TheEurasian Academy
Institute"Eurasia"
Coursepaper
"Someproblems of accentual structure in English "
PocheikinaJ.A.
(325group)
Speciality:050207 Interpreting
Discipline:Foundations of the theory of the
studiedlanguage.
Theoreticalphonetics
Thescientific supervisor
Seniorteacher Buzhumova PZ
Uralsk-2010
Contents:
Introduction
Chapter I.English stress as a phenomenon
1.1 The natureof word stress and prominence
1.2 Theplacement of word stress
Chapter II. Thequestions of typology of accentual structure
2.1 Degrees ofstress and rhythmical tendency
2.2 Functionalaspects of word stress
2.3 Practicalanalysis showing the types of stress
Conclusion
List ofliterature
Introduction
In this course paper we shall treat some problems ofaccentual structure. . According to D.Crystal the terms "heaviness, soundpressure, force, power, strength, intensity, amplitude, prominence, emphasis,accent, stress "tend to be used synonymously by most writers. According toG.P. Torsuev the notions "stressed" and "prominent" should not be usedsynonymically. The effect of prominence is created by some phonetic features ofsounds which have nothing to do with word or sentence stress.
RI.Avanesov considers the variability in theplacement of the Russian word stress an individual sign of every particularword which presents a difficulty for foreign learners and sometimes for thenatives. It is interesting to note that Russian word stress may have stylisticdistinction and poetic usage, cf. молодГ©ц- МГілодец,девГєца- ДГ©віца,шГ©лковий-ШелкГівий.
In chapter I. we shall regard to English stress. Itis common knowledge that sounds of speech have different degrees of sonority.Vowels are more sonorous than consonants. Open vowels are more sonorous thanclose ones. The quantitative, and qualitative components of word stress theyare also significant.
In the point 1.1. we shall say about tha nature ofword stress and prominence. According to A.C.Gimson, the effect of prominenceis achieved by any or all of four factors: force, tone, length and vowelcolour.
In the point 1.2. we shall consider the placement ofword stress. The word siress in English as well as in Russian is not only freebut it may also be shifting, performing the semantic function of differentiatinglexical units, parts of speech, grammatical forms.
In chapter II. We shall pay attention to thequestion of typology of accentual structure.
According G.Torsuev Accentual types and accentualstructures are closely connected with the morphological type of words, with thenumber of syllables, the semantic value of the root and the prefix of the word.
In the point 2.1. we shall to point out degrees ofstress and rhythmical tendency. The accentual structure of English words isliable to instability due to the different origin of several layers in theModern English wordstock. In Germanic languages ​​the word stress originally fellon the initial syllable or the second syllable, the root syllable in theEnglish words with prefixes. This tendency was called recessive.
The aim: toanalyse the opinions, poins of view of phoneticians to accentual structure.
Tasks: 1) To give the definitions of word stress
2) To sigle out the nature of word stress andprominence
3) To study the degrees of word accent.
ChapterI. English stress as a phenomenon
It is common knowledge that sounds of speech havedifferent degrees of sonority. Vowels are more sonorous than consonants. Openvowels are more sonorous than close ones. The quantitative, and qualitativecomponents of word stress they are also significant. Certain distinctions of thevowel length and colour are reduced or lacking in unstressed syllables ^ Thefact. strengthens the idea that the accentuation is influenced by the vowellength and, quality. The vowel of the stressed syllable is perceived as neverreduced or obscure and longer than the same vowel in the unstressed syllables.Thus, the word "stress" or "accent" is also defined asqualitative where the vowel colour or qualily is a means of stress andquantitative with relatively increased length of the stressed vowel. Comparethe quality (colour) and quantity (length) of the same vowel in a word, egab'stract, 'car-park; ідГє,Гєлі,yмГЅ.
It is fair to mention that there is a terminologicalconfusion in discussing the nature of stress. According to D.Crystal the terms"Heaviness, sound pressure, force, power, strength, intensity, amplitude,prominence, emphasis, accent, stress "tend to be used synonymously by mostwriters. The discrepancy in terminology is largely due to the fact that thereare two major views depending on whether the productive or receptive aspects ofstress are discussed. The main drawback with any theory of stress based onproduction of speech is that it only gives an explanation of the phenomenon butdoes not analyse it on the perceptive level. Instrumental investigations studythe physical 'nature of word stress.
1.1The nature of word stress and prominence
It would be perfectly natural to begin this sectionwith the nature of word stress. According to A.C.Gimson, the effect ofprominence is achieved by any or all of four factors: force, tone, length andvowel colour. The dynamic stress implies greater force with which the syllableis pronounced. In other words in the articulation of the stressed syllablegreater muscular energy is produced by the speaker. European languages ​​such asEnglish, German, French, Russian are believed to possess predominantly dynamicword stress. In Scandinavian languages ​​the word stress is considered to be bothdynamic and musical. For instance, in Swedish, the word komma (comma) isdistinguished from the word komma (come) by a difference in tones. Themusical word stress is observed in Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese. It iseffected by the variations of voice pitch in relation to napghbouringsyllables.
We would like to dwell on the term prominence here.It seems to cause some ambiguity when related to word stress. The stressed syllablesare often said to be the most prominent syllables in the word. According toG.P. Torsuev the notions "stressed" and "prominent" should not be usedsynonymically. The effect of prominence is created by some phonetic features ofsounds which have nothing to do with word or sentence stress. Sonority is theinner quality of vowels which is not directly connected with the accentualstructure of words but with other articularoty characteristics, it contributesto the effect of prominence.
Another characteristic of a vowel which also adds tothe effect of prominence but is not connected with the word stress ishistorical (traditional) length of vowels.
The presence of a traditionally long sound in thestressed syllable and a traditionally short vowel in the unstressed syllableadds to the effect of the prominence of the stressed syllable, eg [In'kri: s],[Bi'li: v], ['i: zi].
Naturally the historical length of vowels is thevowel inner quality which should not be mixed with the quantitativecharacteristics of word stress.
To sum it up prominence in speech is a broader termthan stress. It is obtained by the components of word stress, such as theloudness, the length, the quality of the vowel plus the inherent sonority ofthe vowel and its historical length.
Let us turn to some examples. If the words 'import(N) and im'port (v) are said on a level tone and each vowel with its ownlength, it is rather d...
