EMPHATIC AND SENTENCE STRESS CONTENTS

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 'Like word stress, sentence stress can help you understand spoken English, especially when spoken quickly. Sentence stress gives English its rhythm or "beat" (EnglishClub.com, 2007).'

'There are two classes of words in English regarding stress: lexical or content words, and function, grammatical, or structure words (Awonusi, 2001: 128; EnglishClub.com, 2007).'

Lexical or Content Words

'Lexical or content words carry meaning in a sentence and also bear stress. Examples include nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. In the sentence "She bought some chicken yesterday," the underlined words are lexical.'

Function, Grammatical or Structure Words

'Function or structure words, on the other hand, connect or provide additional information about lexical words. They don't carry stress and encompass determiners, prepositions, articles, conjunctions, and pronouns. In the example given, "She bought some chicken yesterday," "She" is a pronoun, and "some" is an adjective. Lexical words carry sentence information, while function words add detailed information.'

'However, neither lexical nor function words alone can form a grammatically correct sentence. In the sentence above, the stressed words are the verb "bought," the noun "chicken," and the adjective "yesterday."'

Summary of Rules for Sentence Stress in English (EnglishClub.com, 2007)

1. 'Content words are stressed.'

2. 'Structure words are unstressed.'

3. 'The time between stressed words is always the same.'

'The following tables can assist you in determining content words and structure words.'

Content Words – Stressed

Words carrying meaning:

- Main verbs: SELL, GIVE, EMPLOY

- Nouns: HOUSE, MUSIC, MARY

- Adjectives: RED, BIG, INTERESTING

- Adverbs: QUICKLY, LOUDLY, NEVER

- Negative auxiliaries: DON'T, AREN'T, CAN'T

Structure Words – Unstressed

Words for correct grammar:

- Pronouns: He, we, they

- Prepositions: on, at, into

- Articles: a, an, the

- Conjunctions: and, but, because

- Auxiliary verbs: do, be, have, can, must

Exceptions

'The above rules are for what is called "neutral" or normal stress, but sometimes we can stress a word that would normally be only a structure word, for example, to correct information.'

Example dialogue:

"They've been to Mongolia, haven't they?"

"No, THEY haven't, but WE have."

'Note that when "be" is used as a main verb, it is usually unstressed (even though in this case it is a content word).'

Emphatic or Contrastive Stress

'In spoken English, a speaker’s message consists of information units with a word usually being the focus. Depending on context and meaning, any word in the sentence can be marked as the focus.'

'Even a grammatical word not normally stressed can be the center of information, becoming stressed and emphasized.'

Examples:

i) 'I left my bag ON the table (not under the table)'

ii) 'Sarah AND Mariam sang (insisting that both sang)'

iii) 'We must apologize to the tutor (whether we like it or not)'

iv) 'Christopher BORROWED the book (he didn’t steal it)'

v) 'This is THE Mrs. Jane (of special fame)'

vi) 'I bought a NEW car last month (not an old one)'

vii) 'Christopher borrowed the BOOK (not the bag)'

'Observations on the use of stress:'

'For individual words, stress patterns are almost the same as in Received Pronunciation (RP), except for some words that have acquired a different stress pattern in popular speech (Bamgbose, 1971). Examples of such words are 'madam,' 'maintenance,' 'tribalism.' According to Bamgbose, intelligibility tests on Nigerian English by Tiffen (1974), Stevenson (1969), Strevens (1965), Ufomata (1984) seem to point towards the same conclusion.'

'It appears that the greatest difficulty for native speakers in understanding Spoken Nigerian English is in the area of rhythm and intonation. One crucial aspect of English phonology to native speakers is the deaccenting of information already given, which is often not done in Nigerian English.'

'Stevenson (1968), reflecting on the teaching of spoken English in Nigeria, summarizes the essence of the findings in the studies referred to above. He states, "English spoken by Nigerians is often difficult for others to understand because each syllable is of nearly the same length and given the same stress. There is a tendency to stress the final syllable in a sentence, even if it is not a personal pronoun. The effect of this is not just that a Nigerian accent is different from any other, but that the message that the speaker wishes to convey is not carried efficiently by the medium; undue importance is given to grammatical items while those words with full lexical meaning are deprived of their prominence" (1969: 231).'

Stress – Timing Rhythm 

'In pronunciation, stressed and unstressed syllables alternate, creating rhythm. The principle of rhythm in English is that "the approximate time spent on the stressed word or syllable is about the same time spent on the sequence of unstressed words or syllables. This is known as stress timing or isochrony" (Awonusi 2001:128). In other words, the time between 'bought' and 'chicken' should be the same as between 'chicken' and 'yesterday':'

'She (perhaps) bought some (tasty) chicken (only) yesterday.'

'This means that even if more function words are introduced, the words in between the stressed syllables are pronounced within the same time frame as the stressed syllables or words.'

Conclusion:

'Stress holds meaning in English, and it's not surprising that a shift in the stress pattern within a sentence can alter its meaning. Content words, being the crucial words conveying meaning, are essential in a sentence. However, the context and intended meaning determine which words can be stressed in an English sentence. Consequently, the phenomena of word and sentence stress are of paramount importance in spoken English. Those aiming for effective communication in the language must not disregard this concept. There are significant techniques of word and sentence stress that should be carefully studied by anyone aspiring to attain the standard of international intelligibility in spoken English.'

 Summary:

'From our discussion, you can observe the remarkable flexibility of the English language, adaptable to suit the user's purpose. Stress, as demonstrated, carries meaning and can be shifted within a sentence to achieve a specific intention. Pronunciation tips were also provided to enhance your effective communication in spoken English.'

REFERENCES / FURTHER READINGS

Bamgbose, A (1971). The English Language in Nigeria. In Spencer (ed).

The English Language in West Africa. London: Longman

Bamgbose, A (1982). Standard Nigerian English. Issues of

Identification. In Kachru (ed). The Other Tongue: English across

Cultures. Pergamon Press, pp. 9 – 26.

Bamgbose, A. (1995). English in the Nigerian Environment. In

Bamgbose et al (ed). New Englishes: A West African Perspective.

Ibadan: Mosuro. pp 9 – 26

Carr, P. (1999) English Phonetics and Phonology: An Introduction.

Oxford: Blackwell.

Couper,K. (1986). An Introduction to English Prosody. London:

Edward Arnold.

Cruttenden, A. (1997). Intonation. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

http://www.ex.ac.uk/-bosthause/Lecture/hockett.htm

http://www.celt.stir.ac.uk/staff

(For tips on pronunciation in relation 

to stress and rhythm in

English go to http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/ws-

pronunciation-tips.htm