BBN–ANG–141 Foundations of phonology 10
Stress & intonation
Péter Szigetvári
Dept of English Linguistics, Eötvös Loránd University
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outline
what is what?
some common stress patterns
some characteristics of stress
levels of stress
how to tell a reduced vowel?
consonants before a stressed vowel
syncope, high vowel gliding
weak forms
feet
locating stress
in the word
in the sentence
intonation
parts of the tone unit
types of nuclear tone
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what is what?
what is what?
stress (prominence, eg length, higher pitch, loudness)
◮
◮
lexical: one (or more) syllable(s) in each word is stressed, this is
lexical (ie unpredictable)
emphatic: to contrast some word with another it is stressed, eg
◮
◮
◮
◮
Jóhn kissed Jane (not Joe)
John kı́ssed Jane (not cussed her)
John kissed Jáne (not James)
the strongest stress in a tone unit (≈ sentence) is called the
TONIC
intonation
the last stress (=tonic) of the sentence involves pitch change, eg
◮
it wasn’t `me
◮
it wasn’t ´me
◮
it wasn’t ˇme
◮
it wasn’t me
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some common stress patterns
some common stress patterns
legend: X́=potential tonic, X=other stress, x=reduced vowel
two syllables
X́x carry, clever, parrot, ceiling
xX́ adopt, July, derive, taboo, agree
X́X́ sardine, thirteen, maltreat, torment
X́X alcove, ally, elbow, centaur
three syllables
X́xx cinema, family, animal, obstinate
X́xX satisfy, compensate, absolute, microscope
xX́x develop, consider, aroma, contestant
X́xX́ avatar, kangaroo, introduce, lemonade
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some characteristics of stress
some characteristics of stress
either the first or the second vowel of any
word is a potential tonic: lemonade could not be /l@m@nÉjd/ or
/lEm@nÉjd/ it must be /lÉm@nÉjd/
◮ EARLY STRESS REQUIREMENT:
potential tonics tend not to occur next to each other:
lemonade is not likely to be /l@mÓnÉjd/
◮ STRESS CLASH:
◮
content words are always stressed, function words are not always
stressed
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levels of stress
levels of stress
some words have more than one stress
◮
aspiration /ásp@rÉjS@n/, Piccadily /pÍk@dÍlIj/, fourteen /fó:tÍjn/
◮
in isolation: asp@rÉjS@n, pIk@dÍlIj, fo:tÍjn
◮
as the first element of a phrase (or compound): aspiration rule
/ásp@rEjS@n r0́wl/, Piccadily Circus /pÍk@dIlIj s´@:k@s/, fourteen days
/fó:tIjn dÉjz/ (this is called STRESS SHIFT)
◮
left hand /lÉft hánd/, left-hand traffic /lÉft hand tráfIk/
◮
the last stress of a word is sometimes called PRIMARY stress, the first
one (of two) is SECONDARY stress, but this difference is predictable!
◮
return ticket /r@t´@:n tÍk@t/, maroon sweater /m@r0́wn swÉt@/, but
pontoon /pÓnt0́wn/ → pontoon bridge /pÓnt0wn brÍÃ/
◮
sincere wishes /sInsÍ: wÍSIz/ vs princess Anne /prÍnsEs án/ →
/sInsÍ:/, vs /prÍnsÉs/
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levels of stress
tertiary stress
stress that is not a potential tonic (but not reduced vowel either)
◮
alcohol /álk@hOl/, atoll /átOl/, Ceti /sÍjtAj/
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October /Okt´@wb@/, Titanic /tAjtánIk/
◮
unreduced vowel with no stress mark, sometimes marked by a gràve
accent: /álk@hÒl/, /Òkt´@wb@/
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how to tell a reduced vowel?
consonants before a stressed vowel
consonants before a stressed vowel
/h/
◮
vehicular /v@hÍkj@l@/ vs vehicle /vÍj∅@k@l/
◮
alcoholic /álk@hÓlIk/, alcohol /álk@hOl/
intervocalic /t/
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data /dÉjR@/ or /dÉjP@/, city /sÍRIj/ or /sÍPIj/, motto /mÓR@w/ or
/mÓP@w/
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attack /@ták/, hotel /h@wtÉl/, guitar /g@tÁ:/
◮
atom /áR@m/ or /áP@m/ vs atoll /átOl/, Ceti /sÍjtAj/
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how to tell a reduced vowel?
syncope, high vowel gliding
syncope, high vowel gliding
syncope
◮
Deborah /dÉb(@)r@/, strawberry /stró:b(@)rIj/
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Aborigine /áb@rÍÃ@nIi/, cabaret /káb@rEj/
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chicory /ÙÍk(@)rIj/ vs chickaree /ÙÍk@rIj/, but */ÙÍkrIj/
high vowel gliding
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affiliate /@fÍlj@t/, affiliation /@fÍlIjÉjS@n/, affiliate /@fÍlIjEjt/
◮
gradulate /gráÃw@t/ vs graduation /gráÃ0wÉjS@n/, graduate
/gráÃ0wEjt/
◮
folio /f´@wl(I)j@w/ vs polio /p´@wlIj@w/
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weak forms
weak forms
◮
since monosyllabic function words (prepositions, conjunctions,
auxiliaries, determiners, pronouns) are usually unstressed many of
them have a weak (ie unstressed) form
can (aux)
can (n/v)
and
ant
STRONG
WEAK FORMS
kán
kán
ánd
ánt
k@n, kn
"
—
@nd, @n, n
"
—
◮
weak forms always attach to some other word in the sentence, they
never occur in isolation
◮
monosyllabic function words that do not have a weak form include:
off, on, my, I, they, may, might, ought
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weak forms
feet
feet
au thori tarian
o: TÓr@ tÉ:rIj@n
|{z} | {z } | {z }
1
2
3
a foot
◮
consists of a stressed syllable (head of the foot) and the following
syllables; note that tertiary stressed syllables here count as unstressed
◮
there are typically two syllables in a foot (trochee) or three (dactyl);
feet with more than three syllables are rare; one-syllable feet occur
finally, since stresses don’t like to be next to each other
◮
initially a degenerate foot (lacking a head) may occur
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weak forms
locating stress
locating stress in the word
◮
the last potential tonic usually falls on one of the last three syllables
◮
the place of stress depends on the weight of syllables (the length of
their vowel and the presence of a syllable final consonant):
e.g., édı̆t vs. sedā´te
◮
the place of stress often differs in nouns and verbs of the same shape:
e.g., tórmentn vs. torméntv
◮
there are very many exceptions to the stress-locating algorithms,
therefore some consider stress lexically specified
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weak forms
locating stress
locating stress in the sentence
the basic rule
the stressed syllables of content words are stressed, that of function words
are unstressed
even distribution of stress is achieved by
◮ STRESS DELETION:
a content word becomes tertiary stressed, eg
Súe kı́ssed Jóe → Súe kissed Jóe (note that content words may never
lose stress completely (= lose their full vowel))
◮ STRESS CREATION:
a function word is assigned an stress, eg
She will have retúrned → She wı́ll have retúrned, cf Súe will have
retúrned, where will remains unstressed
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intonation
intonation
phonetically
intonation is rendered by pitch change, ie rising or lowering of the
frequency of the speech signal
phonologically
tones distinguish
◮
modalities, attitudes, (non)completeness in intonation languages (like
English or Hungarian)
◮
lexical words in tone languages (like Mandarin)
[mā] ‘mother’, [má] ‘hemp’, [mǎ] ‘horse’, [mà] ‘scold’
the carrier of intonation
the last part, the nucleus, of the tone unit, the primary-stressed syllable of
the phrase or sentence
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intonation
parts of the tone unit
parts of the tone unit
Did you | nev er | see my fan| tastic | blue-green um |´brella, Michael?
| {z } |{z} |
{z
} |{z} |
{z
}
1
2
3
4
5
1 the pre-head, a degenerate foot before the first stressed syllable of the
tone-unit
2 the head, the first stressed syllable of the tone-unit
3 the body, all syllables from the first to the last stressed syllable not
including either
4 the tonic (nucleus/sentence-stress), the last stressed syllable of the
tone-unit, characterized by pitch change
5 the tail, all unstressed syllables after the tonic
⊲ tone-units may lack one or other of these parts: did you ´eat?
(1+4); sar`dines (2+4), etc.; only the tonic is obligatory: me? (4)
´
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intonation
types of nuclear tone
types of nuclear tone
◮
Falling tone (long fall): typical of completed statements,
wh-questions, confirmation-seeking tag questions, exclamations, eg
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◮
◮
◮
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you always make such a `mess, John
what can you see on the `blackboard
that was a nasty ˇsurprise | `wasn’t it
what a `disaster
High-rising tone (long rise): typical of polar (ie yes-no) questions,
echo questions (tonic always on wh-word), information-seeking tag
questions, eg
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◮
◮
◮
◮
is it you who made such a ´mess, John
are you ´ready
you’re ´ready
(brmhmhrr) ´what did you say
this is `Schubert, | ´isn’t it
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intonation
types of nuclear tone
types of nuclear tone
◮
Low-rising tone (short rise): typical of uncertainty and
parentheticals, eg
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◮
◮
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maybe the baby’s a sleep
it looks very much ´
like the other one
`today | says Mary | we’ll `´leave
´ called the Lionhearted | returned from Je`rusalem
`Richard | often
Falling-rising tone (fall-rise): ´typical of incompleteness or
non-finality, in subordinate clauses, main clauses followed by another
main clause, lists, personal opinions, eg
◮
◮
◮
◮
◮
◮
when we ˇget there | we’ll have a good `meal
I’d `buy you it | if I could ˇafford it
I opened the ˇdoor | and `went in
ˇone | ˇtwo | ˇthree | `four
John could ˇdo it for us
he’s not ˇthat bad
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sample exam questions
which of the following is the carrier of stress?
1. any segment
2. consonants
3. syllables
4. words
which is an obligatory part of the tone unit?
1. the head
2. the body
3. the tonic
4. the tail
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