On stress *

Abstract

This chapter explains the difference between syllables with primary stress and syllables which receive secondary or tertiary stress. These notions are relevant because words may consist of many syllables, thereby in principle each offering an equal number of candidates for primary stress. In uninflected words primary stress can fall on any syllable; per word there is a fixed syllable bearing stress, but as soon as inflectional elements kick in, this may change. Many inflectional suffixes attract stress and this gives the general impression that the stress position shifts with every addition, but on the other hand, some word stems with non-final stress retain their primary stress position when inflected. This chapter ends by pointing out that for some words the meaning depends on the stress position.