La fonética del inglés y su

didáctica
Curso 2021/22
 Sentence stress (accent)
 SENTENCE STRESS

Sentence stress accent on certain words within a sentence.

Accented (tonally stressed) syllables present not only a rhythmic beat
but also pitch-prominence and stand out the most significant words
from a semantic point of view (usually verbs, nouns, adjectives and
adverbs).

Accented and weak syllables combination

rhythm
 Sentence stress (accent)

 Tone unit: is the minimal unit which can carry intonation.

It can be one long syllable, but usually extends over a few
syllables. (a tone unit can also be called an ‘intonation
unit’ or ‘foot group’).

 2 important elements in the tone unit:

 onset: the first accented syllable of a tone unit.

 nucleus: the last accented syllable. The most important

decision we make in selecting an intonation pattern is
to decide where the nucleus is.
 Sentence stress (accent)
The rhythm of an English utterance is not fixed. There
may be different rhythmic versions of the same
utterance.
Tom spoke to John in the MOrning
onset nucleus
Tom spoke to JOhn in the morning
onset nucleus
TOm spoke to John in the morning
nucleus
 Criteria to identify nucleus:
 Information: new/ old
 Contrast
 Grammatical factors
 Nucleus
 NEW/OLD INFORMATION

Typically, the nucleus highlights new information

- If all the info given is new, the nucleus falls on the last content
word
- A: are you enjoying the course?
- B: well, I don’t like the heat

- If the last content word represents old/given info., the nucleus falls
on the nearest preceding content word that contains new info
- A: what do you think of the heat?
- B: well, I don’t like the heat
Nucleus
- Repeated items are usually de-accented. This applies even
if a synonym is used
- A: who doesn’t like the heat?
- B: well, I don’t like the heat

- A: old Mr Jones has got dog

- B: what breed of dog?
- A: well, I don’t know the name of breeds of dogs, but it was a
brown dog

The last content word is de-accented if it has a broader meaning

- A: do you like dogs? A: do you like dogs?
- B: I like all animals B: I like Spaniels
Nucleus
 CONTRAST
Contrastive stressing draws attention to a contrast the speaker
is making. The nuclear accent shows what we are focussing
attention on.
• When we affirm or deny something, the nucleus falls on the
auxiliary verb, modal verb or negative particle.
• A: You don't like Mozart, do you?
• B: I do like Mozart

• A: Dominic can swim ten metres

• B: He can’t swim ten metres

• A: I’m sorry! You’re busy!

• B: I’m not busy
Nucleus
 When we want to emphasize the tense

 A: does Billy keep himself fit?

 B: Well, he did manage to
 A: do you like dogs?
 B: well, I used to like dogs

 Pronouns may be accented to emphasize a change of

person
I know what I like, but what dou you like ?
Nucleus
 GRAMMATICAL FACTORS (exceptions where the nucleus is
not the last content word)
 Event sentences: in intransitive sentences describing an event,
the nucleus is attracted to the subject (if fully lexical)
The phone’s ringing
The car won’t start
 A fully lexical Noun Phrase object often attracts the nucleus,
even when fronted.
which programme did you watch?
what kind of hat should I wear?
The teacher’s given us a problem to solve
 Final adverbs & adverbial phrases (particularly those relating
to time) are often de-accented in broad focus.
They’re coming to dinner tomorrow