Sentense stress in English.

Sentence stress is a greater prominence of words, which are made more prominent in an intonation group. The special prominence of accented words is achieved through the greater force of utterance and changes in the direction of voice pitch, accompanied by changes in the quantity of the vowels under stress (in unstressed position vowels may undergo qualitative changes, see unstressed vocalism).

The difference between stress and accent is based on the fact that in the case of stress the dominant perceptual component is loudness, in the case of accent it is pitch. Degrees of stress in an utterance cor­relate with the pitch range system. Nuclear stress is the strongest — it carries the most important information. Non-nuclear stresses are subdivided into full and partial. Full stress occurs only in the head of an intonation group, partial stress occurs also in the prehead and tail. Partial stresses in the prehead are most frequently of a low va­riety, high partial stress can occur before a low head. Words given partial stress do not lose their prominence completely, they retain the whole quality of a vowel.

In tone-groups stress may undergo alternations under the influ­ence of rhythm, but there are some rules concerning words that are usually stressed or unstressed in an utterance.

Given below is the list of words that are usually stressed:

Nouns.¹ Adjectives. Numerals. Interjections. Demonstrative pro­nouns. Emphatic pronouns. Possessive pronouns (absolute form). In­terrogative pronouns. Indefinite pronouns: somebody, someone, some­thing, anybody, anyone, anything (used as subject). Indefinite neg­ative pronouns: no, none, no one, nobody, nothing. Indefinite pro-

nouns some, any (expressing quality). Indefinite pronouns: all, each, every, other, either, both. Indefinite quantitative pronouns: much, many, a little, a few. Notional verbs. Auxiliary verbs (negative con­tracted forms). Two-word prepositions. Two-word conjunctions. Par­ticles: only, also, too, even, just.

The words that are usually unstressed:

Personal pronouns. Reflexive pronouns. Reciprocal pronouns. Relative pronouns.¹ Possessive pronouns (conjoint form). Indefinite pronouns: somebody, someone, something, anybody, anyone, anything (used as object). Indefinite pronouns some, any (when expressing quan­tity). Auxiliary verbs² (affirmative form). One-word prepositions and conjunctions. Articles. Particles: there, to. Modal verbs (contract­ed forms and general questions are exceptions).

The meaning of the verbs may, should, must changes depending on whether they "are stressed or unstressed, e. g. You '•may go — possi­bility. You may 'go — permission.

Stresses in an utterance provide the basis for identification and understanding of the content, they help to perform constitutive, dis­tinctive and identificatory function of intonation. These functions are performed jointly with the pitch component of intonation.

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