Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 October 2008
This paper explores the relationship between some postlexical prosodic processes and metrical rhythm. The main focus is on Spanish secondary stress and related phenomena. Overall, as in previous studies, we shall differentiate three types of stress in Spanish: primary word stress, corresponding to the highest prominence in the lexical word, main phrasal stress, which signals the accentual peak in the phrase or phonic group, and secondary stress, which includes all remaining discernible stresses. It is intuitively plausible, though unsubstantiated experimentally, to assume that these three types correlate with three different degrees of prominence, of which main phrasal stress is the highest and secondary stress the lowest.
A modified abridged version of this paper was read at the Non-linear Phonology Symposium at the 1985 LAGB Spring Meeting at Salford. The paper is an offshoot of research carried out during the best part of two years at MIT, where numerous faculty members and visitors most generously contributed with their time, patience and wisdom. More directly involved in the present product have been François Dell and, in particular, Morris Halle, without whose invaluable relentless coaching at the Pascal/Broca headquarters the paper would have most probably suffered the sorrowful fate of the Little Match Girl. To them all my grateful thanks and, of course, they are in no way responsible for the outcome.