TheEurasian Academy
Institute“Eurasia”
Coursepaper
“Someproblems of accentual structure in English”
PocheikinaJ.A.
(325group)
Speciality:050207 Interpreting
Discipline:Foundations of the theory of the
studiedlanguage.
Theoreticalphonetics
Thescientific supervisor
Seniorteacher Buzhumova P.Z.
Uralsk-2010
Contents:
Introduction
Chapter I.English stress as a phenomenon
1.1 The natureof word stress and prominence
1.2 Theplacement of word stress
Chapter II. Thequestions of typology of accentual structure
2.1 Degrees ofstress and rhythmical tendency
2.2 Functionalaspects of word stress
2.3 Practicalanalysis showing the types of stress
Conclusion
List ofliterature
Introduction
In this course paper we shall treat some problems ofaccentual structure… According to D.Crystal the terms «heaviness, soundpressure, force, power, strength, intensity, amplitude, prominence, emphasis,accent, stress» tend to be used synonymously by most writers. According toG.P. Torsuev the notions “stressed” and “prominent” should not be usedsynonymically. The effect of prominence is created by some phonetic features ofsounds which have nothing to do with word or sentence stress.
RI.Avanesov considers the variability in theplacement of the Russian word stress an individual sign of every particularword which presents a difficulty for foreign learners and sometimes for thenatives. It is interesting to note that Russian word stress may have stylisticdistinction and poetic usage, cf. молодéц— мóлодец,девúца- дéвица,шéлковый—шелкóвый.
In chapter I. we shall regard to English stress. Itis common knowledge that sounds of speech have different degrees of sonority.Vowels are more sonorous than consonants. Open vowels are more sonorous thanclose ones. The quantitative, and qualitative components of word stress theyare also significant.
In the point 1.1. we shall say about tha nature ofword stress and prominence. According to A.C.Gimson, the effect of prominenceis achieved by any or all of four factors: force, tone, length and vowelcolour.
In the point 1.2. we shall consider the placement ofword stress. The word siress in English as well as in Russian is not only freebut it may also be shifting, performing the semantic function of differentiatinglexical units, parts of speech, grammatical forms.
In chapter II. We shall pay attention to thequestion of typology of accentual structure.
According G.Torsuev Accentual types and accentualstructures are closely connected with the morphological type of words, with thenumber of syllables, the semantic value of the root and the prefix of the word.
In the point 2.1. we shall to point out degrees ofstress and rhythmical tendency. The accentual structure of English words isliable to instability due to the different origin of several layers in theModern English wordstock. In Germanic languages the word stress originally fellon the initial syllable or the second syllable, the root syllable in theEnglish words with prefixes. This tendency was called recessive.
The aim: toanalyse the opinions, poins of view of phoneticians to accentual structure.
Tasks: 1) To give the definitions of word stress
2) To sigle out the nature of word stress andprominence
3) To study the degrees of word accent.
ChapterI. English stress as a phenomenon
It is common knowledge that sounds of speech havedifferent degrees of sonority. Vowels are more sonorous than consonants. Openvowels are more sonorous than close ones. The quantitative, and qualitativecomponents of word stress they are also significant. Certain distinctions of thevowel length and colour are reduced or lacking in unstressed syllables^ Thefact .strengthens the idea that the accentuation is influenced by the vowellength and, quality. The vowel of the stressed syllable is perceived as neverreduced or obscure and longer than the same vowel in the unstressed syllables.Thus, the word «stress» or «accent» is also defined asqualitative where the vowel colour or qualily is a means of stress andquantitative with relatively increased length of the stressed vowel. Comparethe quality (colour) and quantity (length) of the same vowel in a word, e.g.ab’stract, ‘car-park; идú,úли,yмý.
It is fair to mention that there is a terminologicalconfusion in discussing the nature of stress. According to D.Crystal the terms«heaviness, sound pressure, force, power, strength, intensity, amplitude,prominence, emphasis, accent, stress» tend to be used synonymously by mostwriters. The discrepancy in terminology is largely due to the fact that thereare two major views depending on whether the productive or receptive aspects ofstress are discussed. The main drawback with any theory of stress based onproduction of speech is that it only gives an explanation of the phenomenon butdoes not analyse it on the perceptive level. Instrumental investigations studythe physical ‘nature of word stress.
1.1The nature of word stress and prominence
It would be perfectly natural to begin this sectionwith the nature of word stress. According to A.C.Gimson, the effect ofprominence is achieved by any or all of four factors: force, tone, length andvowel colour. The dynamic stress implies greater force with which the syllableis pronounced. In other words in the articulation of the stressed syllablegreater muscular energy is produced by the speaker. European languages such asEnglish, German, French, Russian are believed to possess predominantly dynamicword stress. In Scandinavian languages the word stress is considered to be bothdynamic and musical. For instance, in Swedish, the word komma (comma) isdistinguished from the word komma (come) by a difference in tones. Themusical word stress is observed in Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese. It iseffected by the variations of voice pitch in relation to napghbouringsyllables.
We would like to dwell on the term prominence here.It seems to cause some ambiguity when related to word stress. The stressed syllablesare often said to be the most prominent syllables in the word. According toG.P. Torsuev the notions “stressed” and “prominent” should not be usedsynonymically. The effect of prominence is created by some phonetic features ofsounds which have nothing to do with word or sentence stress. Sonority is theinner quality of vowels which is not directly connected with the accentualstructure of words but with other articularoty characteristics, it contributesto the effect of prominence.
Another characteristic of a vowel which also adds tothe effect of prominence but is not connected with the word stress ishistorical (traditional) length of vowels.
The presence of a traditionally long sound in thestressed syllable and a traditionally short vowel in the unstressed syllableadds to the effect of the prominence of the stressed syllable, e.g. [in’kri:s],[bi’li:v], [‘i:zi].
Naturally the historical length of vowels is thevowel inner quality which should not be mixed with the quantitativecharacteristics of word stress.
To sum it up prominence in speech is a broader termthan stress. It is obtained by the components of word stress, such as theloudness, the length, the quality of the vowel plus the inherent sonority ofthe vowel and its historical length.
Let us turn to some examples. If the words ‘import(n) and im’port (v) are said on a level tone and each vowel with its ownlength, it is rather difficult to distinguish them. The tonic or musicalcomponent may be helpful in defining the place of stress in a word as it isobserved within the syllable marked by the pitch change, which contributes tothe syllable prominence.
‘Import. _ Im’port.
The placement of the pitch change marks the seat ofthe stress. It should be noted here that the very type of pitch change, itsdirection, does not influence the word stress, e.g.
‘Import. ___ ‘Import?
The pitch direction is changed but the stressremains unchanged.
On the other hand, a whole idea may be conveyed byuttering, a single word (one-word phrase}. Then we shall deal with thesentence; stress and the musical component of intonation.
There is undoubtedly a close interrelation betweenword stress
and sentence stress.
The nature of word stress, the interrelation of itscomponents is still a problem which is awaiting its solution.
On the acoustic level the counterpart of force isthe intensity of the vibrations of the vocal cords of the speaker which isperceived by the listener as loudness.
Thus the greater energy with which the speakerarticulates the stressed; syllable in the word is associated by the listenerWith greater
loudness. The acoustic counterparts of voice pitch and length, are frequencyand duration, respectively.
The nature of word stress in Russian seems to differfrom that in English. The quantitative component plays a greater role inRussian accentual structure than in English word accent.
In the Russian language we never pronounce vowels offull formation and full length in unstressed positions, they are alwaysreduced. Therefore the vowels of full length are unmistakably perceived asstressed. In English the quantitative component of word stress is not ofprimary importance because of the nonreduced vowels in the unstressed syllableswhich sometimes occur in English words, e.g ‘architect, ‘transport, ‘partake,
1.2The placement of word stress
Russian phoneticians (L.V.Zlatoustova; L.L.Bulanin,) insist on the quantitative character of the Russian word stress as itsprincipal feature, though other components of word stress in Russian are notdenied. We would like to dwell on the term prominence here. It seems to causesome ambiguity when related to word stress. The stressed syllables are oftensaid to be the most prominent syllables in the word. According to G.P.Torsuevthe notions «stressed» and «prominent» should not be usedsynonymically. The effect of prominence is created by some phonetic features ofsounds which have nothing to do with word or sentence stress. It is commonknowledge that sounds of speech have different degrees of sonority. Vowels aremore sonorous than consonants. Open vowels are more sonorous than close ones. Sonorityis the inner quality of vowels which is not directly connected with theaccentual structure of words but with other articulatory characteristics, itcontributes to the effect of prominence.
The word siress in English as well as in Russian isnot only free but it may also be shifting, performing the semantic function ofdifferentiating lexical units, parts of speech, grammatical forms. It is worthnoting that in English word stress is used as a means of word-buildingi inRussian it marks both word-building and word formation, e.g.
‘contrast – con’trast
‘habit – ha’bitual
‘music – mu’sician
дóма– домá;
чýдная- чуднáя
Oppositions are also found among compound verbs:
to ‘switch ‘on — to ‘switch ‘off
‘to turn ‘on — to ‘turn ‘off
Words with meaningful prefixes are likewisesemantically opposed to those without prefixes. Compare:
‘educated — ‘un’edueated
‘please — ‘dis’please
‘cyclone — ‘anti’cyclon
,under’stand’ — ‘misunder’stand
Compound numerals have naturally two equal stresses,making both elements significant, e.g. ‘twenty-three, ‘sixty-‘five.
Numerals with the -teen suffix are marked by twostresses to oppose them to the numerals with the unstressed suffix -ty. If thesuffix -teen is not stressed the vowel [i:] in it is shortened and obscured, thesonant [n] is weakened, there is consequently a danger of misunderstariding,e.g.
— ‘What ,page is it? ||
— ‘Seven,teen. ||
— ‘Seven,teen | or ,seventy? |||
The above-given illustrations show how important itis in teaching practice to make the students realize that the accentualstructure of words is conditioned by the semantic interrelation of theirelements. The teacher should attract the students’ attention to the correlationbetween the accentual and semantic structures of words which will save thestudents many mistakes. The regulation of the accentuation in the Russianlanguage is too complicated and is practically unpredictable. The stress mayfall on the same morpheme in the derivatives where word-formation is performedby the grammatical means alone, e.g. кожа— кожи— кожей- кожу;год— годы— годом.In another group of words the stress may effect different morphemes of the wordparticipating in the word-formation alongside with the grammatical means, e.g. сад—сады— садами— садом;пар— пары- парами-—паром;but: пара— пары— парами— парам:
RI.Avanesov considers the variability in theplacement of the Russian word stress an individual sign of every particularword which presents a difficulty for foreign learners and sometimes for thenatives. It is interesting to note that Russian word stress may have stylisticdistinction and poetic usage, cf. молодéц— мóлодец,девúца- дéвица,шéлковый—шелкóвый.
‘The complicated system of the accentual structureof English words makes teacher trainees be very attentive to the subject. Thetypical mistakes of Russian learners in the sphere of word stress are thernispronunciation 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 unstressedsyllable (‘architect). ;
The instability of English accentual structure ofwords presents much difficulty for Russian learners. Students’ attention shouldbe attracted to English multisyllabic words the accentual structure of which isregulated by the rhythmical tendency and the use of the secondary stress inthose words, as it has no anal-ogy in the Russian language, compare:’transpor’tation — транспортировка,de,mocrati’zation — демократизация.
Another group of words presenting difficulty forRussian learners is large group of compounds which are marked either by twoequal stresses (compound adjectives) or by one stress (compound nouns). Thesemantic factor in defining the accentual structure of compounds should be mostdecisive, as it has been illustrated above. One more group of words requireslearners’ attention, the group which forms accentual oppositions of differentparts of speech by way of conversion accompanied by the shifting of stress, e.g.’combine (n) — com’bine (v), ‘insult (n) — in’sult (v).
In case of doubt it is advisable to consult apronouncing.
ChapterII. The questions of typology of accentual structure
The numerous variations of English word stress aresystematized in the typology of accentual structure of English words worked outby G.P. Torsuyev. He classifies them according to the number of stressedsyllables, their degree or character (the main and the secondary stress). Thedistribution of stressed syllables within the word accentual types formsaccentual structures of words. Accentual types and accentual structures areclosely connected with the morphological type of words, with the number ofsyllables, the semantic value of the root and the prefix of the word.
The accentual types are:
1. [‘___]. This accentual type marks both simple andcompound words. The accentual structures of this type may include two and moresyllables, e.g. ‘fafher, ‘possibly, ‘mother-in-law, ‘gas-pipe.
2. [ ‘_ ‘_ ]. The accentual type is commonly realizedin compound words, most of them are with separable prefixes, e.g.’radio-‘active, ‘re’write, ‘diso’bey.
3. [ ‘_’ _ ‘_ ] and 4. [‘_’ _ ‘_ ‘_]. The accentualtypes are met in initial compound abbreviations like ‘U’S’A, ‘U’S’S’R.
5. [‘_ ,___]. The type is realized both in simpleand compound words, very
common among compound words, e.g. ‘hair-,dresser,’substructure.
6. [, _’___]. The accentual type marks a greatnumber of simple words and some compound words as well. In simple words thestresses 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.
7. [‘_,_’_] The type includes rather a small numberof simple words with the separable prefixes, e.g. ‘mis,repre’sent.
8. [,_,_’_ _]. The type is found in a very smallnumber of words, usually simple words with the stresses on the prefix, the rootand the suffix, e.g. ,indi,viduali’zation.
9. [‘_’_,_ _]. The type is met in rare instances ofcompound words with separable prefixes, e.g. ‘un’sea,worthy.
10. [‘_ _,_,_]. The type is represented by rareinstances of simple and compound words, e.g. ‘soda-,water ,bottle.
11. [,_’_,_] The type is found in rare instances ofcompound words consisting of the three components, e.g. ,ginger’beer-,bottle.
The data given above suggest an idea of the greatvariability in the accentual structure of English words.
The most widely spread among the enumeratedaccentual types are supposed to be Type 1, Type 2, Type 5 and Type 6. Each typeincludes varieties of definite accentual structures with different numbers ofsyllables and marks thousands of words. So the four of them cover the main bulkof most common English words and are therefore most typical for the Englishvocabulary.
The variability of the word accentual structure ismultiplied in connected speech. The accentual structure of words may be alteredunder the influence of rhythm, e.g. An ‘unpolished ‘stone but: The ‘stone wasun’polished.
The tempo of speech may influence the accentualpattern of words. With the quickening of the speed the carefulness ofarticulation is diminished, the vowels are reduced or elided, the secondarystress may be dropped, e.g. The ‘whole organi’zation of the ‘meeting was’faulty.
The variability of the English word accentualstructure presents great difficulty for students of English.
They should be well acquainted with the four mostwidely spread accentual types of words, mentioned above and be aware of themodifications of word accentual patterns influenced by rhythm and tempo inconnected speech.
The given examples of the accentual structure ofwords in connected speech show that the word stress is closely interrelatedwith sentence stress. We shall now try to see their similarity and difference.The demarcation of word stress and sentence •stress is very important both fromthe theoretical and the practical viewpoint. Sentence stress usually falls onthe very syllable of the word which is marked by word stress.
Thus the accentual structure of the wordpredetermines the arrangement of stresses In a phrase. At the same time thestress pattern of a phrase is always conditioned by the semantic andsyntactical factors.
The words which usually become stressed in a phraseare notional words. They convey the main idea of the phrase, though any wordincluding form words may be marked by sentence stress, if it has certainsemantic value in the sentence.
The common character of word stress and sentencestress is also observed in their rhythmical tendency to alternate stressed aridunstressed syllables and pronounce them at approximately equal intervals.
Now we should like to distinguish the notions ofword stress and sentence stress.
They are first of all different; in their sphere ofapplication as they are applied to different language units: word stress isnaturally applied to a word, as a linguistic unit, sentence stress is appliedto a phrase.
Secondly, the distinction of the rhythmic structureof a word and a phrase is clearly observed in the cases when the word stress innotional words is omitted in a phrase, e.g.
I ‘don’t think he is ‘right.
Or when the rhythmic structure of the isolated worddoes not coincide with that of a phrase, e.g.
‘Fifteen. ‘Room Fifteen. ‘Fifteen ‘pages.
So in a speech chain the phonetic structure of aword obtains additional characteristics connected with rhythm, melody, andtempo. Though the sentence stress falls on the syllable marked by the wordstress it is not realized in the stressed syllable of an isolated word but in aword within speech continuum. Since the spheres of word stress and sentencestress fall apart their functions are actually different. Sentence stressorganizes a sentence into a linguistic unit, helps to form its rhythmic andintonation pattern, performs its distinctive function on the level of a phrase.
2.1Degrees of stress and rhythmical tendency
There are actually as many: degrees of stress in aword as there are syllables. A.C.Gimson, for example, shows the distribution ofthe degrees of stress in the word examination. The opinions of phoneticiansdiffer 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, wordexamination, the secondary stress is the second strongest marked by 2. All theother degrees are termed weak stress. Unstressed syllables are supposed to haveweak stress. The American scholars В.Blochand G.Trager find
four contrastive degrees of word stress, namely: loud, reduced loud, medial andweak stresses. Other American linguists also distinguish four degrees of wordstress but term them: primary stress, secondary stress, tertiary stress andweak stress. The difference between the secondary and tertiary stresses is verysubtle and: seems subjective. The criteria of their difference are very vague.The second pretonic syllables of such words as libe’ration, ,recog’nition aremarked by secondary stress in RP, in General American they are said to have atertiary stress. In GA a tertiary stress also affects the suffixes -оrу,-ary, -ony of nouns and the suffixes -ate, -ize, -y of verbs, which areconsidered unstressed in RP e.g. ‘territory, ‘cere,mony, ‘dictio,nary,’demonst,rate, ‘orga,nize, ‘simpli,fy. British linguists do not always deny theexistence of tertiary stress as a tendency to use a tertiary stress On apost-tonic syllable in RP is also traced. However, the British conception ofthree degrees of word stress is accepted as the teaching norm.
We would like to point out right here that theaccentual structure of English words is liable to instability due to thedifferent origin of several layers in the Modern English wordstock. In Germaniclanguages the word stress originally fell on the initial syllable or the secondsyllable, the root syllable in the English words with prefixes. This tendencywas called recessive. Most English words of Anglo-Saxon origin as well as theFrench borrowings (dated back to the 15th century) arеsubjected to this recessive tendency. Unrestricted recessive tendency isobserved 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-Saxonorigin are moresyllabic or disyllabic, both notional words and form words. Theytend to alternate in the flow of speech, e.g. I ‘don’t be’lieve he’s, ‘right.
The rhythm of alternating stressed and unstressedsyllables gave birth to the rhythmical tendency in the present-day Englishwhich caused the appearance of the secondary stress in the multi-syllabicFrench borrowings, e.g. ,revolution, ,organi’sation, as,si-mi’lation, etc. Italso explains the placement of primary stress on the third syllable from theend in three- and four-syllable words, e.g. ‘cinema, ‘situate, er’ticulate. Theinterrelation of both the recessive and the rhythmical tendencies is traced inthe process of accentual assimilation of the French-borrowed word personal onthe diachronic level, e;g; perso’nal — perso’nal — personal.
The appearance of the stress on the first syllableis the result of the recessive tendency and at the same time adaptation to therhythmical tendency. The recessive tendency being stronger, the trisyllabicwords like personal gained the only stress on the third syllable from the end,e.g. ‘family, ‘library, ‘faculty, ‘possible.
The accentual patterns of the words ‘territory,’dictionary, ‘neces,sary in GA with the primary stress on the first syllableand the tertiary stress on the third are other examples illustrating thecorrelation of the recessive and rhythmical tendencies. Nowadays we witness agreat number of variations in the accentual structure of English multisyllabicwords as a result of the interrelation of the tendencies. The stress on theinitial syllable is caused by the diachronical recessive tendency or the stresson the second syllable under the influence of the strong rhythmical tendency ofthe present day, e.g. ‘hospitable— ho’spitable, ‘distribute — dis’trihute,’aristocrat — a’ristocrat, ‘laryngoscope — la’ryngoscope.
A third tendency was traced in the instability ofthe accentual structure of English word stress, the retentive tendency: aderivative often retains the stress of the original or parent word, e.g.’similar — as’similate, secom’mend — recomme’ndation.
2.2Functional aspects of word stress
In discussing accentual structure of English wordswe should turn now to the functional aspect of word stress. Word stress in alanguage performs three functions. I. Word stress constitutes a word, itorganizes the syllables of a word into a language unit having a definiteaccentual structure, that is a pattern of relationship among the syllables; aword does not exist without the word stress. Thus the word stress performs theconstitutive function. Sound continuum becomes a phrase when it is divided intounits organized by word stress into words. П.Word stress enables a person to identify a succession of syllables as adefinite accentual pattern of a word. This function of word stress is known asidentificatory (or recognitive). Correct accentuation helps the listener tomake the process of communi-.cation easier, whereas the distorted accentualpattern of words, misplaced word stresses prevent normal understanding.
Ш.Word stress alone is capable of differentiating the meaning of words or theirforms, thus performing its distinctive function. The accentual patterns ofwords or the degrees of word stress and their positions form oppositions, e.g.’import — im’port.
VA.Vassilyev introduces the term«accenteme» for Word stress as a suprasegmental phonological unithaving different degrees and placement in a word (79). For instance the primaryaccenteme is opposed to the weak word accenteme (unstressed position), in’import -, im’port differentiating the noun from the verb. A.C.Gimsonestablishes three groups of words with identical spelling representingdifferent parts of speech which are opposed by means of shifting of the stress
1. A small group of words where the noun isdifferentiated from a verb by the opposition of the accentual pattern of theword alone, e.g.
increase [‘inkri:s] – [in’kri:s]
impress [‘impres] – [im’pres]
inlay [‘inlei] — [in’lei]
2: The second group where the shifting of the stresswhich
means the change of the accentual pattern of theword may be or may not be accompanied by the reduction of the vowel in theunstressed vowel, e.g.
transport [‘trænspo:t] – [træns’pot] or[trəns’pot]
3. The largest group of such pairs of wordsmanifests the change of their accentual pattern together with the qualitativereduction of the unstressed vowel, e.g.
combine [ ‘kombain] – [kəm’bain]
contrast [‘kontra:st] – [kən’tra:st]
and many others.
Oppositions of accentual types of words are alsoobserved as a concomitant factor in word-formation in addition to suffixation.
[‘_ _ _] – [,_ _ ‘_] e.g. ‘organize — ,organi’zation
[‘_’_ _ _] – [‘_,_ _ ‘_ _] e.g. ‘predis’pose –‘pre,dispo’sition
[‘_ _ _] – [‘_ _ _ ‘_] e.g. ‘solemn –‘solemni’zation
[,_ _ ‘_] – [‘_ _ ,_ _’_ _] e.g. ,incon’siderable –‘incon,side’ration.
There is also a group of accentuation oppositionswhere compound nouns are opposed to free word combinations, e.g.
a ‘dancing-girl – танцовщица
a ‘dancing ‘girl – танцующаядевушка
As we have already mentioned the same distinctivefunction of word stress is observed in the Russian language, It differentiateswords and their grammatical forms, e.g.
The words чýдная- чуднáя,безобрáзная- безóбразнаяare different lexical units, they differ in meaning. ,
The words зимы- зимы,беды—бедыrepresent different, grammatical forms of the same lexical unit. Both inword-building and in word-formation the shifting of stress is accompanied bythe qualitative reduction of the unstressed syllable. Word-formation with thehelp of the shifting of stress is quite common in
Russian as well as in English.
The accentual structure of words is actually veryclosely interrelated with their semantic value. By way of illustration we shallnow analyse a fairly large class of words in English which are marked by twoprimary stresses (Accentual Type П).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 themeaningful weight of the elements of the compounds. Word stress establishescontrastive relationship of the elements and often creates opposition tocomparable words.
Most of compound adjectives have two equal stressesas both elements in them are semantically important, e.g. ‘absent-‘minded,’good-looking. …
As soon as the significance of one of the elementsof a compound adjective is weakened, its accentual pattern is changed.(Accentual Type I), e.g. ‘spring-like, ‘nymph-like, ‘powder-like; ‘oval-shaped,’bow-shaped.
The same tendency is observed in compound nouns: iftheir elements are semantically important both elements are equally stressed(Accentual Type П),e.g. ‘north-east, ‘north-‘west, ‘south-‘west.
At the same time, as we very well know, most ofcompound nouns have one stress on the first element which is more significantthan the second one. They are sometimes opposed to other compounds with thesame second element, e.g. ‘dining-room — ‘bedroom — ‘bathroom — ‘living-room;’shop-girl — ‘ballet-girl.
Compound verbs have two equal stresses as theirpostpositions change the actual meaning of the verb itself as it is illustratedin the following example:.
What shall I do with it?
— ‘Put it where it ,was.
— Put it ,on.
-Put it, off.
2.3Practical analysis showing the types of stress
Here, we shall analyze the English stress accordingto different degrees.
1. [‘___]. This accentual type marks both simple andcompound words. The accentual structure of this type may include two and moresyllables, e.g.’absence ‘acid ‘article ‘berry ‘brawny ‘bucket ‘buckle ‘candid ‘chemistry ‘climate ‘collegue ‘during ‘Easter ‘elepant ‘eloquence ‘enemy ‘errand ‘enter ‘falcon ‘ferment ‘ferret ‘final ‘hamburger ‘handle ‘heating ‘hustle ‘index ‘jetty ‘jungle ‘kitchen ‘kitten ‘knick-knack ‘language ‘landing ‘leather ‘lecture ‘manger ‘mental ‘mercury ‘mountain ‘neutral ‘noodle ‘olive ‘origin ‘ornament ‘orphan ‘order ‘party ‘passage ‘passion ‘perfume ‘private ‘principal ‘promise ‘pumpkin ‘question ‘quota ‘ready ‘record ‘region ‘regular ‘restive ‘fable’ ‘mollify ‘moment ‘monarch ‘monitor ‘monkey ‘potter ‘prelate ‘predator ‘presage ‘prior ‘privacy ‘separable ‘sequel ‘sergeant ‘serial ‘serpent ‘shuttle ‘shooting ‘trundle ‘type ‘turgid ‘turret ‘sojourn ‘soluble ‘somersault ‘sooty ‘spector ‘senior ‘insolent ‘inmost ‘inkling ‘inland ‘inlay ‘inlet ‘inmate ‘iterate ‘island ‘jockey ‘jolly ‘jostle ‘journal ‘joyful ‘juggle ‘keeper ‘kennel ‘kernel ‘kettle ‘kidnap ‘kidney ‘kindle ‘kinship ‘leavings ‘lordly ‘miracle ‘navy ‘navel ‘nephew ‘nonsense ‘pallid ‘palpable ‘treason ‘treasure ‘trivial ‘ultimate ‘unit ‘valley ‘version ‘veto ‘vivid ‘volatile ‘wallet ‘water ‘waver ‘wavy ‘village ‘vowel ‘abrogate ‘alimony ‘alcove ‘algebra ‘almost ‘amnesty ‘ample ‘amputate ‘ankle ‘apple ‘curcus
2. [‘__’__]. Theaccentual type is commonly realizedin compound words, most of them are with separable prefixes, e.g.‘radio-‘active ‘re’write ‘diso’bey ‘re’mind ‘re’play ‘re’prove ‘re’quest ‘re’solve ‘re’straim ‘re’tail ‘re’tire ‘re’trace ‘re’turn ‘re’veal ‘re’ward ‘re’vise ‘be’long ‘be’loved ‘re’view ‘re’voke ‘re’pel ‘re’place ‘re’ply ‘re’port ‘re’pose ‘re’known ‘re’peat ‘re’peal ‘re’past ‘pre’cede
3.[‘__’__’__] and 4. [‘__’__’__’__]. The accentualtypes are met in initial compound abbreviations like.‘U’S’A ‘U’S’S’R ‘B’B’C ‘I’S’O ‘O’N’D ‘R’A’F ‘N’A’T’O ‘S’O’S ‘U’N’O ‘I’B’F ‘N’B’A ‘W’B’C ‘C’N’N ‘H’D’T’V ‘I’L’O ‘M’M’R ‘M’M’S ‘U’E’F’A ‘U’D’R ‘U’F’O ‘U’C’A’S ‘A’P’C ‘C’I’A ‘C’N’D ‘I’D’P ‘I’P’A ‘L’A’N ‘M’B’E ‘M’B’A ‘N’A’S’A ‘N’H’S ‘A’B’C
5. [,__’__]. The type is realized both in simple andcompound words, very common among compound words, e.g.‘hair-,dresser ‘sub,structure ‘haber,dasher ‘heli,port ‘helle,bore ‘hiber,nate ‘holly,hock ‘holo,cene ‘holo,caust ‘holo,gram ‘homi,cide ‘horo,scope ‘lique,fy ‘compli,cated ‘convo,luted ‘cosmo,naut ‘disco,theque
6. [,__’__]. The accentual type marks a great numberof simple words and some compound words as well.,inter’national ,capa’bility ,cate’gorical ,cali’tion ,compe’tition ,combi’nation ,compre’hensible ,con;solation ,con’servation ,dedi’cation ,de’gradation ,de’rail ,des’tination ,dis’connect ,ex’pedition ,hallo’ween ,hebri’dean ,lemo’nade ,brand’new ,fortifi’cation ,ille’gitimate ,imma’ture ,impu’tation ,incan’descent ,innad’vertent ,inco’rrect ,incrus’tation ,incon’siderable ,inde’pendence ,indes’cribable ,ine’ffective ,ine’fficient ,ine’quality ,inex’pedient ,inex’pensive ,info’rmation ,inter’mission ,lia’bility ,loco’motive ,minu’et ,obli’gation ,unac’ceptable ,appa’ratus ,una’ccustomed ,unap’proachable ,una’ware ,un’bossom ,un’checked
7. [‘__,__’__]. The type includes rather a smallnumber of simple words with the separable prefixes, e.g.‘mis,repre’sent ‘dis,advan’tageous ‘dis,colo’ration ‘dis,qualifi’cation ‘mis,remem’ber ‘mis,under’stand
8. [,__,__’__]. The type is found in a very smallnumber of words, usually simple words with the stresses on the prefix, thr rootand the suffix, e.g.,indi,viduali’zation ,indi,solu’bility ,insu,bordi’nation ,inter,conti’nental ,inter,govern’mental ,inter,natio’nale ,anti,globali’zation ,anti,vivi’sectionist ,malad,mini’stration
9. [‘__’__,__]. The type is meet in rare instancesof compound words with separable prefixes, e.g.‘un’sea,worthy ‘un’speci,fide ‘un’statesman,like ‘un’rekog,nizable ‘un’trust,worthy
10. [‘__,__,__]. The type is represented by rareinstances of simple and compound words, e.g.‘soda-,water,bottle
11. [,__’__,__]. The type is found in rare instancesof compound words consisting of the three components, e.g.,ginger’beer,bottle ,anti’hista,mine ,anti-‘semi,tism
Conclusion:
In this course paper we have treated some problemsof accentual structure, such as the quantitative and qualitative components ofword stress, vowels and consonants.
From chapter I we have known that vowel of thestressed syllable is perceived as never reduced or obscure and longer than thesame vowel in the unstressed syllables.
In the point 1.1. we have said about Europeanlanguages such as English, German, French, Russian, and that they are believedto possess predominantly dynamic word stress. In Scandinavian languages theword stress is considered to be both dynamic and musical.
In the point 1.2. we have paid attention to theinstability of English accentual structure of words and that the Englishpresents much difficulty for Russian learners, because of his multisyllabicwords the accentual structure of which is regulated by the rhythmical tendency.
In chapter II We have pointed out that in a speechchain the phonetic structure of a word obtains additional characteristicsconnected with rhythm, melody, and tempo. Though the sentence stress falls onthe syllable marked by the word stress it is not realized in the stressedsyllable of an isolated word but in a word within speech continuum.
In the point 2.1. we singled out that the opinionsof phoneticians differ as how many degrees of stress are linguisticallyrelevant in a word.
So, we think that we have achieved the aim of thecourse paper and fulfilled all the tasks which were put in this work.
Listof literature:
1. Crystal D. –The English of voice – Ldn, 1975
2. Jones D. Thephoneme. Its nature and use – Cambridge, 1967
3. O’Connor J.D.Phonetics – penguin, 1977
4. VassilyevV.A. English Phonetics: A theoretical course – M., 1970
5. Palmer H.E.English intonations with systematic exercises – Cambridge, 1924
6. VassilyevV.A., Burenkova O.V., — М.,1992
7. KatanskayaA.R., Lukina N.D., Maslova L.P., Torsueva E.I. – English phonetics (a normativecourse) – Leningrad, 1962
8. AbercrombieD. The department of phonetics – Edinburgh University, May, 1958
9. Jones D. anoutline of English phonetics, 9th ed, Cambridge, 1960
10. Oxford Russiandictionary – Oxford Russian press, 2000
11. Англо-русский ирусско-английский словарь с грамматическим приложением – М., издательство«Лукоморье», 2001.
Coursepaper review
325 group student Pocheikina J.A.
Foundations of the theory of the studied language.This theme is one of the complicated questions in the sphere of phonetics. Theauthor treats different views of linguists concerning accentuation.
Chapter I is devoted to the study of English stressas a phonetic phenomenon. More detailed questions as the nature of word stressand prominence and also the placement of word stress were treated too.
In chapter II the student analyses degrees of stressand rhythmical tendency and also studies the functional aspect of word stress.
In the end of the course paper the student givespractical analysis.
This course paper corresponds to the requirements ofwriting and may be recommended for defence.
Scientific supervisor:
Senior teacher
Buzhumova P.Z.