Chapter 8: Suprasegmental Phonology: Stress, Rhythm, Intonation

8.1. Stess and prominence. The phonemic (contrastive) function of stress

8.2. Free stress and fixed stress. The predictability of accentual patterns
8.3. Metric patterns
8.4. Morphological processes and stress shift
8.5. Primary and secondary stress
8.6. Weak and strong forms. Vowel reduction and delition
8.7. Rhythm
8.8. Intonational contours. Their pragmatic value

8.3. Metric patterns

As mentioned above, the term metric structure can be used when discussing stress
and rhythmical patterns, a terminology borrowed from the analysis of verse structure. The
basic metrical structure in poetry is the foot. It can contain two or several syllables, but
since English words don’t tend to be excessively long we will only refer to two- or three-
syllable structures. A dissyllabic structure with the accent on the first syllable is called a
trochee. If in a two-syllable foot the stress falls on the second syllable we talk about an
iamb. In three-syllable patterns we can have the accent on the first one and then we have
a dactyl, on the second one – an amphibrach, or on the last one – an anapest. Here are
some examples of English words displaying the respective metric structures.

country, cofee, Florence, Venice + – trochee

hotel, decide, Brazil , Berlin – + iamb
comforting, infidel, Coventry , Birmingham + – – dactyl
distinction, employer, Calcutta, Toronto – + – amphibrach
nominee, cangaroo, Montreal, Tennessee – – + anapest

In English, stress placement is not only unpredictable, as the examples above

prove. We can test the mobility of the accent on even longer words:
four syllables with the stress on the first: in.tri.ca.cy, cu.sto.ma.ry;
four syllables with the stress on the second: re.ci.pro.cal, pa.ra.me.tre;
four syllables with the stress on the third: con.fi.den.tial; dis.po.si.tion
four syllables with the stress on the last: mis.un.der.stand; mis.a.ppre.hend;
five syllables with the stress on the third: com.ple.men.ta.ry, con.sti.tu.tio.nal,
re.gu.la.ri.ty;
five syllables with the stress on the fourth: re.pre.sen.ta.tion, i.ma.gi.na.tion,
un.der.de.ve.lopped;
more than five syllables: un.de.si.ra.bi.li.ty.