Wells Chapter 3 – Tonicity: Where does the nucleus go?

 The nucleus tends to be placed on the last lexical item of an IP.

 Content words tend to attract tonicity. Function words tend to be deaccented, except for

contrast.

 Nouns tend to attract tonicity, in preference to other content words.

 Prepositions are typically deaccented. Except when they involve wh questions in which there is no

lexical material (= content words). E.g.: What’s it for?

 Most compounds in English are single-stressed, that is, the main lexical stress goes on the first

element.

 Open compounds (or two-word compounds): It does not matter whether a single-stressed

compound is written as one word, or hyphenated, or as two words, the main stress still goes on the

first element.

 Double-stressed compounds: Their main lexical stress is on their second element.

E.g.: ,Christmas ‘Eve.

 Old information is deaccented. This includes:

 Synonyms, hypernyms.

 Prospective givenness: words about to be repeated.

 Implied givenness: ideas communicated without being directly said.

 Pro-forms:

 Numerals (one, two, three . . .) tend to be accented, since they have semantic

content. However, when one is used as a pronoun – a pro-form, a kind of function

word – it is not accented. But one is usually accented in the expressions the one, the

right|wrong|first|last|only one, which one.

 With a plural or a mass noun, the pro-form corresponding to one is some or any.

They’re not accented.

 So or there are normally not accented when they are used as pro-forms.

 When a form of do is used as a pro-form (= as a substitute for another verb), it is not

accented:

 New information is accented. Hyponyms count as new information.

 Broad: The focus domain is the whole IP.

 Narrow: We select only one part of the IP.

 yes–no answers and tags

 Contrastive: Any word can be accented for contrast, including a function word. A contrast

may be explicit, or implicit. We sometimes put the nucleus on a ‘given’ item because we

need to place the item in contrastive focus, particularly when we correct another speaker.

 Contrast on polarity (=the quality of being either positive or negative) of a verb, or its

tense. This may cause the nucleus to go on an auxiliary or modal verb.

 The pro-form do receives the nucleus when it signals a change of polarity.

 Dynamic: Varying the tonicity (= changing the accent pattern, altering the focus, putting the

nucleus in different places).

 Pronouns: only accented if they are contrastiv. We can emphasize a contrast between one person

and another explicitly or implicitly.

 The complement of the verb to be regularly receives the nucleus, even if it is a pronoun.

 In clause-final position the possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs) tend to

convey new information and so attract the nucleus.

 Reflexive pronouns: accented for emphasis. When they’re the object of the verb or after a

preposition – they are not usually contrastive, and therefore not accented. Also: “I’ve hurt

myself”, which deaccented means accidentally; VS “I’ve hurt myself”, which means you hurt

yourself on purpose.

 The reciprocal pronouns each other and one another are usually not contrastive, and

therefore not accented.

 The indefinite pronouns can nevertheless exceptionally receive the nuclear accent for

emphasis. E.g.: If something means not nothing.

 Final demonstratives, namely this, that, these, those, tend to convey new information, and attract

the nucleus.

 Wh + to be: The nucleus goes on the verb to be. E.g.: How are you?

 Other function words that attract the nucleus: too, anyway, anyhow, as well, either.

 Empty words are usually not accented, like things or people.

 A vocative at the beginning of an utterance is accented, and normally has its own IP, thus

becoming nuclear.

 We also accent a vocative when we want to indicate who we are talking to, perhaps when

there are other people within earshot.

 A final vocative is usually not accented but attached to the preceding IP as (part of) the tail.

 Reporting clauses (E.g.: ,he said) are usually out of focus.

 Adverbs of time and place: often not accented when at the end of an IP, even if they contain new

information.

 Adverbs of manner that modify the verb, do tend to bear the nucleus if they are at the end of the

clause.

 Other unfocused adverbs and adverbials:

 then (inferential, meaning ‘in that case’, not ‘at that time’)

 though

 or so, even

 sort of (thing), as it were

 a bit

 you know

 The following can be accented sometimes:

o if necessary, of course

o please, thanks, thank you

o in a way

o or thereabouts

o for a change, for . . .’s sake

o in fact, as a matter of fact

o I would should have thought, I imagine

o Enough
  indeed is accented. However when it is used in a short response question

with a fall, to show that you are surprised or annoyed by something someone

has just told you, it is deaccented: Has he, indeed?

 The word again, when at the end of a clause, is usually accented if used in its

basic sense of ‘one more time’, since in that sense it is often contrastive.

However, it is not accented when it means ‘back to a previous state’.

 Etcetera and its synonyms (and so on, and so forth, and whatnot, and

stuff, and things, and the like, and such like) are usually kept out of focus

 Phrasal verbs: The adverbial particle carries the nucleus, except when there is a transitive verb

and the object is a noun, therefore the object carries the nucleus, because nouns tend to attract

tonicity. However, if the object is a pronoun, the adverbial particle remains the nucleus.

 Prepositional verbs: The verb carries the nucleus. E.g.: Look for sth.

 Nucleus on last noun: final verbs and adjectives can be deaccented when standing next to a noun.

E.g.: Event sentences.

 Accenting old material: Reusing the other speaker’s words: Since the second speaker wishes to

comment on this material, or to query it, naturally he accents it. The same happens when you

reuse your own words.

 There are also several idiomatic expressions, with the typical structure X and

X or X-preposition-X, in which a repeated word is accented on each occasion. Examples include more and

more, hours and hours, again and again, (to meet someone) face to face, from day to day.

 In the speech of radio and television newsreaders, the speaker might wish to sound lively and avoid

boringness, so that the listener is spurred into listening more closely, therefore unusual tonicity may

be used.