Lecture 8

The accentual structure of English words

Inseparable from the syllabic structure of words is their accentual structure. In disyllabic and polysyllabic words their accentual structure is constituted by the occurrence of syllables with different degrees of special prominence in different positions in to the beginning, middle, and end of words.

The greater degree of special prominence given to one or more syllables as compared with that of the other syllable or syllables in on and the same word is known as word accent (hence the terms accentual structure, pattern, type).

Languages differ from one another in the principal means by which the special prominence of speech sound is achieved and word accent thus effected. Therefore types of word accent are distinguished first of all according to the articulatory means by which it is effected.

a) One of such means is the pronunciation of a syllable in a word with a greater force of utterance as compared with that of the other syllables of the same word. Word accent effected by this means is called dynamic, or force, stress.

b) A syllable can be made specially prominent by uttering it on a different pitch level or with a different pitch direction than the other syllable or syllables of the word. Word accent effected by this means is called musical, or pitch, or tonic accent.

c) A syllable can be made more prominent when its vowel is pronounced longer than another vowel or other vowels of the same tamber or historical or historical length in the unstressed position in the same word or in other words of the language. Word accent effected by this means is called quantitative accent.

d) Some linguists, e.g. G.P. Tprsuyev, distinguish also qualitative accent, which is effected by preserving unobscured the quality of the vowel phoneme in the accented syllable.

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<== попередня сторінка	\|	наступна сторінка ==>
Assimilation, adaptation, accommodation, elision	\|	Unstressed vocalism of English

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