LECTURE 6

The Accentual Structure of English Words

Stress or accent is defined differently by different authors. B.A. Bogarodsky defined stress as
an increase or decrease of energy, accompanied by an increase and a decrease 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 states that stress is
connected with the force of breath.
Word stress can be defined as the singling out of one or more syllables in a word, which is
accompanied by the change of the force of utterance, pitch of the voice, qualitative and quantitative
characteristics of the sound, which is usually a vowel. According to the most important feature of
word accent different types of word stress are distinguished in different languages.
1. The pronunciation of a syllable in a word with greater force of utterance as compared with that
of the other syllables of the same word is called dynamic stress. Stress is dynamic in European
languages, such as English, German, French, Russian.
2. A syllable can be made specially prominent by uttering it on a different pitch level than the other
syllables of the word. This type of word stress is called musical or tonic accent. The musical or
tonic word stress is observed in Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, as well as Azerbaijan language.
But in Scandinavian languages the word stress is considered to be both dynamic and musical.
3. A syllable becomes more prominent when its vowel is pronounced longer than another vowels
of the same word. Word accent effected by this means is called quantitative accent.
4. A syllable is more prominent when a vowel is pronounced clearer and tense than another vowel
of the same word. This type of stress is called qualitative accent.
It is doubtful that the qualitative and quantitative types of word accent exist separately from
dynamic stress.

Degrees of word stress

The most phoneticians distinguish three degrees of word stress. The strongest stress is called
primary stress. The second strongest stress is called secondary stress. All the other degrees of stress
is called weak. The stress marks placed before the stressed syllables indicate simultaneously their
places and the point of syllable division.
American descriptivists (B. Bloch, J. Trager) distinguish the following degrees of word stress: 1)
loud [‘ ], 2) reduced loud [“], 3) medial [,], 4) weak, which is not indicated.
H.A. Gleason defines the degrees of stress as: 1) primary, 2) secondary, 3) weak. But H.Sweet
distinguishes 1) weak, 2) medium, 3) strong, 4) extra – strong or emphatic stress.
The placement of word stress

From the point of view of the position of stress in words and their grammatical forms, accent can be
characterized as free (or shifting) and fixed. In languages with a fixed stress the accurence of the
word stress is limited to a particular syllable in a multisyllabic word. For ex: in French and in
Azerbaijan stress falls on the last syllable of the word, inFinish and Czech it is fixed on the first
syllable.
In languages with a free stress its place is not confined to a specific position in the word. In one
word it may fall on the first syllable, in another on the second syllable, in the third word – on the last
syllable. In English Stress is free.
The word stress in English is not only free, but it may also be shifting. Ex:
Contrast – con`trast; ig`nore - `igno; `habit – ha`bitual.
As we see, it may shift from one syllable to another in different parts of speech, or indifferent forms
of one and the same word. Shifting of word stress may perform: 1) It distinguishes words
semantically; 2) It may also serve to differentiate grammatical forms of words.
Functions of stress
Stress performs three functions: 1) constitutive; 2) distinctive; and 3) recognitive.
1. The first function of word accent is its constitutive function. It organizes words when
they are pronounced separately and joined into sentences.
2. The second function of word accent is the distinctive function. It helps to recognize
words. The accentual patterns of words or the degrees of word stress and their positions
form oppositions. Ex: `import – im`port; `conduct – con`duct, etc.
`contrast – con`trast
The American descriptivists consider as a separate stress – phoneme not only secondary, but also
tertiary stress.
a `blackboard – lövhə
a` black `board – qara lövhə
a `dancinggirl – rəqqasə
a ` dancing `girl – rəqs edən qız
3. The third function of word accent is the identificatory or recognitive
function helps to distinguish words and their grammatical forms. Ex:
 `conflict (noun) – con`flict (verb);
It also helps to distinguish compound words from word combinations. Ex:
`blackbird - `black`bird
It consists in the correct accentuation of words, which facititates their recognition
and comprehension.
English learners must be careful to use not only primary stresses correctly, but also
secondary ones, because secondary stress is very rare, weak and often optional in other
languages. It is necessary to remember that each five or six syllabled English word
with the primary stress on the third syllable from the end there must be secondary
stress on the second or third pretonic syllable. Ex: pronunci`ation, organiza`tion.