5.2.Linguistically relevant degrees of word stress.
Instrumental analyses show that in a polysyllabic word there are as many degrees of stress as there are syllabic in it, but it disagrees with human perception, because according to our experience there are short ?! syllables in a word. This conflict may be solved in a simple way to pronounce a word or a syllable we have to make some effort , this effort is registrar by machines as stress, what the human are perceives a stress, is:- the greatest degree of effort;
-is connected with the meaning of the word.
Ex. ‘Папа- тато –is perceived as a Russian word- father.
Па’па- is associated with either English or French.
До’рога – доро’га way-dear
And other stressed syllables are not perceived as language important. Usually scholars speak of three degrees of word stress in English:
Strong stress- primary stress
Partial stress- secondary stress
And the so called unstressed syllables- have weak stress.
5.3.Stress patterns of the english words.
The stress patterns of the bulk are regular and stable. The same syllable is stressed in the word and it’s derivatives.
Ex. Merry- merriment .
At the same time English stress is free, it means that it’s not fixed to any particular syllable in all the words. There are two main stress tendencies in it.
1)The recessive tendency. According to it the stress falls on the first syllable in a word which is the root syllable or the second syllable in a word where the prefix doesn’t change the meaning of the word cardinally.
Ex. Come-become
Deed- indeed
Give- forgive
2)The rhythmic tendency. According to it, in polysyllabic words the stress falls on the third syllable from the end.
Ex. Opportunity , mobility.
If there are more than 4 syllables in the word, both tendencies worked together.
Ex.’effi’ciency.
The functions of the word stress are:
1)Constitutive function-manifests itself in the fact that each word has some stress and trere are no words without a stress.
2)distinctive function- manifests itself in the fact that the stress helps to differentiate between different parts of speech.
Ex. ‘abstract –adjective
Abstr’act – verb
‘present-noun
Pre’sent- verb
3)Idetificatory- stress patterns help us to identify word.
In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word. It comprises five features:
It is l-o-n-g-e-r – com-p-u-ter
It is LOUDER - comPUTer
It has a change in pitch from the syllables coming before and afterwards. The pitch of a stressed syllable is usually higher.
It is said more clearly. The vowel sound is purer. Compare the first and last vowel sounds with the stressed sound.
It uses larger facial movements. Look in the mirror when you say the word. Look at your jaw and lips in particular.
