A restrictive theory of metrical stress

Abstract

Focusing on weight-insensitive binary stress systems, the article presents an approach to metrical stress that is more restrictive than standard approaches and more accurate in its predictions. The proposal's restrictiveness derives from a set of constraints and structural assumptions that run counter to prevailing theories' fundamental principles. For example, the proposed account assumes strict succession between prosodic categories, ensuring that syllables are exhaustively parsed into feet. It tolerates improper bracketing of prosodic categories, allowing feet to overlap and to share entries on the metrical grid. Finally, it makes the foot–stress relationship violable, allowing feet to remain stressless under appropriate rankings. The article examines each of these assumptions and demonstrates how they combine to more accurately predict attested typologies.