English Word Stress

First published in 1984, this book was designed to benefit the foreign learner who wishes to grasp the essential basis of English stress so that he or she can go on to predict stress patterns in new words. It is aimed at teachers of English as a foreign language and helps them to communicate English stress effectively to their students. The book bridges the gap between books that are mainly anecdotal or abstract, practical or theoretical, or made up of lists or principles.

Do you have a fear of transcription? Are you daunted by the prospect of learning and handling unfamiliar symbols? This workbook is for students who are new to linguistics and phonetics, and offers a didactic approach to the study and transcription of the words, rhythm and intonation of English. It can be used independently or in class and covers all the pronunciation details of words, phrases, rhythm and intonation. Progress is deliberately gentle with plenty of explanations, examples and 'can't go wrong' exercises. In addition, there is an associated website with audio recordings of authentic speech, which provide back-up throughout. The audio clips also introduce students to variations in accents, with eleven different speakers. Going beyond the transcription of words, the book also ventures into real discourse with the simplification systems of colloquial English speech, rhythm and intonation.

The Handbook of English Pronunciation presents a comprehensive exploration of English pronunciation with essential topics for applied linguistics researchers and teachers, including language acquisition, varieties of English, historical perspectives, accent’s changing role, and connections to discourse, technology, and pedagogy. Provides thorough descriptions of all elements of English pronunciation Features contributions from a global list of authors, reflecting the finest scholarship available Explores a careful balance of issues and topics important to both researchers and teachers Provides a historical understanding of the importance of pronunciation and examines some of the major ways English is pronounced today throughout the world Considers practical concerns about how research and practice interact in teaching pronunciation in the classroom

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: A, University of Wales, Bangor, course: Phonology, language: English, abstract: In many languages word stress is quite predictable: in Czech the first syllable of a word always carries the main stress. In French the ultimate syllable is the most prominent each time. The penultimate syllable is constantly stressed in Polish. As can be seen, there are strict general rules with respect to a word’s stress. In English, however, the stressing of a lexeme appears to be arbitrary rather than following certain stress rules. The spelling does not indicate a word’s pronunciation, let alone its stress. Moreover, the stress may even differ within the same word. Thus, thir'teen can be stressed on the last syllable, but in an environment of another word, e.g. 'thirteen 'pints, it can also be pronounced with a prominent first syllable in order to keep eurhythmy. Nevertheless, it looks like native speakers have a perceptual ability to say how many syllables a word has and to tell which syllable receives the most stress. Therefore, Carr (1999) considers three trisyllabic non-English words: Gigondas, Zaventem and tavola. The author points out that English speakers always tend to stress the penultimate syllable mispronouncing each of theses words. Why do speakers with English as their mother tongue react in this way? Is this a proof of generalisation and existing stress patterns? In this essay it is discussed whether the primary stress of singular words has to be learned, e.g. like their spelling or the sequence of their phonemes, or if the stressing of a lexeme follows internalized rules (due to a lack of space, secondary stress shall be excluded here). For a more concise analysis of the issue, three main bases concerning primary stress patterns are examined: the syntactic, morphological and phonological information of a word.

Luigi Burzio's Principles of English Stress challenges many of the assumptions that have underpinned the generative description of English stress and more generally 'standard' metrical theory. Central to Burzio's analysis is a novel typology of metrical constituents that includes ternary feet and excludes monosyllabic feet. The analysis is essentially nonderivational in character: principles of well-formedness check for the presence of stress and weight in the output. The principles themselves are organized into a hierarchy consisting of a hardcore-controlling foot form that in cases of conflict may override principles of metrical consistency and alignment of edges. The interplay among these competing principles accounts for the cyclic effects of the standard theory. A special role is accorded phonetically null syllables that analyse hidden metrical structure to preserve a simple foot inventory and sharply curtail the standard theory's extrametricality.