Accentual structure of English words.

The sequence of syllables in the word is not pronounced identically. One or more syllablea in a polysyllabic word have greater prominence than the others. Such syllables are said to be accented or stressed.

Stress is defined differently by different authors. B.A. Bogoroditsky, for instance, defined stress as an increase of energy, accompanied by an increase of expiratory and articulatory activity. D. Jones defined stress as the degree of force, which is accompanied by a strong force of exhalation and gives an impression of loudness. H. Sweet also stated that stress, is connected with the force of breath.

In English any of all four factors – loudness (force), pitch, sound quantity (length), sound quality – may render a syllable more prominent that the others in a word. In similar phonetic contexts a vowel is perceived as a more prominent one if it is louder, longer and more distinct (even vowels of full formation in the unstressed position are not so distinct as their stressed counterparts). The pitch component of word stress manifests itself in the fact that the stressed syllable is always that on which there is a potential change of pitch, though the stressed syllable is not necesseraly higher than the unstressed one – the type of tone direction is not significant.

In comparison with Russian. We never pronounce vowels with full formation and length in unstressed positions, they are always reduced. The quantitative component is of greater importance in Russian than in English.

European languages, such as English, German, French, Russian possess predominantly dynamic word stress. It means that the sressed syllbles are pronounced with greater force and greater muscularenergy is produced by the speaker. There is another type of word stress called musical. It implies difference in tones. In Scandinavian languages the word stress is considered to be both dynamic and musical (or tonic). The musical word stress is observed in Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese. It’s affected by the variations of voice pitch in relation to neighbouring syllables. There are tow more type of stress: quantitative (special prominence in a stressed syllable is achieved through the changes in the quantity of the sressed vowel – it becomes longer) and qualitative (the quality of the vowel under stress in changed).

Functions:

Word stress arranges syllables in words fulfilling the constitutive function. Its distinctive function can be traced in the oppositions of words consisting of the same morphemes, the meaning of which is differentiated by word stress. The opposition of the primary stress is capable of differentiating the parts of speech: object [′رbdςıkt] – object [əb′dςekt], conduct – conduct, export – export, progress – progress, subject – subject, noun or adjective – verb. The actual meaning of words may be differentiated in the same way: artist [′a:tıst] apainter – artiste [a:′tıst] a person skilful at doing something. The opposition of second primary stress to the absence of stress may be also distinctive: recover [′ri:′k٨və] cover again – recover [ri:′k٨və] become well again. The secondary stress opposed to the primary one in a few cases differentiates the meaning too: recreation [′ri:krı′eı∫n] creating again – recreation [˛rekrı′eı∫n] refreshment, amusement. The third function is called identificatory or recognitive – word stress enables a person to identify a succession of syllables as a definite accentual pattern of a word.

Position.

Word stress in English is free and not tied to any particular syllable in all the words (not fixed like in French – to the last syllable, Finnish and Czech – to the last). But it doesn’t change its position in a given word. The stress in English as well as in Russian is shifting: it may shift and thus helps to differenciate between the parts of speech: ′insult – to in′sult.

The position of a word stress is the result of the historical development of the language. It has been influenced by the combination of different tendencies. The first of them is known as the recessive tendency. According to it, the root syllable or the semantic unit of the word is stressed. The majority of words of the Germanic origin have their first syllables stressed: clever, body, water, singing. And if the prefixes with no referential meaning are added, the stress remains on the root which become then the second syllable: begin, before, mistake.

The second tendency is called rhythmic and it is the result of the mutual influence of Germanic and French accentual patterns. It manifests itself in stressing the third syllable from the end: ′situate, ar′ticulate. It is especially common for verbs with the suffixes -ate, -fy, -ize: per′sonify, centralize, ar′ticulate.

Many words of French origin retain their stress on the last syllable: police, machine.

Words of four syllables may have either recessive or rhythmic stress: ′architect, ′criticism, re′markable, ar′ticulate. Or they tend to have a three-syllable accentual pattern: dictionary [′dık∫ənrı], laboratory [′læbrətrı].

The third tendency was traced in the instability of the accentual structure of English word stress – the retentive tendency. Ut means that the derivative often retains the stress of the original or parent word: ′similar – as′similate.

Among the factors that determine the place and different degree of stress is the semantic factor.

In English there are three degrees of word stress: stressed syllables (primary stress), half-stressed syllables (secondary stress, which occurs even in simple words when they are polysyllabic) and weak or unstressed syllables. In Russian there are no secondary stresses. Plus there is a large group of words in English that bear two primary stresses equally strong. Some linguists identify four degrees of stress: B. Bloch, G Tarager, H.A. Gleason, H. Sweet, arranging the four in an descending scale and terming them in different ways.

The secondary stress is manifested in polysyllabic word with the primary stress on the third or on the fourth syllable from the biginning: ˛popu′larity, re˛sponsi′bility. In these cases the secondary stress falls on the first syllable.

If the primary stress is on the fourth or fifth syllable, the secondary then falls on the second: ar˛ticu′lation, ex˛perimen′tation.

Consequently the position of the secondary stress is that of the primary stress in the original word from which the derivative word is formed: ′possible – ˛possi′bility, ap′preciate – ap˛preci′ation.

Words with two primary stresses consist of two morphemes and the use of the second strong stress is caused by the semantic significance of both elements of the word. There are several groups of such words:

1. Numerals from 13 to 19.

2. Compound numerals: twenty-three.

3. Compound adjectives: well-known, absent-minded.

4. Compound verbs with a post-position or a preposition-like adverb which changes the meaning of the verb: to give in, to put on, to take off.

5. Polysyllables with separable prefixes having distinct meaning of their own: negative prefixes (un, dis, non, in, ir, il, im) re meaning repetition, mis meaning wrong, pre meaning before, earlier, ex meaning former, under and sub meaning subordinate, inter meaning among, plus others like anti, vice, ultra etc. But very common words with these prefixes sometimes lose the stress on the prefix in everyday usage (unusual, impossible, mistake); it’s also lost in words which are not used without these prefixes (discourage)

Word stress in compound words depends on the semantic weight of the elements of the word. Compound words are composed of separate root morphemes with usually the first element determining or restricting or introducing some contrast to another element. So the first element is stressed while the stressed vowel of the second word retains its qualitative and quantitative prominence: ′reading-room, ′apple-tree, ′suitcase.

Double-stressed compound nouns and adjectives are relatively rare. In such words both elements are equally important: ′gas-′stove, ′absent-′mindness, ′ice-′cream, ′clean-′shaven, ′bare-′footed, ′first-′class. Altough when the second element of the compound adjective is semantically weak, only the first one is stressed: ′childlike, ′oval-shaped.

Typology of accentual structures.

The numerous variations of English word stress are systematized in the typology of accentual structure of English words worked out by G.P. Torsuyev. He classifies them according to the number of stressed syllables, their degree or character (the main and the secondary stress). The distribution of stressed syllables within the word accentual types forms accentual structures of words. Accentual types and accentual structures are closely connected with the morphological type of words, with the number of syllables, the semantic value of the root and the prefix of the word.

The accentual types are:

1. ['___]. This accentual type marks both simple and compound words. The accentual structures of this type may include two and more syllables, e.g. 'fafher, 'possibly, 'mother-in-law, 'gas-pipe.

2. [ '_ '_ ]. The accentual type is commonly realized in compound words, most of them are with separable prefixes, e.g. 'radio-'active, 're'write, 'diso'bey.

3. [ '_ ' _ '_ ] and 4. ['_ ' _ '_ '_]. The accentual types are met in initial compound abbreviations like 'U'S'A, 'U'S'S'R.

5. ['_ ,_ _ ]. The type is realized both in simple and compound words, very

common among compound words, e.g. 'hair-,dresser, 'substructure.

6. [, _ '_ _ ]. The accentual type marks a great number of simple words and some compound words as well. In simple words the stresses 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.

The other five types are rare and found in small number of words.

7.[‘_ ,_ ‘_ _ ] – simple words with the separate prefixes: misrepresent.

8. [,_ ,_ ‘_ _ ] – individualization.

9. [‘_ ‘_ ,_ _ ] – compound words with separable prefixes: unseaworthy

10. [‘_ _ ,_ ,_ ] – simple and compound words: soda-water, bottle.

11. [,_ ‘_ ,_ ] – rare cases of compound words consisting of three components: gignerbeer-bottle.

The data given above suggest an idea of the great variability in the accentual structure of English words. The most widely spread among the enumerated accentual types are supposed to be Type 1, Type 2, Type 5 and Type 6. Each type includes varieties of definite accentual structures with different numbers of syllables and marks thousands of words. So the four of them cover the main bulk of most common English words and are therefore most typical for the English vocabulary.

The variability of the word accentual structure is multiplied in connected speech. The accentual structure of words may be altered under the influence of rhythm, e.g. An 'unpolished 'stone but: The 'stone was un'polished.

The tempo of speech may influence the accentual pattern of words. With the quickening of the speed the carefulness of articulation is diminished, the vowels are reduced or elided, the secondary stress may be dropped, e.g. The 'whole organi'zation of the 'meeting was 'faulty.

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