Scienze e tecniche
psicologiche a.a.2011-2012
SENTENCE STRESS
Stress- vs. syllable- timed
languages



A syllable-timed language (like Italian) means that
the words are pronounced in a more or less equal
way for all syllables.
These are the basic units of rhythm.
Because each underlying rhythmical unit is of the
same duration, linguists say that these languages are
similar to the rapid fire of a machine-gun.

la-la-la-la-la-la
e.g. Vado a mangiare un gelato a casa
Questa lezione mi sta annoiando.
stress- vs. syllable-timed 1



English = stress-timed language.
A stress-timed language = the stressed
syllables are at approximately regular
intervals, and unstressed syllables shorten to
fit the rhythm.
Italian students  problems producing
unstressed sounds English, so give them
equal stress.
stress- vs syllable-timed 2



Many Italian students don't understand why
English-speaking people quickly speak, or
‘swallow’, a number of words in a sentence.
In Italian each syllable has equal
importance, and therefore equal time is
needed.
In English more time is spent on specific
stressed words while quickly gliding over the
other, less important, words.
Stress and rhythm
English does not depend on syllables but on stress
patterns.
For example the following pair of sentences


You’re awfully late.
You’re going to be* awfully late.
would be said in more or less the same space of time
*In fact the structural words ‘going to’ are often
pronounced (and even written in song lyrics) ‘gonna’ similiarly ‘want to’ → wanna
Different length –
same speaking time
i) The beautiful mountain appeared transfixed in the distance .
(14 syllables)
ii) He can come on Sunday as long as he doesn't have to do any
homework in the evening. (22 syllables)
BOTH take about same time to speak.

WHY? sentence ii has a greater number of less important words
that are pronounced quickly. (He can/on/as long as he doesn’t
have to/in the)

SO DON’T worry about pronouncing every word clearly to be
understood

CONCENTRATE ON pronouncing the stressed words clearly.
Another example
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Boys chase girls.
The boys chase girls.
The boys chase the girls.
The boys‘ll chase the girls.
The boys’ll be chasing the girls.
We add syllables but each sentence lasts just
about the same time
given vs. new information




words with ‘new’ information are given more
stress
words with ‘given’ information are given less
stress
stressed words usually possesses highest
information content
Bolinger (1968) notes that speakers ...
'depend on stress to highlight the most
important and informative idea in the
sentence.
STRESSING THE MOST
IMPORTANT INFORMATION.

They’re GOING.

They’re going to LONDON.

They’re going to London on HOLIDAY.
Stressed vs unstressed words





stressed words are usually CONTENT WORDS such as
Nouns e.g. Judy psychology
(most) principal verbs e.g. develop interest
Adjectives e.g. social political
Adverbs e.g. awfully already






non-stressed words are usually FUNCTION WORDS such as
Determiners e.g. the, a, some, a few
Auxiliary verbs e.g. don't, am, can, were
Prepositions e.g. before, next to, opposite
Conjunctions e.g. but, while, as
Pronouns e.g. they, she, us
GIVEN BEFORE NEW




Normally the new information is found
in the last word in the sentence (unless
this contains given information)
Look at the TIME!
They often take a bus into TOWN.
They enjoy her COOKING and Judy
really is a MARVELLOUS cook.
Another example of old
‘unstressed’ information at end
Speaker a)
“It sounds like there was some excitement last night.”
Speaker b)
“Didn't you hear? There was a torNAdo in the area.”

most important new information = tornado,
‘in the area’ = old/given information implicit in ‘there’
of a)
example Dickerson (1989:20)
Emphatic or Contrastive
Stress

One reason to move the main stress from its normal final position is to
assign an emphasis to a word that does not usually have much stress.
i. It was BOring.
(unmarked)
ii. It was VEry boring. (emphatic)
i. It was a key to FRIENDdship.
ii. It WAS a key to friendship!
(unmarked)
(emphatic)
iii. Eventually he became TOO disturbed. (emphatic)
iv. In virtually EVery behaviour … (emphatic)
v.They can come on FRIday.
(unmarked)
They CAN’T come on Friday. (emphatic)
Examples of Contrastive stress




JANE spoke English yesterday. (…not
John)
Jane SPOKE English yesterday. (She did
not write English ...)
Jane spoke ENGlish yesterday.(..not
French…)
Jane spoke English YESterday.(not two
days ago …)
I’m not studying
So the same sentence can take on different
meanings depending on where the speaker
chooses to place the primary stress:
1. "I'm not studying" = I am not, but another
person is.
2. "I'm not studying" = I refuse to study.
3. "I'm not studying" = I'm not studying... I'm
pondering!

Some words that are emphatic
by nature







indeed, utterly, absolute,
tremendous, awfully,
terribly, great, really,
definitely, truly, literally,
extremely, surely,
completely, entirely, very , quite, too,
pretty, especially, alone, only, own,
Some rules for improving your
oral skills





Don’t worry about pronouncing every word clearly
Concentrate on pronouncing the stressed words clearly.
Listen to how English speakers concentrate on the stressed words
rather than giving importance to each syllable.
You will begin to listen for (and use in speaking) stressed
words.
Words that you didn't understand are probably really not
crucial for understanding the sense or making yourself
understood.

Stressed words are the key to speaking and understanding
English well!