An Investigation of Prominence Alternations in English: Must “big” syllables carry stress in English?

This paper examines the relationship between segmental content and stress in English, and proposes that such relationship is not inseparable. Instead, this paper posits that phonological stress is distinct from segmental content, but that being “bigger” because of segmental content can make a syllable therefore confusable as stressed. The studies in this paper expand on previous research concluding that rhythmic prominence can come from both phonetic and phonological sources. This paper gives evidence for the hypothesis that other phonetic characteristics of syllables can lead to the perception of phonological rhythmic alternation. Specifically, this paper investigates two types of syllables—syllables with full vowels and CVC syllables—and their effects on perceived rhythm in English. The results and analysis from this paper conclude that at least syllables with full vowels may be stressless, but their inherent bigness accounts for why they are confusble as bearing stress, and is why they can contribute to a perceived rhythmic alternation.