4 Accentual structure: types of word accent.

Different syllables in one and the same word are usually pronounced with a different degree of prominence. Such special prominence given to one or more syllables in the same word is called word accent or word stress. Different linguists define word stress differently. There exist different ways of making a syllable more prominent. That is why we may speak of different types of word accent.

The pronunciation of a syllable may be made more prominent if the syllable is said with greater force. Professor D.Jones said in this respect: “Stress may be described as the degree of force with which a sound or a syllable is uttered…” Word accent of this type is known as force accent or dynamic. A syllable may become more prominent if it is pronounced at different pitch levels or in different pitch direction. Word accent of this type is called musical (or pitch). A syllable may become more prominent if its vowel is pronounced longer than the same vowel in an unstressed position. For instance: the [i:] vowels of the word [Өi:si:z](theses) are of different lengths. It is longer in a stressed position and shorter in an unstressed one. This type of word accent is known as quantitative. A syllable may become more prominent if the vowel is pronounced distinctly and its quality is not obscured. For instance: the [is] vowels in [s iә] (serious) are bit different in quality: the stressed [іә] is distinct and clear, while the unstressed [іә] is somewhat obscured. According to Prof. G. P. Torsuyev this type of word accent is qualitative.

All the existing language have either the force or the musical type of word accent as the leading principle, while the quantitative and qualitative types play a subsidiary role. English, Russian, Kazakh, German, French and other European languages belong to the force type of word accent, the only difference being in the degree of the force with which the stressed syllables are pronounced.

To the musical type of word accent belong Swedish, Norwegian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and others. For example, if the syllable [ma:] of Chinese is said with the falling tone, it means “scold”, but if it is said with the rising tone, it means “hemp” .

6 Phonemes and allophones

The phoneme theory was first formulated at the end of the 19^th century. Its founder was prof. Baudouin de Courtenay. Though his theory lacks consistency and there are some drawbacks in it is initiated the development of the phoneme theory in Russian as well as abroad. The various phonological schools chiefly differ in their solution to the 2 main problems of phonology: 1) the definition of the inventory of the phonemes of a given language; 2) the definition of the phonemic status of speech sounds in unstressed positions. The phoneme theory in the Soviet Union is developing in 2 directions. Hence, 2 phonological schools are distinguished here: the Moscow school and the Leningrad school. To Moscow school belong Avanessov, Reformatsky, Kuznetsov, Yakovlev, Sidorov. They developed Baudouin’s morphological conception. They investigate the phoneme mostly on the basis of the Russian language. To the Lenengrad school belong Shcherba and his followers. They investigate the problem on the basis of foreign languages. Prof. Shcherba has adopted and developed Baudouin de Courtenay’s psychological conception of the late period. He was the first to advance the idea of the distinctive gunction of the phoneme.