7. Emphasis (stress)
Any word spoken in isolation has at least one prominent syllable. We perceive it as stressed. Stress in the isolated word is termed word stress, stress in connected speech is termed sentence stress. Stress is indicated by placing a stress mark before the stressed syllable: /'/.
Stress is defined differently by different authors. B. A. Bogoroditsky,
for instance, defined stress as an increase of energy, accompanied by an
increase of expiratory and articulatory activity. D. Jones defined stress as
the degree of force, which is accompanied by a strong force of exhala
tion and gives an impression of loudness. H. Sweet also stated that stress
is connected with the force of breath.
Word stress can be defined as the singling out of one or more syllables in a word, which is accompanied by the change of the force of utterance, pitch of the voice, qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the sound, which is usually a vowel.
In different languages one of the factors constituting word stress is usually more significant than the others. According to the most important feature different types of word stress are distinguished in different languages.
If special prominence in a stressed syllable or syllables is achieved mainly through the intensity of articulation, such type of stress is called dynamic, or force stress.
If special prominence in a stressed syllable is achieved mainly through the change of pitch, or musical tone, such accent is called musical, or tonic. It is characteristic of the Japanese, Korean and other oriental languages.
If special prominence in a stressed syllable is achieved through the changes in the quantity of the vowels, which are longer in the stressed syllables than in the unstressed ones, such type of stress is called quantitative.
Qualitative type of stress is achieved through the changes in the quality of the vowel under stress.
English word stress is traditionally defined as dynamic, but in fact, the special prominence of the stressed syllables is manifested in the English language not only through the increase of intensity, but also through the changes in the vowel quantity, consonant and vowel quality and pitch of the voice.
Stress difficulties peculiar to the accentual structure of the English language are connected with the vowel special and inherent prominence. In identical positions the intensity of English vowels is different. The quantity of long vowels and diphthongs can be preserved in pretonic and post-tonic position in English.
All English vowels may occur in accented syllables, the only exception iswhich is never stressed. English vowelstend to occur in unstressed syllables. Syllables with the syllabic /1, m, n/ are never stressed.
Stress can be characterized as fixed and free. In languages with fixed type of stress the place of stress is always the same. For example in Czech and Slovak the stress regularly falls on the first syllable. In Italian, Welsh, Polish it is on the penultimate syllable.
In English and Russian word-stress is free, that is it may fall on any syllable in a word. Stress in English and in Russian is not only free but also shifting. In both languages the place of stress may shift, which helps to differentiate different parts of speech, e.g. 'insult — to in'sult, `import — to im'port.
When the shifting of word-stress serves to perform distinctive function. V. Vassilyev terms this suprasegmental phonological unit form distinctive accenteme, when it serves to distinguish the meaning of different words, the term is word-distinctive accenteme.
Stress performs not only distinctive function, it helps to constitute and recognize words and their forms.
A polysyllabic word has as many degrees of stress as there are syllables in it. American and English phoneticians give the following pattern of stress distribution in the words examination, opportunity.
They mark the strongest syllable with primary accent with the numeral 1, then goes 2, 3, etc.
American descriptivists (B. Bloch, G. Trager) distinguish the following degrees of word-stress: loud /'/, reduced loud /^/, medial /`/, weak, which is not indicated. H. A. Gleason defines the degrees of stress as primary /'/, secondary /^/, tertiary /`/, weak /~/. H. Sweet distinguishes weak /~/, medium, or half-strong /:/, strong and extrastrong, or emphatic stress /;/.
V.A. Vassilyev, D. Jones, R. Kingdon consider that there are three degrees of word-stress in English: primary — strong, secondary — partial, weak — in unstressed syllables. For example: certification
Most English scientists place the stress marks before the stressed syllables and don't mark monosyllabic words,
Some American scientists suggest placing the stress marks above the vowels of the stressed syllable.