Variations in Sentence Stress

I.Auxiliary and modal verbs are stressed:

1. In short answers and in negative contracted forms, e. g. °Yes,| I °do.|| You "needn’t °worry.||

2. When “do” is used for emphasis, e. g. I °do.||

3. In slow colloquial style when they begin general or alternative questions, e. g. "Are you a ™student? "Can you ™help me?||

Note. In rapid colloquial style there is a tendency not to stress them, e. g. Are you a ™student?||

They are mostly unstressed when followed by the demonstrative pronouns “this” and “that”, e. g. Is "this a ™book? Can "this be ™true?||

II.Prepositions and Conjunctions.

1. In sentence-initial position they may be stressed when followed by an unstressed syllable (slow colloquial style).

Slow coll. Rapid coll.

"As to my ™future.|| As to my ™future.||

"If she "wants to ™help her…|| If she "wants to ™help her…||

Note. 1. In case a preposition or a conjunction is followed by a proper noun it takes no stress, e. g. If Nina wants to help her…

2. Sentence-initial “but” and “and” are unstressed, e. g. But he would "never °do it.|| And in a ™moment…||

Prepositions and conjunctions in sentence-final position, though unstressed have vowels of full formation, e. g. "What are you °looking at/{t/?|| "What are you °listening to /tu·/?||

III.Interrogative pronouns “what”, “how”, “when”, “why” take no stress in the following type of utterances (they often become high-prehead syllables), e. g. çHow °are you? çWhere °is it?

IV.“What” and “how” in exclamatory sentences followed by some emotionally coloured words take no accent, e.g. How èhorrible!|| What èfine èweather we are ™having to·day!||

V.“How many”, “how much” (rhythmical variations), e.g.

çHow °many?|| "How many °books?||

but

çHow °much?|| "How much °money?||

VI.Any word at its second appearance takes no stress, e. g. "How many °books? – °Two %books.||

VII.“More” and “most” as comparative and superlative degrees take no accent, e. g. The "text is more "difficult than I ex°pected.||

VIII.“Street” and “square” are stressed in the following way: In °Gorky %Street. In "Red °Square.||

IX.Logical stress can be laid on any word semantically important for the speaker. Sentence stress on the words that follow it either disappears or becomes partial, e. g. Do ™you ·speak ·English?||

Note. In “there + be” construction logical stress is fixed on the subject thus leaving an adverbial modifier of place unstressed, e. g. There are "many "places of °interest in Kiev.||

Date: 2015-01-02; view: 1595