The Syntax of Sentential Stress

Abstract

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, namely the Focus Stress Rule, which also applies in a phase-based manner, is proposed to handle the interaction between sentential structure and information structure. Sentential stress is thus determined in an interplay between two components, the default Sentential Stress Rule and the Focus Stress Rule. The book provides several arguments in favor of this two-component system.