An Optimality-Theoretic Analysis of the Acquisition of English Sentence Stress Based on Acoustic Data

Wen Ji,Yun Liu,M Irfan Uddin

doi:10.1155/2021/5553394

Abstract

The present study adopts both empirical and theoretical methods for the analysis of the acquisition of English sentence stress based on Optimality Theory, aiming to overcome mispronunciation of English sentence stress. Optimality Theory has a dramatic impact on most areas in linguistics besides phonology. The acoustic software Praat is chosen to collect and label data as the basis of the empirical method. Then, through analyzing the four major principles of distribution of sentence stress (content words stressed principle, rightmost words stressed principle, leftmost words stressed principle, and new information priority principle) and based on the analysis of Optimality Theory, the software Praat, and SPSS, the researcher can present the following findings: firstly, the constraint hierarchical ranking of nonnative speakers is DEP-IO >> NEW-IP >> ALIGN-IP-LEFT >> ALIGN-IP-RIGHT. Secondly, the native speakers also undergo the demotion of constraint hierarchical ranking: NEW-IP >> DEP-IO >> ALIGN-IP-RIGHT >> ALIGN-IP-LEFT. Thirdly, the constraint in each demotion of constraint hierarchical ranking during different stages is as follows: NEW-IP constraint moves from the undominated position to the dominated position in the hierarchy; ALIGN-IP-RIGHT and ALIGN-IP-LEFT constraints move from the dominated position to the lower position in the hierarchy. Through the specific analysis, the researcher draws a conclusion that the varied reasons affect the nonnative speakers to master the distribution of sentence stress due to their incorrect position in the demotion of constraint hierarchical ranking.

Highlights

From the perspective of linguistics, the definition of the stress, as Robert Ladd holds, is always used as “supersegment feature of fundamental frequency, duration and intensity” [1]
Optimality eory, put forward by Prince and Smolensky [18], has a dramatic impact on most areas in linguistics besides phonology. e research questions of this present paper focus on an Optimality eory analysis of the acquisition of sentence stress and have benefited from the related theoretic analysis
From the above study of Optimality eory applied in English sentence stress, the present study holds that the Optimality eory is an influential and powerful phonological theory, and the major advantage of Optimality eory lies in its explanatory power which incorporates the universality and variation of language. e Optimality eory can explain phonological phenomena and native language transfer through its constraints and the specific ranking of constraints. is research gets a better view of the sentence stress placement and of the path of constraint demotion, which constraints are demoted in earlier stage of acquisition and which constraints are demoted in later stage, and the constraint movement. e main results are as follows

Summary

Introduction

From the perspective of linguistics, the definition of the stress, as Robert Ladd holds, is always used as “supersegment feature of fundamental frequency, duration and intensity” [1]. Erefore, mastering the sentence stress properly will get a better command of English rhythm and intonation, and improve the oral expression and communicational comprehension ability. Lots of scholars unanimously agree that stress, as linguistic phenomenon, could be studied by reference to acoustic correlates, and a wealth of diverse views has been witnessed in this regard. S. Schmerling, as a specialist in linguistic theory with a particular interest in the theory of syntax, wrote a book Aspects of English Sentence Stress. In Arciuli, Monaghan, and Seva’s paper “Learning to Assign Lexical Stress during Reading Corpus, Behavioral, and Computational Investigations,” they used a triangulation of corpus, behavioral, and computational modeling techniques to analyze the beginnings and endings of English bisyllabic words, Complexity which are highly predictive of stress position, but that endings are more reliable cues in texts. Ulrike Domahs’ “Word Stress Assignment in German, English and Dutch: Quantity Sensitivity and Extrametricality Revisited” shows that word stress is not fixed to a certain position [6, 7]

Methods

Results

Conclusion