31. How are languages classified according to the position of word accent?

The position of word accent in languages can be classified according to two partially related criteria: fixed vs. non – fixed and predictable vs. lexical (=unpredictable).

32. What are types of free word accent? Give examples.

Free word accent may be of 2 subtypes: constant and shifting. Accent is called constant if it remains on the same morpheme in all ‑­ derivatives and grammatical forms of the word. E.g. in English: ‘culture, ‘cultural, ‘cultured, ‘culturing, ‘ culturally. Accent is called shifting if it changes its position from one morpheme in different derivatives and grammatical forms of the word. E.g. in English: ‘occupancy, occu’pant, ‘occupatio’nist, occu’pational; 'contrast — con'trast; 'habit — habitual 'music — mu'sician. In languages with free word accent it is extremely difficult to determine the position of the stress in every word. Such is the case with the Russian language. Its accentual system must be learnt individually.

33. What are the tendencies of word accent?

Word accent in English is free but the ‘freedom’ of its incidence is restricted by certain tendencies which make the incidence of word more predictable.

34. What is the recessive tendency?

Recessive tendency – the word stress originally fell on the initial syllable or the second syllable, e.g. foresee, begin, apart, withdraw. The first and the oldest of the English lexical stress tendencies (characteristic of all Germanic languages) known as the recessive tendency originally consisted in placing lexical stress on the initial syllable of nouns, adjectives and verbs derived from them and on the root syllable of words which belonged to other parts of speech and had a prefix. In most cases prefixes lost their referential meaning since then, with the result that recessive stress in present-day English of two subtypes:

1) unrestricted: when stress falls on the initial syllable, provided it is not a prefix which has no referential meaning. A great majority of native English words of Germanic origin are stressed this way: father mother husband, `wonder

2) restricted: when stress falls on the root of the native English words with a prefix which has no referential meaning now: a'mong, be'come, before,fo,'get, etc

35. What is the retentive tendency?

It is the tendency to retain the accent in a derivative on the same syllable on which it falls in the original, parent, word, i.e. the word from which a derivative is immediately formed. person – personally.

36. What is the semantic factor?

The semantic factor determines the position of ‘logical stress’. The pitch pattern of a word or a free word combination in a sentence is also determined by the presence of stressed syllables before or after it and by the speaker’s emotion.

37. What is the rhythmic tendency?

Rhythm tendency: the presence in modern English a great number of monosyllabic words and the necessity to alternate stressed and unstressed syllables. This tendency is called the appearance of the secondary stress in a number of English words. (revolution, constitution, etc.)

38. What are the functions of word accent?

1) Constitutive function. The word stress constitutes a word it organizes its syllables into a certain pattern of relations among them in the matter of force, pitch, quality and quantity.

2) Distinctive function shows that stress is capable of differentiating the meaning of word (imp’ort, v. – ‘import, n) (black ‘bird – ‘blackbird)

3) Recognitive function manifests itself that due to the stress people can recognize words and their stress pattern. Use of words with misplaced stress can prevent peple from normal understanding.