Learn the Rules that Define Sentence Stress

Is sentence stress an object of Phonology? In other words, are there rules that define sentence stress patterns?

Sentence stress (and stress in general) is an aspect of phonology known as suprasegmental phonology. Phonological units are either segmental or suprasegmental. Stress is described as suprasegmental because it is a speech feature that extends over single sounds, and often over syllables, words, or phrases.

There are rules that define sentence stress patterns. One, stress the content words and leave the function words unstressed. In English, content words are words that contain meanings in themselves, such as nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives. Demonstratives and interjections are also classified with content words, as they are also stressed. Function words are words that do not carry the meaning of their own but are merely used to join content words together in a sentence. Examples of function words are articles, conjunctions, prepositions, pronouns, and auxiliary verbs. Consider the following sentences:

1. THOSE are the Boys that ROBBED the BANK.
2. ROSE LIKES RICE but she HATES BEANS and YAM.
3. TAKE THAT WAY, and WALK DOWN to the END of the CANAL.

By stressing content words and unstressing function words when we speak, we maintain the rhythm of the English Language. So sentence stress is characterized by the alternation of stressed and unstressed words or syllables, and it is this rhythm that makes sentence stress the music of the language.

Another rule to observe in sentence stress is stress timing. The English Language if often described as stress-timed. This means that the length of time it takes to say something depends on the number of stressed syllables rather than the number of syllables itself. Consider the following sentences and note that it takes the same length of time to say each sentence despite that some contain more words than others:

1. GOATS EAT GRASS (3 syllables).
2. The GOATS EAT GRASS (4 syllables).
3. The GOATS are EAT-ing GRASS (5 syllables).
4. The GOATS are EAT-ing the GRASS (7 syllables).

It takes the same length of time to say the above sentences because all of them contain three tressed syllables each. Here is the point: all you need to do is to say the stressed words louder and longer, and then shorten the unstressed ones to correspond with the rhythm.

To learn more about how to simplify sentence stress, watch the following video lecture: https://youtu.be/lYwr_kb6gJc