/ instituut voor de Nederlandse taal / Taalportaal
bibliography glossary about
  • Dutch
  • Frisian
  • Saterfrisian
  • Afrikaans
Show all
    The Compound Stress Rule
    quickinfo

    The general stress patterns of compound stress have been formulated in a Compound Stress Rule (CSR). In the literature, there are two versions of the rule: some scholars propose one rule and assume weak-strong compounds to be exceptions to the general CSR, which we call Possibility A (see e.g. Booij 1995); others assume that different types of compounds have different default stress patterns (Possibility B: e.g. Langeweg 1988, Visch 1989, Trommelen and Zonneveld 1989, Backhuys 1989). Below, we give formulations for both possibilities.

    readmore
    [+]Possibility A: One Compound Stress Rule (CSR)

    Under this assumption, there is one CSR, which we formulate in below in the spirit of Booij (1995). Deviating patterns are regarded as exceptions to the rule.

    Compound Stress Rule (CSR)
    In a compound [[A][B]], [A] is strong.

    [+]Possibility B: Different Compound Stress Rules per word class

    Along the lines of e.g. Visch (1989), nominal compounds and verbal compounds have default stress on their initial constituent, while adjectival and prepositional compounds are stressed on their right-hand constituent. On this assumption, “the Compound Stress Rule has to be extended with specifications for category” (Visch 1989:106).

    The generalization for nominal compounds (left-stressed) is given below; it has lexical exceptions:

    Nominal Compound Stress Rule (NCSR)
    In a nominal compound [[A][B]](N), [A] is strong.
    The same would hold for the significantly smaller group of verbal compounds, which usually have stress on the left-hand constituent (with the exception of complex non-separable verbs).

    Verbal Compound Stress Rule (VCSR)
    In a verbal compound [[A][B]](V), [A] is strong.
    Adjectival compounds generally show a weak-strong pattern in predicative position vs. strong-weak one in attributive position (however, there is a closed group of words that always show a strong-weak pattern). For adjectival compounds, the description would therefore have to be formulated as follows:

    Adjectival Compound Stress Rule (ACSR)
    In an adjectival compound [[A][B]](A), [B] is strong in predicative position, and A is strong in attributive position.
    Like most adjectival compounds, the small and unproductive group of prepositional compounds has a weak-strong pattern in predicative position, and a strong-weak one in attributive position; there are no counter-examples:

    Prepositional Compound Stress Rule (PCSR)
    In a prepositional compound [[A]B](P), [B] is strong in predicative position while A is strong in attributive position.

    References
    • Backhuys, Kees-Jan1989Adjectival compounds in DutchBennis, H. & Kemenade, A. van (eds.)Linguistics in the NetherlandsDordrecht1-10
    • Booij, Geert1995The phonology of DutchOxfordOxford University Press
    • Booij, Geert1995The phonology of DutchOxfordOxford University Press
    • Langeweg, S. J1988The stress system of DutchUniversity of LeidenThesis
    • Trommelen, Mieke & Zonneveld, Wim1989Klemtoon en metrische fonologieMuiderbergCoutinho
    • Visch, Ellis1989The rhythm rule in English and DutchUtrecht UniversityThesis
    • Visch, Ellis1989The rhythm rule in English and DutchUtrecht UniversityThesis
    • Visch, Ellis1989The rhythm rule in English and DutchUtrecht UniversityThesis
    About this article
    Author(s): Björn Köhnlein
    Category: Dutch Phonology
    Keywords: stresscomplex word
    Version: 1.0, December 2015
    Version history:
    version editor(s) date remarks
    1.0 Björn Köhnlein December 2015
    printreport errorcite
    Jump to:
    X