* the recessive tendency

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37. Sentence stress

Sentence stress is special prominence given to one or more words according to their relative importance in a sentence.
- organizes intonation patterns semantically and syntactically;
- single out the communicative center and other important items of the utterance; - nominal words are usually accented, and form words are usually unstressed;
- may be shifted or weakened to keep the rhythm of speech: in the afterNOON - AFternoon SLEEP;
- proclitics – the adjoining unstressed words, when they precede the stressed words.
- enclitics – the adjoining unstressed words, when they follow the stressed words;
- rhythmic groups – stressed words pronounced in on breath with proclitics and enclitics.
Functions:
- constitutive – each word, intonation group or sentence must have stress;
- distinctive – determines the communicative centre (rheme – something new; theme - context);
- recognitive – the use of sentence stress of the right degree in the right place.
- normal (to arrange the sentence phonetically, to single a nuclear of the centre of the utterance),
- logical (gives special prominence to a new element),
- emphatic (to compare, correct, or clarify things).
+Sentence stress is the main means of providing rhythm in speech. Rhythm is the key to fluent English speech.

31. Functions of the syllable

Syllable is the smallest pronounceable unit with potential linguistic importance. Syllables are capable to form language units of greater magnitude i.e. morphemes, words and phrases.
Functions:
- constitutive - syllables form words;
- distinctive - distinguish words & word-forms (nitrate [nai’treit] – night rate [nait-‘reit]);
- recognitive.
Open junction, e.g. a name [Ə + neim], an aim [Ən + eim], nitrate [nai-treit] – night rate [nait-reit]
Close junction occurs between sounds closely connected with each other within one syllable by a single arc of articulatory effort, e.g. between [n] and [ei], [ei] and [m].