The parametric approach to stress includes parameters (1) quantity sensitivity, (2) maximally binary or unbounded feet, (3) left or right branching and left or right strong, (4) direction of stress-tree construction, and (5) the word tree as left or right branching, Exemplification of this approach in Maranungku, Latvian, Warao, Eastern Cheemis, and Latin. Application to English as quantity sensitive with maximally binary feet that are left branching and left strong constructed from right to left with a right-branching word tree. It is necessary to allow some segments and syllables to be extrametrical prior to the application of the rules. Destressing rules are also required, with a convention of stray syllable adjunction. Most stress rules apply cyclically on stratum 1 of the phonology, with some noncyclic on stratum 2. Exceptions are to be accounted for by marking some items exceptions to certain rules; there is no need to assume stress in underlying representations.

Chapter 5 presents a fully procedural analysis of personal pronouns in English. Pronouns, it is argued encode procedures which operate at a sub-personal level. Features including gender, number and person features function purely syntactically and do not contribute directly to the semantics of the overall message. That is, they are not conceptual. Rather, the cognitive processes triggered by use of a pronoun function to constrain potential referents to a sub-personally identifiable set. The differences in interpretation that arise when a speaker chooses to place contrastive prosodic stress on a pronoun are discussed, along with examples where the choice of pronoun does not play a role in reference resolution but contributes to other aspects of the speaker’s overall meaning. The discussion focuses specifically on the communication of expressive effects and has significance not just for our understanding of pronouns, but for our understanding of procedural meaning more generally.