The Syntax of Sentential Stress
Arsalan Kahnemuyipour
Abstract
This book explores the nature of sentential stress, how it is assigned, and its interaction with information structure. The central thesis is that the position of sentential or nuclear stress — the element with the highest prominence in the sentence — is determined syntactically and that cross-linguistic differences in this respect follow from syntactic variations. In particular, it is proposed that the Sentential Stress Rule applies in a phase-based manner (Chomsky 2000, 2001, and subsequent work) and assigns stress to the highest element in the spelled out constituent. An additional rule, na ... More
Keywords: sentential stress, nuclear stress, multiple spell-out, phases, syntax-phonology interface, focus stress, information structure, Sentential Stress Rule, Focus Stress Rule
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2009 | Print ISBN-13: 9780199219230 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: September 2009 | DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199219230.001.0001 |
