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Stress and Syntax: A Reply

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2026

Joan W. Bresnan
Joan W. Bresnan*
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Abstract

The Ordering Hypothesis of Bresnan 1971a projects the stress contours of simple S's onto complex syntactic structures by permitting stress rules to apply systematically within the transformational derivation. This hypothesis, a principle governing the application of stress rules, is distinct from the stress rules themselves. Berman and Szamosi 1972 fail to observe this distinction in their attempt to demonstrate the futility of any principle like the Ordering Hypothesis. As a result, their ‘counter-examples’, together with facts they do not consider, actually support the Ordering Hypothesis, which is necessary to project onto complex cases any valid generalizations about stress and surface structure or meaning. Lakoff 1972 also makes mistakes of interpretation and argument; his global alternative compares unfavorably with the Ordering Hypothesis in describing and explaining the apparent ‘optionality’ of stress contours.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , June 1972 , pp. 326 - 342
Copyright
Linguistic Society of America 1972

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