Towards a sociosemiotic interpretation of variation in the location of stress of some English word

Abstract

In this paper I set out to approach the phenomenon of the variability of the location of stress in certain English words in a semiotic vein, which is by no means the commonest way of dealing with the subject in the literature in the field of English phonetics. My objective is to put forward a proposal for a theoretical explanation of the phenomenon that should not only contribute to a better general understanding of its nature and function in the language, but also allow of application to the teaching of the pronunciation of English, especially as regards non-native speakers of the language.