Functional degrees or word accent in English.

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 628.

Languages differ in word accentuation because of its nature, which is different and variable. The most common feature in the nature of word stress is prominence of a stressed syllable. Any word spoken in isolation has at least one prominent syllable. Stress can also be defined as power, intensity, force, energy. Stress organizes syllables in sound shapes. It can be defined in different ways. H.Sweet defines it as a force of breath. D.Jones as a degree of force that gives an impression of loudness. A.C.Gimson says that a more prominent syllable is accompanied by the change in the pitch of the voice, quality and quantity of the stressed sound. We can also say that it is an increase or decrease of energy accompanied by an increase or a decrease of articulatory activity.

Functionally there are three degrees of prominence

Primary stress—the strongest degree, secondary--strong (it is used for the sake of English rhythm), weak—unstressed syllables. (Examination, congregation).

According to American theory there is also strong stress- tertiary stress.American tertiary stress is post-tonic, non-distinctive; English secondary- pre-tonic, distinctive.

We can also speak about the stress from the point of its position in the word. It can be fixed and free. Languages with fixed stress have tendency to stress the same syllable in all the words. In French for example they put the stress on the last syllable. There are certain types of stress:

1) Dynamic or force stress if special prominence in a stressed syllable (syllables) is achieved mainly through the intensity of articulation;

2) Musical or tonic stress if special prominence is achieved mainly through the change of pitch, or musical tone.

3) Quantitative stress if special prominence is achieved through the changes in the quantity of the vowels, which are longer in the stressed syllables than in the unstressed ones.

4) Qualitative stress if special prominence is achieved through the changes in the quality of the vowel under stress. Vowel reduction is often used as a manipulation of quality in unstressed syllables.

In English language the notional words are stressed, because they carry sense, meaning in them—verbs, adverbs, nouns, adjectives, numerals.

Functional words are unstressed—pronouns (except absolute), model, link, auxiliary verbs, except contracted forms (hasn't), prepositions, particles.

There is also double stress—compound nouns have one primary stress on the first syllable.

Compound adjectives, numerals, phrasal verbs have two primary stresses—make up, thirteen.

There is a shifting stress—the meaning of the word depends on the position of the stress in the word, for example-- `import-im`port, `present—pre`sent.

Distinctive Functions of word stress:

1. Constitutive/organizing

W.S. constitutes word shapes, it organizes syllables into a word(language unit) having a definite accentual structure.

2. Semantically distinctive function

W.s. alone is capable of differentiating the meaning of words or their grammatical forms, thus performing its distinctive function on the basis of the pairs of opposition. `import-im`port, `object-ob`ject

3. Syntactical distinctive function is distinguishing between a noun or a compound noun. A `hotdog- a `hot `dog, `not a `tall- `not `at `all