J. Layer holds the view that lexical stress shows a culminative function: being characteristic property of the word, it is thought to help the listener to judge how many individual words the speaker has produced in a given utterance.
2. The IDENTIFICATORY function: correct lexical stress enables the listener to decode the information in verbal conimuriication adequately, while misplaced word stresses prevent understanding.
3. The DISTINCTI YE/CONTRAST WE function: word stress alone is capable of differentiating the meanings of words or their forms. It should be mentioned though that most words in most languages that use word stress linguistically do not possess minimal pairs based on stress. But still there are about 135 pairs of words of identical orthography in English which could occur either as nouns (with stress on the penultimate syllable) or as verbs (with stress on the final syllable), with a very small number of cases the location of lexical stress alone being the differentiating factor: import (noun) — import (verb), ‘insult (noun) — in’sult (verb).[4;130]
V. Variation in word stress
The stress patterns of some English words are liable to variations of different kinds. There is free variation of stress location due to some rhythmic and analogical pressures, both of which entail in addition considerable changes of sound pattern in words[3;182], e.g.
1) in some words of three syllables, there is variation between’---and-‘—patterns: deficit, integral (adj), exquisite.
2) similarly, in words of four syllables, there is variation between first and secon syllable stressing: hospitable, formidable, despicable.
Pronunciation patterns of such words due to the variation in stress placement have the status of alternative pronunciation forms which occur in educated usage.
Cases of variable stress placement caused by the context is known as ‘stressshift’. When a word of several syllables has a stress near the end of thc word, and is followed by another word with stress near its beginning, there is a tendency for the stress in the first word to move nearer the beginning if it contains a syllable that is capable of receiving stress, e.g. the word academic in isolation usually has the stress or the penultimate syllable /-dem-/. However, when the word year follows, the stress often found to move to the first syllable /k-/; the whole phrase ‘academic year’ will have the primary stress on the word year, so the resulting stress pattern will be ‘academic ‘year. In isolation, we say fundamental and Japanese with primary stress on -ment and -nese, in connected speech these words may have a different pattern: greater stress on fund- and Jap-.
VI. English Word Stress - Does It Really Matter?
Yes and No.
Yes, if you are a non-native speaker speaking to a native English speaker.
No, if you are a non-native English speaker speaking to another non-native speaker.
English language teaching theory has traditionally been based on native English forms, more specifically British and American English varieties. In today's international community however, where more than 1 billion non-native English speakers use English as a lingua franca, teaching theory is changing to focus on English as an International Language (EIL).
According to linguist Jennifer Jenkins' research on the English language, there are certain factors in English pronunciation that can influence the degree of intelligibility between a speaker and listener. Word stress is one of these factors if you are speaking with a native English speaker, but Jenkins has found that when two non-native speakers interact in EIL, word stress has little influence on intelligibility.
So why are native speakers so stressed about word stress?
Stress indicates identity
Anyone who has ever zapped between BBC and CNN has probably noticed the differences between standard British and standard American word stress. It has caused quite a CONtroversy (US), or should I say, "conTROVersy" (UK).
To a native English speaker, a certain word stress is considered appropriate or inappropriate depending on where the person is from. "Inappropriate" word stress can really rub listeners the wrong way because it deviates from their norm and indicates that the speaker is an "other" - an outsider. This can be quite FRUStrating (US)/frusTRATing (UK) for the non-native speaker who is just trying to get his point across.
After hours spent in a language LABoratory (US), or laBORatory (UK) if you prefer, non-native English speakers are still at a loss when it comes to speaking to native speakers internationally.
"So which variety is correct?" This is the most common question. Answer: "It depends who you ask!" Stress indicates different meanings of identical words
In one case however, word stress can cause problems whether you are a native speaker or non-native speaker of English: words which are spelled the same, but have different meanings (and different word stress).
Word stress can also differentiate a word's part of speech - more specifically whether the word is a noun or a verb. There are many examples of words which in their noun form take their stress on the first syllable, but in the verb form are stressed on the second syllable. Say the following words out loud: PROgress - proGRESS, OBject - obJECT, REcord - reCORD.
We would never say, "She wants to REcord a REcord one day," but rather, "reCORD a REcord." Unfortunately this isn't a blanket rule, and there are plenty of English words which sound the same both as verbs and as nouns: travel, picture, promise and visit are a few examples.
So what is the non-native English speaker to do? Sticking to the form you are most comfortable with.
Communication is a two-way street with compromise and understanding at both ends. If you meet people who can't accept the way you speak, then they're probably not worth speaking with anyway!
Conclusion
Stressed words are the key to excellent pronunciation and understanding of English. Word stress is not an optional extra that you can add to the English language if you want. It is part of the language! English speakers use word stress to communicate rapidly and accurately, even in difficult conditions. If, for example, you do not hear a word clearly, you can still understand the word because of the position of the stress.
References
1.Левицький А.Е.,Гарощук Л.А. Поглиблений курс теоретичної фонетики англійської мови.- Вінниця:ППФоліант,2005.-71с.
2.Леонтьева С. Ф. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка: Учеб. для студентов вечер.и заоч. отд. педвузов.2-е изд.,испр.и доп.-М.:Высш.школа,1988-271с.
3.В. Ю. ПаращукТеоретична фонетика англійської мови:навчальний посібник для студентів факультетів іноземних мов. —Вінниця. НОВА КНИГА, 2009.— 232 с.
4. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка: Учебник для студ. ин-тов и
иностр. яз./М. А. Соколова, К. П. Гiнтовт, И. С. Тихонова, Р. М. Тихонова. — Гуманит. изд. центр ВЛАДОС, 1996. — С. 247—256.