Re: USAGE: Stress in English

Merhaba!

Mark J. Reed wrote:

"Here's a minimal pair: /'pr=.mIt/ (n) a document entitling someone to
perform some task.   /pr='mIt/ (v) to allow someone (to do something)."

H. S. Teoh wrote:

"/"inv@lId/ (a sick person) vs. /in"v&lId/ (not valid)."

Mark's example qualifies for phonemic stress, however most other examples
given of phonemic stress are not of any use: in H. S. Teoh's example, there
is a difference in vowel _and_ stress, thus eliminating this word pair for
minimal pair status. Another example is 'defect': /d@'fEkt/ vs. /'difEkt/.
There is a difference in the first vowel _and_ stress, so this pair does not
qualify. This is why this theory of phonemic stress is nearly totally
flawed - or rather, the examples given do not prove the point at all. Only
Mark's example proves that there are still bare traces of phonemic stress in
English; it has almost disappeared. Cf. accusative case can only be found in
pronouns nowadays.

Did old English have phonemic stress?

--Trebor

Replies