A new conceptualization of the process of stress assignment, couched in the principles of (Bayesian) probabilistic inference, is introduced in this paper. According to this approach, in deciding where to place stress in a polysyllabic word, a reader estimates the posterior probabilities of alternative stress patterns. This estimation is accomplished by adjusting a prior belief about the likelih...

The goals of this research were to determine whether speakers adjust the stress patterns of words within sentences to create an alternation between strong and weak beats and to explore whether this rhythmic alternation contributes to the characteristics stress differences between two major lexical categories of English. Two experiments suggested that speakers do alter lexical stress in accordan...

According to the functional lateralization hypothesis (FLH) the lateralization of speech prosody depends both on its function (linguistic = left, emotional = right) and on the size of the units it operates on (small = left, large = right). In consequence, according to the FLH, lexical stress should be processed by the left (language-dominant) hemisphere, given its linguistic function and small ...

The possibility of implicit learning (i.e. learning without intention or awareness) of prosodic features has been little investigated, despite a great deal of studies in other areas of language. We tested whether a lexical stress pattern could be implicitly learned after short exposure. We found that English-speaking subjects showed learning of the Spanish-based lexical stress patterns from the...

This study investigated what factors are used by native speakers and Japanese learners of English when they determine the position of stress in producing and perceiving disyllabic English nonwords. Syllable structure (vowel length and number of consonants) and lexical class affected both groups, but in different ways. Phonotactic legality of intervocalic consonants influenced native speakers al...

The relationship between tone pattern and word stress is investigated on different aspects. The distribution of the original tones of the unstressed syllables in disyllabic words, the perception of word stress in utterances and the allocation of sentence stresses within words are analyzed. The results of the analyses coincide quite well, indicating that tone has something to do with the engende...

The current experiment investigated conflicting predictions regarding the effects of spelling-stress regularity on the lexical decision performance of skilled adult readers and adults with developmental dyslexia. In both reading groups, lexical decision responses were significantly faster and significantly more accurate when the orthographic structure of a word ending was a reliable as opposed ...

Over the past couple of decades, research has established that infants are sensitive to the predominant stress pattern of their native language. However, the degree to which the stress pattern shapes infants' language development has yet to be fully determined. Whether stress is merely a cue to help organize the patterns of speech or whether it is an important part of the representation of spee...