Pr.M.

Hammani
Stress & syllable

That [p] and [b] are allophones amounts to saying that this variation is determined
by the presence or absence of the phonetic feature [voice] in the bilabial stop, if the two
stops are in complementary distribution. Conversely, [±voice] can make them phonemes if
they are in overlapping distribution or involve a minimal pair. By the same token, the
presence or absence of stress (accent), in some languages, can make two otherwise similar
vowels either phonemes or allophones. Before we embark upon the analysis of this aspect
of human speech, let us first define stress and the phonetic / phonological concepts it
involves.

Put in simple terms, a vowel is said to be stressed when the speaker, while pronouncing
it, pushes up a greater volume of air from the lungs than the amount of air used in pronouncing
neighboring vowels. As a result of this respiratory activity, the stressed vowel is perceived
(heard) with a relative increase of loudness, compared to the adjacent vowel(s). Thus, a stressed
vowel is perceptually more salient (bolder) than the neighboring vowels.

However, the respiratory activity above does not usually exclusively involve the vowel.
The consonant(s) before the vowel and sometimes the consonant(s) after the vowel are also
articulated with relative loudness. Consider the English words below in (2.14), where $ stands for
a syllable boundary.

(2.14)

courtship $ kɔ:t $ ʃip $

party $ pɑ: $ tɪ $
company $ kʌm $ pə $ nɪ $
complain $ kəm $ pleɪn $
perceive $ pə $ si:v $
industrial $ ɪn $ dʌs $ trɪ $ əl $

Each underlined consonant-vowel (CV) sequence is perceived as louder, stronger, and

more prominent than the neighboring CV sequences. The underlined sequences are known as

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syllables, usually set off by the symbol $ as shown in the examples in (2.14). Therefore, though
the Structuralists viewed stress as a property of vowels, as early as the nineteen forties (Firth),
fifties and sixties (London School), it was considered as belonging a prosodic unit larger than the
sound. Before we go any further, defining the syllable at this point is in order.

The Syllable

In phonetic terms, the syllable is the articulatory gesture resulting from a single chest
pulse, one burst of pulmonic air. The sound sequences in (2.15) below are all produced with
such an activity:

(2.15)

a V
are VV
cat CVC
skip CCVC
skipped CCVCC
stools CCVVCC
springs CCCVCCC
strengths CCCVCCCC

A phonological definition of the syllable requires presenting some arguments that support
the existence of the syllable as a structural unit of phonological description. Basically, a syllable
is made up of an obligatory vowel optionally flanked (surrounded) by consonants as can be seen
in (2.15) above. The main arguments in support of the syllable as a structural unit in the sound
system of human language can be seen along the following lines.

Argument 1

The perception of sonority (loudness / prominence) as involving all the underlined elements
(syllables) in the examples in (2.14) above indicates that they are psychologically real, existing
in the minds of speakers. Producing, for instance, the word courtship with the underlined sequence
as more salient (stronger) than the non-underlined sequence would be judged as a foreign, non-
native pronunciation of this word.

Argument 2

The fact that speech is produced as a sequence of chest pulses one louder than the other
indicates that speakers produce speech in rhythmic units. Words may have accent and / or stress
as the examples below show:

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 (2.16) Moròccans are kèen on linguistics. (accent and stress)

(2.17) àrtist (stress)

Notice that in (2.16) are [a:] cannot bear stress because it consists of one syllable, while
stress requires at least two syllables to operate. Yet [a:] in artist bears stress to indicate that there
is a difference in prosodic weight between two syllables. Stress is used to contrast a strong syllable
(stressed) and a weak one, while accent is used to contrast words and hence has a pragmatic
(discoursal) usage. Put differently, white stress shows the strength (prosodic weight) relations
between at least two syllables, accent may fall on one syllable to show the intention of the speaker.
Consider the data below:

(2.18)

Shall Ì call Jim and Mary? - No, I’ll do it myself.

Shall I càll Jim and Mary? - No, write them an email.
Shall I call Jim ànd Mary? - No, just Jim.

Notice from the answers to the questions that each time accent is shifted, the intentional
meaning of the speaker changes. Also, the words bearing the diacritic ˋ are monosyllabic; that is,
they consist of one syllable. Hence, they have accent rather than stress. The primary function of
stress is to show that a syllable is stronger / weaker than a neighboring syllable in the same word.
Therefore, we cannot talk about stress unless the word consists of at least two syllables (disyllabic)
as in (2.19):

(2.19)

phòtograph photògraphy photogràphic

Argument 3

The domain of stress is the syllable. When stress shifts to another syllable it makes it
perceptually stronger than it was without stress. Conversely, when a syllable loses stress, it is
produced / perceived weaker than before, as (2.20) shows.

(2.20) Canada [kæ̀ nədə] ˷ [kənèɪdɪən] Canadian

[æ] in [kǽnədə] is phonetically a full tense vowel. The same vowel reduces to a schwa (the
weakest form of a vowel) in [kənèɪdɪən] where stress falls on the penultimate vowel (the one
before last).

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Argument 4

The nature (structure) of a syllable determines the application of phonological processes

(see File 4). A phonological process is the operation whereby some phones undergo certain
phonetic changes in their manner or point of articulation. For example, in Tamazight, Saib (1978)
has shown that emphasis (pharyngealization) spreads to neighboring speech sounds in a manner
strictly regulated by syllable structure. Let us illustrate this argument with reference to phonemic
analysis. Consider clear and dark [l] in the English data in (2.21) below:

(2.21)

play pleɪ æpɬ apple

leaf li:f fi: ɬ feel
A let let teɬ tell
glimpse glɪmps æŋgɬ angle
clay kleɪ æŋkɬ uncle

notable nəʊtɨbɬ nəʊtɪblɪ notably

B possible pɒsɪbɬ pɒsɪblɪ possibly
economical ɪkənɒmɪkɬ ɪkənɒmɪklɪ economically
predictable prɨdɪktɪbɬ prɨdɪktɪblɪ predictably

In accounting for the distribution of clear and dark [l], we will have to refer to the components of
the syllable. That is, while clear [l] occurs at the beginning of a syllable, dark [ɬ] consistently occurs
at the end of it. They are in complementary distribution and their allophonic variation is conditioned
by (sensitive to) syllable structure.

Syllable Structure

In the phonology literature, the discussion of syllables involves two elements: the
structure of the syllable and the rhythmic relations characterizing syllables. As we have seen
above, the obligatory element of a syllable is the vowel. A syllable must contain a vowel, but
not all syllables contain a consonant. Therefore, without a vowel, we cannot talk about the
syllable. The vowel is called the nucleus (peak) of the syllable. However, in some languages
certain phones can play the role of the vowel. Consider the data in (2.24):

(2.22)

British English American English Gloss

bɜ:d br̩ d bird
gɜ:l gr̩ l girl
fɜ:st fr̩ st first
sɜ: sr̩ sir

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In the American English words above, the peak of the syllable is [ r̩ ]. Other phones which play
the role of vowels in syllables are [l], [n] and [m], and they are called syllabic consonants. This is
indicated by the diacritic ˌ placed under the consonant ([l̩ ] , [n̩ ], [m̩ ] as in little, button, and bottom
respectively).

As shown in (2.23) below, syllables in English may start with at least one consonant and
three at most. They may end in up to four consonants. The consonant(s) starting the syllable
constitute(s) its onset. And the consonant(s) ending the syllable is / are referred to as the coda
(offset) of the syllable. The nucleus and the coda constitute the rhyme of the syllable. The
representation in (2.23) illustrates the internal structure of the syllable sit, where the sigma (σ)
stands for the syllable:

(2.23)

Syllable σ

Onset Rhyme

Peak Coda

s i t

The peak of the syllable is the element where pitch (i.e. frequency of vocal cords vibration)
increases, which creates intensity, loudness and even length. It is the element which is said to bear
stress or accent. Syllables are also classified as open (light) if the peak is not followed by a
consonant (simple rhyme). It is heavy (closed) if its peak is followed by one consonant. A syllable
is super-heavy if its peak is followed by more than one consonant as shown below in (2.24) below,
where $ stands for syllable boundary, C 0 stands for any number of consonants including zero. C1
means a maximum of one consonant, and C 2 indicates a minimum of two consonants.

(2.24)

V
CV
light CCV $C0 V $ (= a vowel preceded by any number of consonants and
CCCV followed by no consonant)

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 CVC
heavy CCVC $C0 V C1 $ (= a vowel preceded by any number of consonants
CCCVC and followed by one consonant)

However, if the vowel is a schwa (CəC), then the syllable is considered light.

VCC
CVCCC $C0 VC2 $ (= a vowel preceded by any number of
Super heavy CCVCCC consonants and followed by at least two consonants)
CCCVCCC

Notice that the number of consonants before the syllabic (peak) element does
not count in specifying syllable prosodic weight.