Understanding and working with syllabus

Functions of word-stress
Word stress builds up the sound image of a word; it shapes a word by making one (or more) syllable(s) more prominent than the others. This organizing function of word stress is called (1) constitutive. To emphasize the idea that the stressed syllable (which is particularly true of Russian) constitutes the centre, the culmination point in a word, the function is called (2) culminaiive. The recurrent stress pattern of the word helps the listener to recognize (identify) it in the flow of speech, and the function is called (3) recognitive (identifying). And, finally, the data on fixed stress locations suggest that stress most commonly marks off the end or the beginning of a word, and therefore signals the end of a word; the function is called (4) demarcative.
Less common but still significant is the role of English word stress in signifying the morphological class of a word: there are over 300 minimal pairs (noun vs. verb) which are distinguished by stress placement: 'insult — to in'suit. Compound words also show the tendency for nouns to bear the primary stress on the first element and for the verbs and adjectives to have it on the second element: 'ballet-dancer, fair-'haired, to down'step. This function may be called (5) morphological. Stress also has a (6) syntactic function in distinguishing between a compound noun, such as a 'hot dog (a form of food), and an adjective followed by a noun, as in the phrase a 'hot 'dog (an overheated animal). Compound nouns have a single stress on the first element, and the adjective plus noun phrases have stresses on both elements.
Peculiarities of English word-stress as compared to Russian and
Byelorussian
The overall impression of greater stress in English is due to a greater contrast between stressed and unstressed syllables in pitch and duration. It is the presence of secondary stress that distinguishes the rhythm of an English polysyllabic word from a Russian word of the same length.