Week 5

Question 1

What is metrical structure in relation to rhythm?

Answer 1

1. Segments (phonemes) are parsed into syllables.
2. Syllables are grouped together into left-headed ‘Feet (s w).
3. Feet are grouped together into right-headed ‘prosodic words’.
4. Prosodic words may be grouped into left-headed compounds.
5. Prosodic words are grouped into right-headed ‘phonological phrases’.

Question 2

The syllable in phonological theory

Answer 2

1. Every language has syllables.
2. Syllables have structure (onset+rhyme).
3. Syllable-timed languages: every syllable in the word has roughly the same duration.
4. Stress-timed languages: every interval between stresses has roughly the same duration -> stressed syllables have a longer duration than unstressed syllables (‘reduced’) syllables.

Question 3

‘Reduced’ syllables

Answer 3

Unstressed syllables

Question 4

Syllable-timed languages

Answer 4

Every syllable in the word has roughly the same duration (Italian, French).

Question 5

Stress-timed languages

Answer 5

Every interval between stresses has roughly the same duration -> stressed syllables have a longer duration than unstressed (‘reduced’) syllables (English, Frisian, Dutch).

Question 6

Which languages are stress-timed languages?

Answer 6

English, Dutch, Frisian and German are stress-timed languages. Every content word (noun, verb, adverb, adjective) has at least one stressed syllable.

Question 7

Syllables are grouped into…

Answer 7

Metrical feet

Question 8

What is the head of a metrical foot? What must a foot contain?

Answer 8

The head of a metrical foot is a stressed syllable. A foot must contain one stressed syllable and may contain zero or more unstressed syllables.

Question 9

What is : used for?

Answer 9

As a short-hand for a branching Nucleus

Question 10

Which foot structures, that are trochaic and Germanic, does Carr assume?

Answer 10

1. Monosyllabic, non-branching (sit, seek, same): F———s.
2. Bisyllabic, binary branching (city, subtle, photo): F——-s, w.
3. Trisyllabic, ternary branching (synonym, telegram, photograph): F——–s,w,w.

Question 11

Rhythmic alternations

Answer 11

Every stressed syllable is the beginning of a metrical unit; every unstressed syllable can be grouped together with a preceding stressed one to form a metrical unit (Foot)

Question 12

Evidence for the foot

Answer 12

1. Rhyming pairs: minister, sinister.
2. Expletive insertions.
3. Neologisms:
   - alco.holic -> worka.holic
   - vegetarian -> flexi.tarian
4. Phonological rules: foot-initial aspiration, American English flapping, English Voicing Assimilation.

Question 13

English Voicing Assimilation

Answer 13

Within the Foot, adjacent obstruents must agree in voicing (i.e. adjacent obstruents are either both voiced or both voiceless).

Question 14

The Foot is the domain for…

Answer 14

English Voicing Assimilation

Question 15

Foot-level

Answer 15

F

Question 16

Syllable level

Answer 16

s w

Question 17

Word stress assignment

Answer 17

The Word is the domain for lexical stress (‘word stress assignment’). In English, every P-word has at least one primary stressed syllable, i.e. one foot and may have one or more secondary stresses.

One foot = one main stress (sit, city, cinema, America).

Two feet = main and secondary stress (kangaroo, encyclopaedia, experimental).

Three feet = main and two secondary stressed (reconciliation).

Question 18

How are feet assigned?

Answer 18

Feet are assigned from right to left, main stress right within P-word.

Question 19

Which words may have exceptional foot structure?

Answer 19

1. Nouns (late loans) with final foot (main stress): F——s (kangaroo, champagne).
2. Verbs with Latinate prefix (foot) (secondary stress): F—–s (to export, to refill).

Question 20

Compounds in phonological theory (compound, p-word, feet)

Answer 20

Compound: every compound has at least two P-words.

P-words: every P-word has at least one strong Foot.

Feet: every foot has at least one strong syllable.

Dog sled, blackbird.

Question 21

Stress first member

Answer 21

/ˈblæk bɜːd/ blackbird
/ˈɡɹiːn haʊs/ greenhouse
/ˈaɪs kɹiːm/ ice cream (GAE)
/ˈkɑːpɪt swiːpə/ carpet sweeper

Question 22

Stress second member

Answer 22

/ˈblæk ˌbɜːd/ blackbird
/ˈɡɹiːn ˌhaʊs/ greenhouse
/ˈaɪs ˌkɹiːm/ ice cream (GAE)
/ˈkɑːpɪt ˌswiːpə/ carpet sweeper

Question 23

Phrasal stress

Answer 23

Stress final member in the phrase:
/ˌblæk ˈbɜːd/ a black bird
/ˌɹɛd ˈhaʊs/ a red house
/ˌaɪs ˈkɹiːm/ ice cream (SBBE)
/ˌbɪɡ ˈfæk.tə.ɹiz/ big factories

Question 24

Stress-shifting suffix

Answer 24

Conscience SSBE
/ˈkɒn.ʃəns/, GAE /ˈkɑːn.ʃəns/

Conscientious: primary stress falls on the syllable immediately preceding stress-shifting -ous (i.e. -ous is in the weak branch of a foot).

Question 25

Compound noun

Answer 25

Two or more P-words combined. The left-most P-word is more prominent. See structure on slide 26.

Question 26

Right or left-headed?: phrase, word, foot

Answer 26

Phrase: right-headed Word level: right-headed Foot level: left-headed Syllable level

Question 27

How does Rhythm Reversal operate?

Answer 27

Rhythm Reversal operates on Feet, not syllables.

Question 28

Preference for eurhythmy

Answer 28

S-W. A foot with primary stress will get secondary stress for a more optimal rhythmic structure in which strong and weak beats alternate. Foot structures with more than one W syllable are less Eurythmics, less optimal, than those with only one.

Question 29

Why do *witty* and *city* rhyme?

Answer 29

Because they both have a trochaic metrical foot of the same sort: ['wɪti] and ['sɪti]. The onset consonants play no role in rhyming, but metrical structure does.

Question 30

Why do *entity* and *witty* not rhyme?

Answer 30

Because rhyming in English is based on identity of stressed vowels in two or more trochaic feet. *Entity* does not have the same stressed vowels as the words *witty* and *city*.

Question 31

Why is *ab-bloody-lutely* wrong (Carr's answer)

Answer 31

The answer lies in the existence of the trochaic metrical foot. The expletives are bisyllabic trochaic metrical feet. The words into which they can be inserted will contain trochaic metrical feet. In inserting expletives, one must respect the trochaic metrical structure of the word one is inserting an expletive into: *abso-bloody-lutely* contains a sequence of three trochaic bisyllabic metrical feet. It respects the trochaic bisyllabic metrical foot structure of *absolute*, inserting another root in between those two.

Question 32

The connection between neologisms and the metrical foot

Answer 32

Many neologisms are based on the trochaic metrical foot: *alcoholic, shopaholic, chocaholic*. All of these are based on analogy with existing words: *alcoholic*.

Question 33

Why is *ab-bloody-lutely* wrong (easier answer)

Answer 33

1. **Two trochaic feet**: 'AB - so - 'LUTE - ly The rule: You can insert an expletive between trochaic feet, maintaining the trochaic rhythm. 2. **Abso-bloody-lutely** AB-so / BLOO-dy / LUTE-ly → Three perfect trochaic feet 3. Why is Ab-bloody-lutely "wrong"? X Ab-bloody-lutely *AB* is just a stressed syllable, not a full trochaic foot. You're breaking the metrical pattern. *So* gets stranded or awkwardly grouped, ruining the rhythm.

Question 34

What is a 'stray' syllable? And in which word does it occur? Why?

Answer 34

The first unstressed syllable /ə/ in *America, maroon* and *about* is not integrated into the foot structure. We are denying that there are W-S feet in English. It is only at the level of larger units (like a phrase) that such unstressed syllables may be integrated into foot structure: *saw America*.

Question 35

When does the American flap not occur?

Answer 35

The rule does not apply if a foot boundary occurs adjacent to /t/ or /d/, So, the generalisation does not cover cases such as *attacker*.

Question 36

Which generalisations are sensitive to foot structures?

Answer 36

Aspiration and flapping

Question 37

When is aspiration the strongest?

Answer 37

When the voiceless stop is in foot-initial position, as in *party, appearance*.

Question 38

Phrasal stress rule

Answer 38

A phrase is less Eurythmics and may contain in adjacent S-labeled feet. This is because, in most English phrases, the final word is most stressed: *black bird, into London, very yellow, slowly ate*. This also applies at sentence level: * I want a cup of coffee*. PP, AP.

Question 39

What happens to the Eurythmics sequence of S-W where the stronger of the two feet is followed by the stressed syllable of another foot? What happens to fix it?

Answer 39

A 'stress clash' occurs, which turns to S-W into S-S (p.102). **Rhythmic reversal** applies: *academic banter, champagne breakfast, Tennessee Williams*.

Question 40

Stress reversal example

Answer 40

*Good-looking* to *good-looking tutor* *Heathrow* to *Heathrow Airport*

Question 41

When does rhythmic reversal happen?

Answer 41

The reversal process reverses a sequence of a secondary stressed syllable and a primary stressed syllable when it is followed by a primary stressed syllable within a phrase. It occurs whenever a word containing a weak-strong sequence of feet is combined, to form a phrase or compound, with a word whose first syllable is the first syllable of a foot (i.e. is stressed).

Question 42

What kind of stress does the suffix -*ese* take?

Answer 42

It takes stress. New Yorkese becomes W-S-S.