Abstract

Pronouncing words with the correct stress plays an important role in communication. This has been investigated by different phoneticians, Torsuyev and Gibson amongst others, who have analyzed the different accentual patterns of English words and defined a large number of different accentual patterns. In this paper the author experimentally challenges the concept of complex accentual structures by investigating the pattern of standard British English speakers. Using the PRAAT program, a software package which is widely used in phonetic experimental research, the fundamental parameters of frequency of tone, intensity and time were measured and used to define accentual patterns of polysyllabic words as spoken by two modern standard English speakers. This study demonstrated that polysyllabic words, phrases and abbreviations exhibit only four distinct accentual-syllabic patterns. This is in direct contrast to previous work and demonstrates that accentual structure in spoken English has been over analyzed and made unnecessarily complex.

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