The accentual structure of the word

The
sequence of syllables in the word is not pronounced identically. One
or more syllablea in a polysyllabic word have greater prominence than
the others. Such syllables are said to be accented or stressed.

Stress
is defined differently by different authors. B.A. Bogoroditsky, for
instance, defined stress as an increase of energy, accompanied by an
increase of expiratory and articulatory activity. D. Jones defined
stress as the degree of force, which is accompanied by a strong force
of exhalation and gives an impression of loudness. H. Sweet also
stated that stress, is connected with the force of breath.

In
English any of all four factors – loudness (force), pitch, sound
quantity (length), sound quality – may render a syllable more
prominent that the others in a word. In similar phonetic contexts a
vowel is perceived as a more prominent one if it is louder, longer
and more distinct (even vowels of full formation in the unstressed
position are not so distinct as their stressed counterparts). The
pitch component of word stress manifests itself in the fact that the
stressed syllable is always that on which there is a potential change
of pitch, though the stressed syllable is not necesseraly higher than
the unstressed one – the type of tone direction is not significant.

In
comparison with Russian. We never pronounce vowels with full
formation and length in unstressed positions, they are always
reduced. The quantitative component is of greater importance in
Russian than in English.

European
languages, such as English, German, French, Russian possess
predominantly dynamic
word stress. It means that the sressed syllbles are pronounced with
greater force and greater muscularenergy is produced by the speaker.
There is another type of word stress called musical.
It implies difference in tones. In Scandinavian languages the word
stress is considered to be both dynamic and musical (or tonic). The
musical word stress is observed in Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese.
It’s affected by the variations of voice pitch in relation to
neighbouring syllables. There are tow more type of stress:
quantitative (special prominence in a stressed syllable is achieved
through the changes in the quantity of the sressed vowel – it
becomes longer) and qualitative (the quality of the vowel under
stress in changed).

Functions:

Word
stress arranges syllables in words fulfilling the constitutive
function. Its
distinctive
function
can be traced in the oppositions of words consisting of the same
morphemes, the meaning of which is differentiated by word stress. The
opposition of the primary stress is capable of differentiating the
parts of speech: object [′رbdςıkt]
–
object [əb′dςekt], conduct – conduct, export – export,
progress – progress, subject – subject, noun or adjective –
verb. The actual meaning of words may be differentiated in the same
way: artist [′a:tıst] apainter – artiste [a:′tıst] a person
skilful at doing something. The opposition of second primary stress
to the absence of stress may be also distinctive: recover [′ri:′k٨və]
cover again – recover [ri:′k٨və]
become well again. The secondary stress opposed to the primary one in
a few cases differentiates the meaning too: recreation [′ri:krı′eı∫n]
creating again – recreation [˛rekrı′eı∫n] refreshment,
amusement. The third function is called identificatory
or recognitive
– word stress enables a person to identify a succession of
syllables as a definite accentual pattern of a word.

Position.

Word
stress in English is free
and not tied to any particular syllable in all the words (not fixed
like in French – to the last syllable, Finnish and Czech – to the
last). But it doesn’t change its position in a given word. The
stress in English as well as in Russian is shifting:
it may shift and thus helps to differenciate between the parts of
speech: ′insult – to in′sult.

The
position of a word stress is the result of the historical development
of the language. It has been influenced by the combination of
different tendencies. The first of them is known as the recessive
tendency. According to it, the root syllable or the semantic unit of
the word is stressed. The majority of words of the Germanic origin
have their first syllables stressed: clever, body, water, singing.
And if the prefixes with no referential meaning are added, the stress
remains on the root which become then the second syllable: begin,
before, mistake.

The
second tendency is called rhythmic
and it is the result of the mutual influence of Germanic and French
accentual patterns. It manifests itself in stressing the third
syllable from the end: ′situate, ar′ticulate. It is especially
common for verbs with the suffixes -ate, -fy, -ize: per′sonify,
centralize, ar′ticulate.

Many
words of French origin retain their stress on the last syllable:
police, machine.

Words
of four syllables may have either recessive or rhythmic stress:
′architect, ′criticism, re′markable, ar′ticulate. Or they
tend to have a three-syllable accentual pattern: dictionary
[′dık∫ənrı], laboratory [′læbrətrı].

The
third tendency was traced in the instability of the accentual
structure of English word stress – the retentive
tendency. Ut means that the derivative often retains the stress of
the original or parent word: ′similar – as′similate.

Among
the factors that determine the place and different degree of stress
is the semantic
factor.

In
English there are three degrees of word stress: stressed syllables
(primary stress), half-stressed syllables (secondary stress, which
occurs even in simple words when they are polysyllabic) and weak or
unstressed syllables. In Russian there are no secondary stresses.
Plus there is a large group of words in English that bear two primary
stresses equally strong. Some linguists identify four degrees of
stress: B. Bloch, G Tarager, H.A. Gleason, H. Sweet, arranging the
four in an descending scale and terming them in different ways.

The
secondary stress is manifested in polysyllabic word with the primary
stress on the third or on the fourth syllable from the biginning:
˛popu′larity, re˛sponsi′bility. In these cases the secondary
stress falls on the first syllable.

If
the primary stress is on the fourth or fifth syllable, the secondary
then falls on the second: ar˛ticu′lation, ex˛perimen′tation.

Consequently
the position of the secondary stress is that of the primary stress
in the original word from which the derivative word is formed:
′possible – ˛possi′bility, ap′preciate – ap˛preci′ation.

Words
with two primary stresses consist of two morphemes and the use of the
second strong stress is caused by the semantic significance of both
elements of the word. There are several groups of such words:

1. Numerals
   from 13 to 19.

2. Compound
   numerals: twenty-three.

3. Compound
   adjectives: well-known, absent-minded.

4. Compound
   verbs with a post-position or a preposition-like adverb which
   changes the meaning of the verb: to give in, to put on, to take
   off.

5. Polysyllables
   with separable prefixes having distinct meaning of their own:
   negative prefixes (un, dis, non, in, ir, il, im) re meaning
   repetition, mis meaning wrong, pre meaning before, earlier, ex
   meaning former, under and sub meaning subordinate, inter meaning
   among, plus others like anti, vice, ultra etc. But very common
   words with these prefixes sometimes lose the stress on the prefix
   in everyday usage (unusual, impossible, mistake); it’s also lost
   in words which are not used without these prefixes (discourage)

Word
stress in compound words depends on the semantic weight of the
elements of the word. Compound words are composed of separate root
morphemes with usually the first element determining or restricting
or introducing some contrast to another element. So the first element
is stressed while the stressed vowel of the second word retains its
qualitative and quantitative prominence: ′reading-room,
′apple-tree, ′suitcase.

Double-stressed
compound nouns and adjectives are relatively rare. In such words both
elements are equally important: ′gas-′stove, ′absent-′mindness,
′ice-′cream, ′clean-′shaven, ′bare-′footed,
′first-′class. Altough when the second element of the compound
adjective is semantically weak, only the first one is stressed:
′childlike, ′oval-shaped.

Typology
of accentual structures.

The
numerous variations of English word stress are systematized in the
typology of accentual structure of English words worked out by G.P.
Torsuyev. He classifies them according to the number of stressed
syllables, their degree or character (the main and the secondary
stress). The distribution of stressed syllables within the word
accentual types forms accentual structures of words. 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,
e.g. ‘fafher,
‘possibly, ‘mother-in-law, ‘gas-pipe.

2.
[ ‘_ ‘_ ]. The accentual type is commonly realized in compound words,
most of them are with separable prefixes, e.g. ‘radio-‘active,
‘re’write, ‘diso’bey.

3.
[ ‘_ ‘ _ ‘_ ] and 4. [‘_ ‘ _ ‘_ ‘_]. The accentual types are met in
initial compound abbreviations like ‘U’S’A,
‘U’S’S’R.

5.
[‘_ ,_ _ ]. The type is realized both in simple and compound words,
very

common
among compound words, e.g. ‘hair-,dresser,
‘substructure.

6.
[, _ ‘_ _ ]. The accentual type marks a great number of simple words
and some compound words as well. In simple words the stresses fall
onto:

1.
the prefix and the root: maga’zine;

2.
the
root and the suffix: ,hospi’tality;

3.
the prefix and the suffix: disorganization.

The
other five types are rare and found in small number of words.

7.[‘_
,_ ‘_ _ ] – simple words with the separate prefixes:
misrepresent.

8.
[,_ ,_ ‘_ _ ] – individualization.

9.
[‘_ ‘_ ,_ _ ] – compound words with separable prefixes:
unseaworthy

10.
[‘_ _ ,_ ,_ ] – simple and compound words: soda-water, bottle.

11.
[,_ ‘_ ,_ ] – rare cases of compound words consisting of three
components: gignerbeer-bottle.

The
data given above suggest an idea of the great variability in the
accentual structure of English words. The most widely spread among
the enumerated accentual types are supposed to be Type 1, Type 2,
Type 5 and Type 6. Each type includes varieties of definite accentual
structures with different numbers of syllables and marks thousands of
words. So the four of them cover the main bulk of most common English
words and are therefore most typical for the English vocabulary.

The
variability of the word accentual structure is multiplied in
connected speech. The accentual structure of words may be altered
under the influence of rhythm, e.g. An
‘unpolished ‘stone but:
The
‘stone was un’polished.

The
tempo of speech may influence the accentual pattern of words. With
the quickening of the speed the carefulness of articulation is
diminished, the vowels are reduced or elided, the secondary stress
may be dropped, e.g. The
‘whole organi’zation of the ‘meeting was ‘faulty.

Перераспределение
(сдвиг) ударений — осталось.

Соседние файлы в предмете [НЕСОРТИРОВАННОЕ]

• #
• #
• #
• #
• #
• #
• #
• #
• #
• #
• #

Lecture # 3 SYLLABIC AND ACCENTUAL STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH WORDS Plan 1. Theories on syllable formation and syllable division 2. The structure and functions of syllables in English 3. Accentual structure of English words.

1. Theories on syllable formation and syllable division Syllable is one or more speech sounds forming a single uninterrupted unit of utterance which may be a commonly recognized subdivision of a word or the whole of a word (Wells, 2000) Syllable as a meaningful language unit has 2 aspects: Syllable formation Syllable division Syllable like the phoneme is studied in 4 levels: 1. Acoustic 2. Articulatory 3. Auditory 4. Functional -> Syllable can be approached from different points of view

The syllable has two immediate constituents (it “branches” into two elements): — the Onset (O), which includes any consonants that precede the nuclear element (the vowel), — the Rhyme (R), which subsumes the nuclear element (the vowel) as well as any marginal elements (consonants) that might follow it.

The Rhyme, in turn, further branches into: — Peak (P), also known as Nucleus (N) — Coda (Co). The Peak (Nucleus) represents the “nuclear” or most sonorous element in a syllable. The Coda includes all consonants that follow the Peak in a syllable.

The complexity of the phenomenon gave rise to many theories. 1. From articulatory point of view, the syllable is studied in accordance with the so-called Expiratory Theory – experimentally based by R. H. Stetson (1951). This theory is based on the assumption that expiration in speech is a pulsating process and each syllable should correspond to a single expiration. So the number of syllables in an utterance is determined by the number of expirations made in the production of the utterance.

2. Sonority Theory put forward by the Danish linguist O. Jesperson, which is based on the concept of sonority. According to O. Jespersen, each sound is characterized by a certain degree of sonority which is understood as acoustic property of a sound that determines its perceptibility.

3. In Russian linguistics there has been adopted theory of syllable by L. V. Shcherba. It is called the Theory of Muscular tension. In most languages there is the syllabic phoneme in the centre of the syllable which is usually a vowel phoneme or, in some languages, a sonorant. The phonemes preceding or following the syllabic peak are called marginal. The tense of articulation increases within the range of prevocalic consonants and then decreases within the range of postvocalic consonants.

4. Russian linguist and psychologist N. I. Zhinkin has suggested the so-called Loudness Theory which seems to combine both production and perception levels. The experiments carried out by N. I. Zhinkin showed that the arc of loudness of perception level is formed due to variations of the volume pharyngeal passage which is modified by contractions of its walls. The narrowing of the passage and the increase in muscular tension which results from it reinforce the actual loudness of a vowel thus forming the peak of the syllable.

There exist two points of view: 1. Sоme linguists consider the syllable to be a purely articulatory unit which lacks any functional value. This point of view is defended on the ground that the boundaries of syllables do not always coincide with those of morphemes. 2. However the majority of linguists treat the syllable as the smallest pronounceable unit which can reveal some linguistic function.

The definition of the syllable from the functional point of view tends to single out the following features of the syllable: a) a syllable is a chain of phonemes of varying length; b) a syllable is constructed on the basis of contrast of its constituents (which is usually of vowel — consonant type); c) the nucleus of a syllable is a vowel, the presence of consonants is optional; there are no languages in which vowels are not used as syllable nuclei, however, there are languages in which this function is performed by consonants; d) the distribution of phonemes in the syllabic structure follows the rules which are specific enough for a particular language.

2. The structure and functions of syllables in English Syllable formation in English is based on the phonological opposition vowel — consonant. Vowels are usually syllabic while consonants are not with the exceptions of [l], [m], [n], which become syllabic in a final position preceded by a noise consonant: bottle [bσtl], bottom [bσtm], button [b/tn] and [r] (in those accents which pronounce [r]) perhaps [præps]. The structure of English syllables can be summarized as follows: Many syllables have one or more consonants preceding the nucleus. These make up the syllable onset: me, so, plow. 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. The combination of nucleus and coda has a special significance, making up the rhyming property of a syllable.

The other aspect of this component is syllable division. The problem of syllable division in case of intervocalic consonants and their clusters, like in such words as city, extra, standing and others. Let us consider the first word [‘sit. i]. There exist two possibilities: a) the point of syllable division is after the intervocalic consonant: b) the point of syllable division is inside the consonant. In both cases the first syllable remains closed because the shot vowel should remain check. The result of instrumentally analyses show, that the point of syllable division in such words is inside the intervocalic consonant.

Now we shall consider 3 functions of the syllable. The first is constitutive function. It lies in its ability to be a part of a word itself. The syllables form language units of greater magnitude that is words, morphemes, and utterances. It this respect two things should be emphasized. 1. The syllable is the unit within which the relations between distinctive features of phonemes and their acoustic correlates are revealed. 2. Second, within a syllable (or syllables) prosodic characteristics of speech are realized, which form the stress pattern of a word and the intonation structure of an utterance. In sum, the syllable is a specific minimal structure of both segmental and suprasegmental features.

The other function is distinctive one. In this respect the syllable is characterized by its ability to differentiate words and word-forms. One minimal pair has been found in English to illustrate the word distinctive function in the syllabic: nitrate — nightrate. There analogical distinction between word combinations can be illustrated by many more examples.

The third function of the syllable is the identificatory function: the listener can understand the exact meaning of the utterance only when the correct syllabic boundary is perceived: an aim — a name mice kill — my skill an ice house — a nice house peace talks — pea stalks plate rack — play track Sometimes the difference in syllabic division might be the basic ground for differentiation sentences in such minimal pairs as: I saw her eyes. — I saw her rise. I saw the meat. — I saw them eat.

3. Accentual structure of English words. Nature of Word stress. Stress is defined differently by different authors. 1. According to B. A. Bogoroditsky – stress is defined as an increase of energy, accompanied by an increase of expiratory and articulatory activity. 2. D. Jones defined stress as the degree of force, which is accompanied by a strong force of exhalation and gives an impression of loudness. 3. H. Sweet also stated that stress, is connected with the force of breath. 4. According to A. C. Gimson, the effect of prominence is achieved by any or all of four factors: force, tone, length and vowel colour.

According to the most important feature different types of word stress are distinguished in different languages. 1) If special prominence in a stressed syllable or syllables is achieved mainly through the intensity of articulation, such type of stress is called dynamic, or force stress. 2) If special prominence in a stressed syllable is achieved mainly through the change of pitch, or musical tone, such accent is called musical, or tonic. It is characteristic of the Japanese, Korean and other oriental languages. 3) If special prominence in a stressed syllable is achieved through the changes in the quantity of the vowels, which are longer in the stressed syllables than in the unstressed ones, such type of stress is called quantitative. 4) Qualitative type of stress is achieved through the changes in the quality of the vowel under stress.

Now we should like to distinguish the notions of word stress and sentence stress. 1. They are different in their sphere of application as they are applied to different language units: word stress is naturally applied to a word, as a linguistic unit, sentence stress is applied to a phrase. 2. Secondly, the distinction of the rhythmic structure of a word and a phrase is clearly observed in the cases when the word stress in notional words is omitted in a phrase, e. g. I ‘don’t think he is ‘right or when the rhythmic structure of the isolated word does not coincide with that of a phrase, e. g. ‘Fifteen. ‘Room Fifteen. ‘Fifteen ‘pages.

2. Place of word stress in English. Degrees of stress Languages are also differentiated according to the place of word stress. The traditional classification of languages concerning place of stress in a word is into those with: — a fixed stress — a free stress. In languages with a fixed stress the occurrence of the word stress is limited to a particular syllable in a polysyllabic word. For instance, in French the stress falls on the last syllable of the word (if pronounced in isolation), in Finnish and Czech it is fixed on the first syllable, in Polish on the one but last syllable. In languages with a free stress its place is not confined to a specific position in the word. In one word it may fall on the first syllable, in another on the second syllable, in the third word — on the last syllable, etc. The free placement of stress is exemplified in the English and Russian languages, e. g. English: ‘appetite — be’ginning — ba’lloon; Russian: озеро — погода — молоко.

There actually as many degrees of stress in a word as there are syllables. The British linguists usually distinguish three degrees of stress in the word. A. C. Gimson shows the distribution of the degrees of stress in the word examination. The primary stress is the strongest, it is marked by number 1, 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 weak stress. The difference between the secondary and tertiary stresses is very subtle and seems subjective. The criteria of their difference are very vague. The second pretonic syllables of such words as libe’ration, recog’nition are marked by secondary stress in Br. E, in Am. E they are said to have tertiary stress. In Am. E tertiary stress also affects the suffixes -ory, -ary, -ony of nouns and the suffixes –ate, -ize, -y of verbs, which are considered unstressed in Br. E, e. g. ‘territory, ‘ceremony, ‘dictionary; ‘demonstrate, ‘organize, ‘simplify. 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 RP is also traced.