The Rhythmic Nature of English Word Accentuation

Schane, Sanford A.

doi:10.2307/413318

Cited by 22 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Schane (1979) accepts the superiority of the Metrical theory over generative approaches in the representation of rhythm, but he does away with "hierarchically ordered binary branching structures" and preserves the SW notation with an additional SWS (ternary system). He argues that hierarchically ordered, binary branching structures are "overly complex" (Schane 1979: 596).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…He argues that hierarchically ordered, binary branching structures are "overly complex" (Schane 1979: 596). S's are assigned directly to base forms and suffixes, taking into account both syllable structure and morphological information (Schane 1979:600). The SW notation has also been used by Selkirk (1984), who also opts for a ternary structure and posits the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation (PRA) to break the monotony of configurations like SWWW and to maintain the appropriate rhythm.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Selkirk (1984) also uses a grid-only representation in place of tree structures. We have adopted the notation of Schane (1979). This means that we shall view rhythm as resulting mainly from the alternation between strong and weak syllables.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since this is a synchronic study, we do not apply the Iambic Reversal Rule and the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation where there are contiguous strong syllables, as this helps to highlight the similarities or differences between the performances of the experimental group and the control. We indicate the rhythm of the Nigerian accent of English using the notation of Schane (1979), where S and W are assigned directly to base forms and suffixes, taking into account both syllable structure and morphological information. Also, our notation admits ternary structures, as in Schane (1979) and Selkirk (1984).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We indicate the rhythm of the Nigerian accent of English using the notation of Schane (1979), where S and W are assigned directly to base forms and suffixes, taking into account both syllable structure and morphological information. Also, our notation admits ternary structures, as in Schane (1979) and Selkirk (1984).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stress and rhythm in the Nigerian accent of English

Udofot

2003

EWW

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This paper undertakes the investigation of the disposition to stress of Nigerian users of English and the nature of spoken Nigerian English rhythm. The subjects of the study were sixty Nigerians of varied socio-economic, educational and ethno-linguistic backgrounds and a native (British) English speaker, whose productions from reading a passage and speaking freely for three minutes on a common topic were analysed metrically, acoustically and statistically, using a modified version of the Metrical Theory, the Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Ranks Test and the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). In spite of earlier classifications, the study assumes the existence of three varieties of spoken Nigerian English characterized by their disposition to stress and speech rhythm: the "Non-Standard", the "Standard" and the "Sophisticated" varieties, which are individually different but collectively similar yet different from Standard British English, represented by the control's performance. The existence of the three varieties is confirmed by the data. The common performance features include a tendency to stress more syllables in words than the native speaker. This feature, which is traceable to the influence of the syllable-timing rhythm of the subjects' mother tongues, tends to characterize the Nigerian accent of English; but whereas the Non-Standard Variety conforms to the syllable-timing description the Standard and Sophisticated Varieties require further investigation.

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Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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