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A brief history of English stress

Senior Common Room Lunch Talk University College

January 15, 2018

B. Elan Dresher, Department of Linguistics

Based on collaboration with Aditi Lahiri

University of Oxford

A brief history of English stress

2

StressinPresentDayEnglishisorientedtotheendoftheword:

Second-to-last(Penult)

Al-BÉR-ta

The Present Day English stress system

3

Startingattheendofaword,onecountsbackandputsthestresseitheronthesecond-to-lastorthird-to-lastsyllable.

Third-to-last(Antepenult)

Ma-ni-TÓ-baac-ci-DÉN-tal

a-GÉN-da

2-1A-MÉ-ri-ca

ÁL-ge-bra

3-2-1

CÁ-na-daphi-lo-SÓ-phi-cal

Thedifferenceinthetwocolumnshastodowiththenatureofthepenultimatesyllable:


Al-BÉR-ta


4

Whenthepenultisheavy,thatis,closedbyaconsonantorhasalongvowel(likeinMa-ni-tóo-ba),itisstressed.



a-GÉN-da

4-3-2-1A-MÉ-ri-ca


ÁL-ge-bra

5-4-3-2-1

Ifthepenultislight,thatis,endsinashortvowel,thenstressgoesontheantepenult.


Al-BÉR-ta


5



a-GÉN-da

4-3-2-1A-MÉ-ri-ca


ÁL-ge-bra

5-4-3-2-1

ThissystemresemblesthatofClassicalLatin:theimportantthingtoknowisthatstressiscomputedfromtheRIGHTword-edge.


Al-BÉR-ta


6



a-GÉN-da

4-3-2-1A-MÉ-ri-ca


ÁL-ge-bra

5-4-3-2-1

Athousandyearsago,Englishdidnothavethisstresspattern.


Al-BÉR-ta

A thousand years ago (in 1018)…

7



a-GÉN-da

2-1


ÁL-ge-bra

3-2-1A-MÉ-ri-ca

OldEnglish(c.450–1100)inheritedfromitsGermanicancestoracompletelydifferentstresssystem.

The Old English stress system

8

SuttonHoohelmet(c.625) Beowulfmanuscript(c.1000)

InOldEnglish,stresswascomputedfromtheLEFTedgeofaword:the[irstsyllablereceivedmainstress.

Stressthe[irstsyllable

9

Somepre[ixesdidnotreceiveastress,particularlyinverbs.Insuchcases,stresswasonthesecondsyllable(stillfromtheLEFT).

Unstressedpre[ix

1 1-2


CÝ-nin-ga ‘ofthekings’Ǽ-þe-lìn-gas ‘nobles’ÁN-ġìn ‘beginning’WÍ-þer-sà-ca ‘adversary’

an-ĠÍN-nan ‘tobegin’wiþ-SÁ-can ‘torefuse’

ġe-ÉN-de-bỳr-dan ‘toarrange’ġe-BÉD ‘prayer’

Noticethepatternwherebyanounhasinitialstress(onthepre[ix)anditsrelatedverbhasanunstressedpre[ix.

Stressthe[irstsyllable

10

ThispatternwillcontinueintolaterEnglish,asinrécord(noun)~recórd(verb)andpérmit(noun)~permít(verb)

Unstressedpre[ix

1 1-2


ǼF-þàn-ca ‘offence’ÁN-ġìn ‘beginning’WÍ-þer-sà-ca ‘adversary’

an-ĠÍN-nan ‘tobegin’wiþ-SÁ-can ‘torefuse’

of-ÞÝN-ċan ‘displease’BĪ-gèn-ġa ‘inhabitant’́ be-GĀN ‘tooccupy’́

ButwhatcausedtheEnglishstresssystemtochangesodrasticallyfromtheLEFTsideofthewordtotheRIGHT?

Why did the English stress system change?

11

DidanewgroupofpeopleinvadeAnglo-SaxonEnglandandbringwiththemtheirnativeLatinateprosody?

Actually,thisdidhappen!

PartoftheBayeuxTapestry:WilliamofNormandysailstoEngland

In1066,EnglandwasconqueredbytheNormans(‘Norsemen’),aGermanicgroupwhohadmovedfromScandinaviatoNorthernFranceandwhospokedialectsofOldFrench.

The Norman conquest

12

Anglo-NormanFrenchthusbecamethelanguageoftheEnglishcourtandupperclassesforover300years,until1399.

PartoftheBayeuxTapestry:WilliamofNormandysailstoEngland

Inthisperiod,OldEnglishbecameMiddleEnglish,andmanyRomancewordswereimportedintoEnglishfromNormanFrench,OldFrench,andLatin(Romance=derivedfromLatin).

Influence of Anglo-Norman French

13

ThoughthestresssystemofFrenchdifferedfromClassicalLatin,alltheRomancelanguagesinheritedfromLatinastresssystemorientedtotheRIGHTedgeoftheword.

Therefore,itisplausibletosupposethatrightwardorientedstressgainedafootholdinEnglishinthisperiod,ashasbeenproposedbyHalle&Keyser(1971)andLass(1992).

TheypointtoevidencefromtheverseofGeoffreyChaucer(c.1343–1400).

Influence of Anglo-Norman French

Dependingontherequirementsofthemeter,ChaucercouldstressRomancewordsintwoways:

14

StresscouldgoontheLEFT(initialsyllable),inkeepingwiththenativeGermanicsystem;

Stress doublets in Chaucer

15

LEFT

cítee

cómfort

dívers

fórtune

citée

RIGHT

comfórt

divérse

fortúne

LEFT

géant

lícour

présent

sérvant

geáunt

RIGHT

licóur

presént

serváunt

orontheRIGHT([inalorpenult),intheOldFrenchway.

Anexampleofthisvariationinasinglelineis:

Stress doublets in Chaucer

16

LEFT

cítee

cómfort

dívers

fórtune

citée

RIGHT

comfórt

divérse

fortúne

LEFT

géant

lícour

présent

sérvant

geáunt

RIGHT

licóur

presént

serváunt

|ws|ws|ws|ws|ws|w(iambicpentameter:|ws|x5)‘Indíversartandindivérse[igúres’(Friar’sTaleIII1486)

Consider,however,thePresentDayEnglishdescendantsofthesewords:thevastmajorityhavestressontheLEFT.

Descendants of the stress doublets in Chaucer

17

LEFT

cíty

cómfort

fórtune

RIGHT

divérse

LEFT

gíant

líquor

présent(noun)

sérvant

RIGHT

presént(verb)

Theexceptions[ittheOldEnglishpatternofunstressedpre[ixes;noteparticularlythenoun~verbstressalternation.

Moregenerally,thePDEre[lexesofalmostALLtheRomancewordswithFrenchRIGHT-edgestressinChaucerhaveinitialstressconsistentwithGermanicstressingontheLEFT:

Descendants of Romance words in Chaucer

18

vírtue fórtune bárren

Égypt cómfort góvern

sólemn hónour mércy

Jésus ábbot Júdith

témpest gíant présent

Pláto cíty díscord

sérvant tórment(noun) týrant

Thatis,theseRomancewordshaveallassimilatedtothenativeEnglishpatternofstressontheLEFT;theiroptionalstressontheRIGHTinChaucerhasnotsurvived.

Influence of Anglo-Norman French?

19

Thisresultisconsistentwithawidergeneralization:RomancewordsthatenteredEnglishintheMiddleEnglishperioddidnotleaveanylastingeffectsonEnglishprosody.

Thus,disyllabicwordsborrowedfromRomancebeforethe15thcenturyalmostallhavestressontheLEFTinPDE:

Initialstress(stemvowelisshortinPresentDayEnglish)

Romance words borrowed before the 15th c.

20

English Date English Date

talent 893 coral 1305

baron 1200 profit 1325

senate 1205 metal 1340

jealous 1250 satin 1366

palace 1290 moral 1380

channel 1300 volume 1380

gallon 1300 second 1391

panel 1300 Latin 1391

Initialstress(stemvowelislonginPresentDayEnglish)

Romance words borrowed before the 15th c.

21


basin 1220 paper 1374

moment 1240 raisin 1382

vacant 1290 patent 1387

odour 1300 famous 1400

process 1330

Finalstress

No effect of Romance on Middle English stress

22


diverse 1297 divine 1374

reward 1340 degree 1380

Thesmallgroupofwordsthatsurvivewith[inalstressareconsistentwiththeOldEnglishpatternofunstressedpre[ixes.

Weconclude,then,contrarytowhathassometimesbeenclaimed,thattheNormanconquestandthein[luxofmanyRomancewordsdidnothavealastingimpactonMiddleEnglishprosody.

Thatis,thereisnoevidenceofthechangefromLEFTtoRIGHTinEnglishstressbefore1400.Sowhendiditoccur?

BorrowingfromLatinbeganonalargescaleinLateMiddleEnglish(c1400)andincreasedinEarlyModernEnglish(early1500s).

Latin borrowings in Early Modern English

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Latin loans in English by decade, 1300–1700

ThisisachartofthenumberofLatinwordsthat[irstappearedineachdecadebetween1300and1700,accordingtotheOxfordEnglishDictionary(OED).

23

Latin borrowings in Early Modern English

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

350013

00–1

310

1310

–132

013

20–1

330

1330

–134

013

40–1

350

1350

–136

013

60–1

370

1370

–138

013

80–1

390

1390

–140

014

00–1

410

1410

–142

014

20–1

430

1430

–144

014

40–1

450

1450

–146

014

60–1

470

1470

–148

014

80–1

490

1490

–150

015

00–1

510

1510

–152

015

20–1

530

1530

–154

015

40–1

550

1550

–156

015

60–1

570

1570

–158

015

80–1

590

1590

–160

016

00–1

610

1610

–162

016

20–1

630

1630

–164

016

40–1

650

1650

–166

016

60–1

670

1670

–168

016

80–1

690

1690

–170

0

Latin loans in English by decade, 1300–1700

24

LateMiddleEnglish

EarlyModernEnglish

(Middle)MiddleEnglish

Chaucer

Shake-speare

Milton

CaxtonTyndale

Sidney

Anglo-NormanFrenchascourtlanguage

Theviewofmanyscholars,whichweadopt,isthatEnglishstresschangedduetothein[luenceofthemanyLatinwordsborrowedintoEnglishinthe16thand17thcenturies.

Latin borrowings

25

LatingrammarbyWilliamLily(c.1468–1522),widelyusedinElizabethanEnglandandthefollowingcenturies.

ButwhydidthiswaveofborrowedwordssucceedinchangingtheEnglishstresssystem,whereastheearlierwaveofRomancewordsintheMiddleEnglishperioddidnot?

Latin borrowings

26

Ourviewisthatitisnotjustthequantityofborrowedwords,buttheirnature,thatiscrucial.

FollowingcommentatorssuchasDanielsson(1948)andPoldauf(1981),wethinkthattheaccumulationofwordswithLatinsuf[ixeswasparticularlyimportant.

Examplesofthesesuf[ixesaregivenbelow:

Latin words with suffixes

SufDix

-ify

-ion

-itude

-ity

histórify

Example

prohibítion

in[ínitude

arídity

accidéntal

Example

Sicílian

animátion

harmónic

SufDix

-al(adj)

-an(adj)

-ation

-ic27

Wordswiththesesuf[ixesareimportantbecausewhenwecomparethemtorelatedunsuf[ixedwords,wecanseethatstressisbeingin[luencedfromtheRIGHT:

Latin words with suffixes

SufDix

-ify

-ion

-itude

-ity

histórify

Example

prohibítion

in[ínitude

arídity

accidéntal

Example

Sicílian

animátion

harmónic

SufDix

-al(adj)

-an(adj)

-ation

-ic28

hístory

Related

prohíbit

ín[inite

árid

áccident

Related

Sícily

ánimate

hármony

Alternatively,comparingwordswiththesamesuf[ixwouldshowthesamething:


ac-ci-DÉN-tal

Alternations with suffix -al

29

Wordswithstressonapenultimatesyllablecontrastwithwordsthathavestressontheantepenultimatesyllable.


in-stru-MÉN-talsa-cra-MÉN-talu-ni-VÉR-sal

2-1me-DÍ-ci-nalo-RÍ-gi-nal

phi-lo-SÓ-phi-calsa-TÍ-ri-cal

3-2-1


ac-ci-DÉN-tal


30



me-DÍ-ci-nalo-RÍ-gi-nal


3-2-1

Recallthatthedifferencehastodowiththeformofthepenult:itreceivesstresswhenitisheavy(closedbyaconsonant,inthewordsbelow).

2-1

Recallthatthedifferencehastodowiththeformofthepenult:itreceivesstresswhenitisheavy(closedbyaconsonant,inthewordsbelow).


ac-ci-DÉN-tal


31

Wordswithstressontheantepenulthavealightpenult(endinginashortvowel).





3-2-12-1

Theimportantthingisthatwhenspeakersareabletorecognizethatallthesewordscontainthesamesuf[ix,theycanseethatstressisbeingcomputedfromtheRIGHT.


ac-ci-DÉN-tal


32





3-2-12-1

Toputthein[luenceofRomanceloanwordsonaquantitativebasis,wewillcomparethesituationin1400(MiddleEnglish),theyearofChaucer’sdeath,and1570(EarlyModernEnglish).

Quantitative considerations

33

1570istheyearofthepublicationofPeterLevins’ManipulusVocabulorum,arhymingdictionarythatindicatesthelocationofstressinmanywords.

WebelievethatthisLevins’datashowsthatthedirectionofstressisintransition,withsomewordshavingstresscomputedfromtheLEFT(theoldway),andothersfromtheRIGHT(thenewway).

Ican’tgointothatevidencehere,however.

MANIPULUS VOCxVBULOEUM.

A DICTIONARY

ENGLISH AND LATIN WORDS,ARRANGED IN THE

ALPHABETICAL ORDER OF THE LAST SYLLABLES,

BY PETER LEVINS.

FIKST FEINTED A.D. 1570;

NOW RE-EDITED, WITH A PREFACE AND ALPHABETICAL INDEX,

HENRY B. WHEATLEY.

or T^f ^r \NIVEESJTY

]

PRINTED FOR THE CAMDEN SOCIETY.

M.DCCC.LXVn.

AccordingtotheOED,by1400Englishhadborrowedaround6,580wordsofRomance(mostlyFrenchandLatin)origin,whichcomprisedabout21.5%ofthe30,568totalnumberofwordsinEnglishtothattime.


1400 1570 %δ(change)

By1570,theRomancewordsincreasedby93%.However,thetotalwordsin1570increasedby127%.

a. 30,568 69,364 127%Allwordsb. 6,580 12,727 93%AllRomancewordsc. 21.5% 18.3% –3.2%%Romance/Allwords

ThesenumberssuggestthattheoverallpercentageofRomancewordsinthelanguageisnotadecisivefactorintriggeringachangeinthestresssystem,becausetherewasnoincreaseintheoverallproportionofRomancewordsintheperiodofinterest.


1400 1570 %δ(change)

Ifourhypothesisiscorrect,weshouldhoweverseeasigni[icantincreaseinthenumberofwordswithstress-affectingLatinatesuf[ixes.

a. 30,568 69,364 127%Allwordsb. 6,580 12,727 93%AllRomancewordsc. 21.5% 18.3% –3.2%%Romance/Allwords

Asdisplayedbelow,thechangesinthispartoftheloanwordvocabularyarequitedramatic.


163

64

242

1400

745

313

957

1570

357%

389%

295%

%δ

87

507

144

1400

279

1,717

563

1570

221%

239%

291%

%δ

-al(adj)

-an(adj)

-ation

Suf[ix

-ic

-ion

-ity

Suf[ix

Thequestionarises,though:howmanywordsareneededtocauseachangeinthegrammar?

Whyare163wordswithsuf[ix-alnotenoughtohaveaneffect,but745are?

Thisquestionissimilartoasking:Ifwehavearuleandsomenumberofexceptions,howmanyexceptionalformscanbetoleratedbeforelearnersgiveupontherule?

The Tolerance Principle (Yang)

CharlesYang(2005;2016)hasproposedananswertothisquestion,intheformofatheoremhecallstheTolerancePrinciple:

TheTolerancePrincipleLetRbearulethatisapplicabletoNitems,ofwhich

eareexceptions.Risproductiveifandonlyiff

e≤θNwhereθN=N lnN

37

Hederivesthistheoremfromconsiderationshavingtodowithef[icientsearch:


Whenisitmoreef[icient,overall,tosearchthroughalistofitems,asopposedtomaintainingaruleandalistofexceptions?




38

Ican’tgointohowhecameupwiththisformula,butithastodowithZipf’sLaw,whichstatesthatthefrequencyofanywordisinverselyproportionaltoitsrankinthefrequencytable.

Extrapolatingabit,wecaninterprettheTolerancePrincipleasmarkingthethreshold,whichwecalltheYangThreshold,Y(=θNbelow)beyondwhichtheright-sidedirectionalityoftheLatinatesuf[ixescannolongerbedismissedasexceptionstotheEnglishstressrule.





39

Atthatpoint,theyhavethepotentialtochangethestressruleitself.

Inapplyingthisformula,then,wewilltakeetobethenumberofwordswithLatinsuf[ixes.





40

WhatisN?LetussimplyassumethatNisequaltothetotalnumberofwordsinthelanguage.

Thisisnodoubtanoversimpli[ication;however,itprovidesaninitialbaselinethatwecanhopetore[inelater.

Plugginginthenumbers:AllwordsinEnglishrecordedintheOEDupto1400amountto30,568;in1570thereare69,364.

The Yang Threshold, Y

a.1400

30,5681570

69,364Allwords(N)b. 10.33 11.15lnNc. 2,960 6,223N/lnN=Y

41

Thenaturallogarithmsofthesenumbersare10.33and11.15.

N/lnN=2,960in1400and6,223in1570.

ThesearethenumbersofwordswithLatinsuf[ixesthatarerequiredtoreachtheYangThreshold,Y.

ThenumberofLatinsuf[ixesin1400is1,788;in1570,6,682.

The Yang Threshold, Y

a.b.c.d.

140030,568

10.332,9601,788

157069,364

11.156,2236,682

Allwords(N)lnNN/lnN=YLatinsuf[ixes(L)

e. 60% 107%L/Y

In1400thisnumberisonly60%ofY,notenoughtoaffectthestressrule;thesewordscanbeviewedasexceptions.

In1570,thenumberisgreaterthanY;thesehavecrossedtheYangThreshold.

Theynowhavethepotentialtocauseachangetothestressrule,changingitsorientationfromtheLEFTedgetotheRIGHTone.

Thequestionarises,though:Wherewerethenativewordswhenallthiswashappening?

What about the native words?

Wouldn’tthenativewordshavesuppliedcounterevidencetotheRIGHT-sideorientationoftheLatinborrowings,liketheydidtotheearlierwaveofRomanceborrowingsinMiddleEnglish?

Theansweristhatmostnativewordsbythistimewererelativelyshort,andwerethereforeequallyconsistentwithastressrulethatcountsfromtheLEFTandonethatcountsfromtheRIGHT.

43

Forexample,manynativewordsweremonosyllables.

StressfromtheLEFTorRIGHT

44

Obviously,amonosyllableisconsistentwithanystressrule,asthereisonlyoneplacethatstresscouldgo.

StressfromtheLEFTorRIGHT

1 1


STÓNEHÉADFÁREWÍLD

SÍTNÉAR

DRÍVEHÉLP

Disyllablesarealsoambiguous;theycanreceivestressbytheoldrule:Stressthe1stsyllablefromtheLEFT;

1stsyllablefromtheLEFT

45

orbythenewone:StressthesecondsyllablefromtheRIGHT).

2ndsyllablefromtheRIGHT

12 21


DÉ-vilWÁ-terHÍN-derYÉL-low

HÍN-derYÉL-low

DÉ-vilWÁ-ter

ThenativewordswereabletoprevailovertheAnglo-Normanloanwords,butnotoverthelaterLatinloanwords,whichwerelongerandmorecomplex,andpresentedatypeofevidencethatthenativewordscouldnotcounter.


SufDix

-ify

-ion

-itude

-ity

histórify

Example

prohibítion

in[ínitude

arídity

accidéntal

Example

Sicílian

animátion

harmónic

SufDix

-al(adj)

-an(adj)

-ation

-ic46

hístory

Related

prohíbit

ín[inite

árid

áccident

Related

Sícily

ánimate

hármony

ThelessonsIdrawfromthisstoryare:

Conclusions

47

!  First,thatitispossibletobeinvadedbypeoplewhotakeoveryourcountryandimposetheirforeignlanguagefor300years,withouttheseeventshavinganylastingeffectontheprosodyofthenativelanguage.

!  Second,thatitisalsopossiblefornativespeakerstovoluntarilyborrowenoughwordsfromaforeignlanguagethat—iftheyaretherightkindsofwords—cancauseachangetotheprosodyofthenativelanguage.

Conclusions

48

!  Third,thatYang’sformulagivesus,forthe[irsttime,ahypothesisthatallowsustomeasurequantitativelytheeffectofborrowedvocabularyitemsonthestressruleofalanguage.

!  Finally,thisexampleshowshowwecanconnectlanguagechangetolearnability,therebybringinghistoricallinguisticstobearonanaspectofcognition.

Thankyou!

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