To What Extent Is Word Stress Predictable In English

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.

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.

This updated edition remains the basic reference book for all these concerned with speech in any way.

Children’s Intonation is a practical guide that focuses on the nature, causes and assessment of intonation problems for children and adolescents. Highlighting the importance of intonation for everyday conversational interaction and the implications of this for teaching and therapy contexts, this book addresses the following questions: How and when do children learn to use intonation for the purposes of interaction? As children get older, does intonation become more important or less important for communication? How might intonation be used to support or compensate for other aspects of language? What are the implications for practitioners, parents and caregivers when interacting with young children? Clinically oriented, this book explores these questions through case studies that cover a range of developmental communication difficulties including autism spectrum disorders, hearing impairment and specific speech and language difficulties. It provides readers with a tool for profiling children’s intonation skills, a developmental phase model to explain typical and atypical intonation development, a psycholinguistic model of intonation processing, interactional perspectives on intonation use, and consideration of intonation in relation to both written and spoken language. It also includes acccess to a companion website with extra resources.

The book is concerned with the acquisition of English phonology, both segmental and suprasegmental, by learners of English as a second language, as a third language and by speakers of a postcolonial (“new”) variety of English. It focuses on the acquisition process and factors influencing it, based on insights from all three disciplines.

The fully updated, new edition of the bestselling introduction to phonetics and phonology The Sounds of Language presents a comprehensive introduction to both the physical and cognitive aspects of speech sounds. Assuming no prior knowledge of phonetics or phonology, this student-friendly textbook clearly explains fundamental concepts and theories, describes key phonetic and phonological phenomena, explores the history and intersection of the two fields, offers practical advice on collecting and reading data, and more. Twenty-four concise chapters, written in non-technical language, are organized into six sections that each focus on a particular sub-discipline: Articulatory Phonetics, Acoustic Phonetics, Segmental Phonology, Suprasegmental Phonology, the Phonology/Morphology Interface, and Variation and Change. The book's flexible modular approach allows instructors to easily choose, re-order, combine, or skip sections to meet the needs of one- and two-semester courses of varying levels. Now in its second edition, The Sounds of Language contains updated references, new problem sets, new examples, and links to new online material. The new edition features new chapters on Lexical Phonology; Word Structure and Sound Structure; and Variation, Probability, and Phonological Theory. Chapters on Sociolinguistic Variation, Child Language Acquisition, and Adult Language Learning have also been extensively updated and revised. Offering uniquely broad and balanced coverage of the theory and practice of two major branches of linguistics, The Sounds of Language: Covers a wide range of topics in phonetics and phonology, from the anatomy of the vocal tract to the cognitive processes behind the comprehension of speech sounds Features critical reviews of different approaches that have been used to address phonetics and phonology problems Integrates data on sociolinguistic variation, first language acquisition, and second language learning Surveys key phonological theories, common phonological processes, and computational techniques for speech analysis Contains numerous exercises and progressively challenging problem sets that allow students to practice data analysis and hypothesis testing Includes access to a companion website with additional exercises, sound files, and other supporting resources The Sounds of Language: An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology, Second Edition, remains the ideal textbook for undergraduate and beginning graduate classes on phonology and phonetics, as well as related courses in linguistics, applied linguistics, speech science, language acquisition, and cognitive science programs.