Re: OT: Syllabic Stress in English

["Robert Firth" <robertjf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

We seem to be way of topic, but the subject
of stress in English is fascinating anyway.

One of the more amusing ways to analyze
stress is via poetry.  For example, "iron gate"
reads very differently in Herrick's "To his Coy
Mistress":

     And hurl it, with tempestuous strife
     Tho'rough the i'ron ga'tes of li'fe...

Milton is probably the most meticulous at
getting the stress right.  By contrast, to read
the "poetry" of Hopkins, you must already
know where the stresses fall - one reason I
believe his stuff will not endure..

The point about assimilating words is a good
one also.  For example, is that dinosaur
diplo'docus or di'plodoo'cus?  I read it as
the latter, thanks to a Latin teacher with a
bamboo cane.

And, from sunny Singapore, Gong Xi Fa Cai.

Robert