to 'turn 'off

Words with meaningful prefixes are likewise semantically opposed to those without prefixes. Compare:

'educated 'un'educated

'regular 'ir'regular

'please 'dis'please

'cyclone 'anti'cyclon

,under'stand 'misunder'stand

Compound numerals have naturally two equal stresses, making both elements significant.

'twenty-'three

'sixty-'live

Numerals with the -teen suffix are marked by two stresses to oppose them to the numerals with the unstressed suffix -ty. If the suffix -teen is not stressed the vowel [i:] in it is shortened and obscured, the sonant [0] is weakened, there is consequently a danger of misunderstanding.

'What ,page is it? II

'Seven,teen. II

'Seven ,teen I or ,seventy? III [7]

The above-given illustrations show how important it is in teaching practice to make the students realize that the accentual structure of words is conditioned by the semantic interrelation of their elements. The teacher should attract the students' attention to the correlation between the accentual and semantic structures of words which will save the students many mistakes. The regulation of the accentuation in the Russian language is too complicated and is practically unpredictable. The stress may fall on the same morpheme in the derivatives where word-formation is performed by the grammatical means alone. In another group of words the stress may effect different morphemes of the word participating in the word-formation alongside with the grammatical means [4].

­It is interesting to note that Russian word stress may have stylistic distinction and poetic usage. The complicated system of the accentual structure of English words makes teacher trainees be very attentive to the subject. The typical mistakes of Russian learners in the sphere of word stress are the mispronunciation of:

1. words with the main and secondary stresses (,conver'sational);

2. words with two equal stresses in connected speech ('up'stairs, 're'organize);

3. words with the full vowel in the unstressed syllable ('architect).

The instability of English accentual structure of words presents much difficulty for Russian learners. Students' attention should be attracted to English multisyllabic words the accentual structure of which is regulated by the rhythmical tendency.

The semantic factor in defining the accentual structure of compounds should be most decisive, as it has been illustrated above. One more group of words requires learne­rs' attention, the group which forms accentual oppositions of different parts of speech by way of conversion accompanied by the shifting of stress.

'combine (n) -com'bine (v),

'insult (n) - in'sult (y).

2. 
   Degrees of stress
   

The word stress in English as well as in Russian is not only free but it may also be shifting, performing the semantic function of differentiating lexical units, parts of speech, grammatical forms. It is worth noting that in English word stress is used as a means of word-building, in Russian it marks both word-building and word formation, e.g.

'contrast - con'trast

'habit - ha'bitual

'music - mu'sician

There are actually as many degrees of stress in a word as there are syllables. We will show the distribution of the degrees of stress in the word examination. The opinions of phoneticians differ as to how many degrees of stress are linguistically relevant in a word. The British linguists usually distinguish three degrees of stress in the word. The primary stress is the strongest, it is marked by number 1 in the, word examination, the secondary stress is the second strongest marked by 2. All the other degrees are termed weak stress. Unstressed syllables are supposed to have weak stress. The American scholars B.Bloch and G.Trager find four contrastive degrees of word stress, namely: loud, reduced loud, medial and weak stresses. Other American linguists also distinguish four degrees of word stress but term them: primary stress, secondary stress, tertiary stress and weak stress. The difference between the secondary and tertiary stresses is very subtle and seems subj­ective. The criteria of their difference are very vague [10]. The second pretonic syllables of such words as

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'orga ,nize,

'simpli ,fy.

British linguists do not always deny the existence of tertiary stress as a tendency to use a tertiary stress on a post-tonic syllable in English language is also traced. However, the British conception of three degrees of word stress is accepted as the teaching norm. We would like to point out right here that the accentual structur­e of English words is liable to instability due to the different layers in the Modem English word stock. In Germanic languages the word stress originally fell on the initial syllable or the second syllable, the root syllable in the English words with prefixes. This tendency was called recessive. Most English words of Anglo-Saxon origin as well as the French borrowings (dated back to the 15th century) are subjected to this recessive tendency. Unrestricted recessive tendency is observed in the native Engli­sh wo­rds having no prefix:

mother,

daughter,

brother,

swallow,

And assimilated French borrowings:

reason,

colour,

restaur­t.

Restricted recessive tendency marks English words with prefixes:

foresee,

begin,

withdraw,

apart.

A great number of wo­rds of Anglo-Saxon origin are monosyllabic or disyllabic, both notional words and form words. They tend to alternate in the flow of speech.

I 'don't be'lieve he's 'right.

The­ rhythm of alternating stressed and unstressed syllables leads to the rhythmical tendency in the present-day English which caused the appearance of the secondary stress in the multi- syllabic French borrowings:

revo'lution,

organi'satiun.

It also explains the placement of primary stress on the ­1st syl­lable from the end in t­ree- and four-syllable words.

cmema,

situate,

articulate.

The appe­arance of the stress on the first syllable is the result the recessive tend­ency and at the same time adaptation to the r­yt­ml­al tenden­cy. The recessive tendency being stronger, the treesyllabic words which gain the only stress on the third syllable from the end.

'family,

'library,

'faculty,

'possible.

The ac­entual ­alternations of the words 'terri,tory, , dictio,nary, with the primary stress on the first syllable and the tertiary stress on the third are other examples illustrating the correlation of the recessive and rhythmical tendencies. Nowadays there is a great number of variations in the accentual str­ucture of English multisyllabic words as a result of the interrelation of the te­ndencies. The stress on the initial syllable is caused by the diachronical recessive tendency or the stress on the second syllable under the influence of the strong rhythmical tendency of the present day.

'hospitable - ho'spitable,

'distribute - dis'tribute,

'aristocrat - a'ristocrat,

'laryngoscope - la'ryngoscope.

A third tendency was traced in the instability of the accentual structure of English word stress, the retentive tendency: a derivative often retains the stress of the original or parent word,

'similar -,as'similate,

recom'mend - recommen'dation.

The numerous variations of English word stress are systematized in the typology of accentual structure of English words worked out by G.P.Torsuev (31). He classifies them according to the number of stressed syllables, their degree or character (the main and the secondary stress). The distribution of stressed syl-lables within the word accentual types forms accentual structures of words, e.g. the accentual type of words with two equal stresses may be presented bv several accentual structures:

'well- 'bred,

'absent-'minded or 'good-'looking.

Accentual types and accentual structures are closely connected with the morphological type of words, with the number of syllables, the semantic value of the root and the prefix of the word.

The accentual types are:

1. 
   This accentual type marks both simple and compound words. The accentual structures of this type may include two and more syllables.
   

'fafher,

'possibly,

'mother-in-law,

'gas-pipe.

2. 
   The accentual type is commonly realized in compound words, most of them are with separable prefixes.
   

'radiu-'active,

'rewrite,

'disn'bey.

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