Stress System Database

Primary Stress Systems Listed by Stress Pattern

Click here to see the stress systems listed by Language

SPC		Name(s) of Language	References	Comments
Long Word	Short Word
1L		Badimaya	Hayes 1995:198
1L		Bidyara / Gungabula	Hayes 1995:199
1L		Cahuilla	Hayes 1995:133	Lexical exceptions are alluded to
1L		Czech	Hayes 1995:203; Hyman 1977; Dogil 1995a	2ry on odd syls from left in careful speech, on penult in casual speech
1L		Dalabon	Hayes 1995:199
1L		Dehu	Hayes 1995:199
1L		Diyari	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:92, Hayes 1995:199
1L		Dyirbal	Hyman 1977
1L		Estonian	Hayes 1995:316	Some lexical 1ry and 2ry stresses 2ry stress at 3-syllable intervals in sequences of light syllables (optionally at two-syllable intervals)
1L		Finnish	Hayes 1995:329	2ry stress at 3-syllable intervals in sequences of light syllables (at least as an option)
1L		Garawa	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:43, Hayes 1995:202
1L		Georgian	Aronson 1982, Tevdoradze 1978
1L		Gugu-Yalanji	Hayes 1995:204
1L		Hungarian	Hayes 1995:329	2ry stress at 3-syllable intervals in sequences of light syllables (according to Szinnyei)
1L		Icelandic	Hayes 1995:189
1L		Karelian	Hayes 1995:329	2ry stress at 3-syllable intervals in sequences of light syllables (optionally at two-syllable intervals)
1L		Kashubian	Dogil 1995a
1L		Ket	Skorit et al. 1968
1L		Koya	Idsardi 1992:2
1L		Lappish, Central Norwegian	Hayes 1995:199
1L		Latvian	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:12
1L		Laz	Jgenti 1959
1L		Livonian	Hayes 1995:200
1L		Mansi	Hayes 1995:200
1L		Mantjiltjara	Hayes 1995:365
1L		Maranungku	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:40, Hayes 1995:200
1L		Mayi	Hayes 1995:200
1L		Mordwin, Erzyan	Kenstowicz 1994, Tsygankin & DeBaev 1975, Walker 1996:31
1L		Ono	Hayes 1995:200
1L		Pintupi	Hayes 1995:62
1L		Pitta-Pitta	Hayes 1995:201
1L		Saam	Kert 1971
1L		Selepet	Hayes 1995:201
1L		Slovak	Dogil 1995a	2ry on odd syls from left, possibly excluding final syl
1L		Sorbian	Dogil 1995a	Lexical stress in loan words 2ry on penult in words of at least 4 syls
1L		Tinrin	Osumi 1995; Walker 1996:2
1L		Votic	Hayes 1995:201
1L		Wangkumara	Hayes 1995:202
1L		Yeletnye (Yele)	Henderson 1976; Walker 1996:3
1L		Yiddish	Birnbaum 1979, Fal'kovich 1966
1R		Armenian	Comrie 1981, Thomson 1975, Tumanjan 1971, Vaux 1998	Possibly 12/2R, since schwa is stressless Vocatives usually show 1L stress (Vaux, 1999, p.c.)
1R		Baluchi	Elfenbein 1966, Pireiko 1966
1R		Cambodian	Hayes 1995:261
1R		French	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:12	Stress domain is phrase
1R		Gagauz	Pokrovskaja 1966
1R		Ishkashim	Grierson 1920, Pakhalina 1966
1R		Itelmen	Stebnickij 1934
1R		Jazghulam	Edel'man 1966, Grierson 1920
1R		Karaim	Musaev 1966
1R		Khakas	Karpov 1966
1R		Kumukh	Magomedov 1966
1R		Kurdish	Bakaev 1966
1R		Lezg	Meijlanova 1967
1R		Nanay	Avronin 1959
1R		Oroch	Skorit et al. 1968
1R		Romanian	Chitoran 1996, in prep; Steriade 1984	Lexical 2R Stress domain excludes inflectional affixes Feet=('ss)
1R		Tadzhic	Kerimova 1966
1R		Tuebatulabal (Tubatulabal)	Hayes 1995:264
1R		Turkish	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:53, Inkelas 1994	Lexical 2R, 3R stems Prestressing suffixes
1R		Turkmen	Azimov & Amansarjev 1966, Dulling 1960
1R		Tuva	Sat 1966
1R		Udmurt	Lytkin et al. 1966
1R		Uzbek	Poppe 1962, Raun 1969, Reshetov 1966, Sjoberg 1963, Walker 1996:3
1R		Weri	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:43, Hayes 1995:265
1R		Yavapai	Kendall 1976; Walker 1996:4
12@s L (3+)	1L (3-)	Malakmalak	Hayes 1995:203	Feet=('ss), from right 3-syllable words 1L or 2L
12@s L		Nyawaygi	Hayes 1995:180	Feet=('LL) or (H), from right VV > V
12@s L		Wargamay	Hayes 1995:140	Feet=('LL) or (H), from right VV > V
12@s R		Seminole / Creek	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:59, Hayes 1995:64	Feet=(LH), (LL') or (H), from left VX > V Stress is realized as a high tone
12/1L		Gurkhali	Hayes 1995:93
12/1L		Malayalam	Hayes 1995:92	VV > V
12/1L		Shoshone, Tumpisa (Timbisha)	Hayes 1995:180	Optionally 1L
12/1L		Yil	Hayes 1995:93
12/1R		Yapese	Hayes 1981:108	VV > V
12/2L (3+)	1L (2-)	Aranda, Western	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:48	CV > V
12/2L		Hopi	Hayes 1995:261	VX > V
12/2L		Maidu	Hayes 1995:261	VC > V Lexical 1L
12/2L		Miwok, Sierra	Hayes 1995:261	VX > V
12/2L		Ossetic	Hayes 1995:261	VV > V Stress domain is phrase
12/2L		Paiute, Southern	Sapir (1930, p. 39)	VV > V; 'inherent' glottal stops also attract stress
12/2L		Rotumen	Hayes 1995:trochaic
12/2L		Ulwa	Hayes 1995:trochaic
12/2R		Dieguenyo (Diegueno)	Hayes 1995:181	VX > V (but C6C is light)
12/2R		English (adjectives and verbs)	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:230	VXC > V(X) Lexical 3R
12/2R		Fijian	Hayes 1995:142	VV > V
12/2R		Greek, Ancient	Golston, 1989; Hayes 1995:181	HL* pitch accent anchors L* tone to rightmost moraic trochee
12/2R		Hawaiian	Hayes 1995:181
12/2R		Inga	Hayes 1995:181	VN > V(K), where N is sonorant
12/2R		Kawaiisu	Hayes 1995:181
12/2R		Lenakel	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:216, Hayes 1995:167	VV > V (or tense > lax) Lexical 1R, 3R
12/2 R		Polabian (per Olesch)	Dogil 1995a	Extinct Slavic language
12/2R		Romansh, Berguener (Berguner)	Hayes 1995:181	VX > V
12/2R		Sentani	Hayes 1995:331	VC > V (VV does not occur) 2ry stress at 3-syllable intervals in sequences of light syllables
12/2R		Tol	Hayes 1995:181	VX > CV
12/2R		Tongan	Hayes 1995:181	VV > V (VC does not occur)
12/21/1R		Hebrew, Tiberian	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:63	V(V)C > VV > V
12/23/3R		English (nouns)	Burzio 1994; Halle & Vergnaud 1987:227-234; Kager 1989; Pater 1995	VV > VC > V Lexical 2R, 3R
12@w3 / 2@w2 / 34@s R (3+)	1L (2-)	Hindi (per Fairbanks)	Hayes 1995:164	Feet=('LL) or (H), from right VXC > VX > V
1@w3 / 23 R		Arabic, Damascene	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:96	VXC > VX > V
1@w3 / 23@s R		Arabic, Cairene	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:61, Hayes 1995:67	Feet=('LL) or (H), from left {VV, VCC} > VC > V
1@w3 / 23@s R (3+)	1@w3 / 21@s R (2-)	Arabic, Cyrenaican Bedouin	Hayes 1995:226	Feet=(LH), (LL') or (H), from left VXC > VX > V
1@w3 / 23@s R (3+)	1@w3 / 21@s R (2-)	Arabic, Negev Bedouin	Hayes 1995:226	Feet=(LH), (LL') or (H), from left VXC > VX > V Lexical exceptions exist 4R is optional in HLLH, HLLL forms
1@w4/23@s R		Dutch	van der Hulst 1984; Kager 1989; Daelemans et al., 1993	VVC, VCC > VC > VV > 6 Feet=('LL) or (H) from right, with L=6 or VV Ambisyllabic C following short V Lexical stress on any of last 3 syls
123/123/123/123 /1 R		PirahaN (Piraha)	Everett & Everett 1984, Halle & Vergnaud 1987:224, Hayes 1995:285	KVV > GVV > VV > KV > GV (K=-voice, G=+voice)
1@w3 /23@w2 /2 R		Arabic, Bani-Hassan	Hayes 1995:366	Interactions with feet may be relevant, e.g. 1@w3/2@w2/32@s; cf. Palestinian Arabic Feet=(HL), ('LL) or (H), from left VXC > VX > V
123/23/3 R		Manam	Buckley 1994	(C)VC > CV > V
1@w3/234@s R		English (nouns, per Pater)	Pater 1995	VV > VC > V Feet=(HL), ('LL) or (H), from right; ('LH) if necessary
1@w4/234@s R		German	Fery, 1999; Hall 1992; Jessen 1995; Vennemann 1990	VVC, VCC, VG > VC > VV > 6 G=glide Feet=('L6L), ('LL) or (H) from right, with 'L=VV, L=6 or VV Ambisyllabic C following short V Lexical stress on any of last 3 syls 4R stress possible if schwa in antepenult
1@w3 / 2@w2 / 34@s R (3+)	1@w3 / 9 R (2-)	Arabic, Palestinian	Hayes 1995:126	Feet=('LL) or (H), from left VXC > VX > V
1/23..891/1R		Cheremis, Meadow	Hayes 1981:132	{V +tense, VC} > V -tense > v(C)
1/23..89/9R		Arabic, Classical	Hayes 1981:111/130, 1995:296	VXC > VX > V
12..78/12..78/1L		Kashmiri	Bhatt 1989, Kenstowicz 1993, Walker 1996:16	CVV > CVC > CV
12..89/1L		Amele	Hayes 1995:297, Roberts 1987	VC > V
12..89/1L		Au	Hayes 1995:297, Scorza 1985	Weight determined by vowel quality
12..89/1L		Indo-European (protolanguage)	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:72	Syllable "weight" determined by lexical accent
12..89/1L		Lithuanian	Dogil 1995; Halle & Vergnaud 1987:190, Hayes 1995:278	High tone > Low tone; for some authors, stress depends on lexical accent rather than tone
12..89/1L		Lushootseed	Hayes 1995:297, Hess 1976, Odden 1979	V > 6
12..89/1L		Mongolian, Khalkha (per Street)	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:71, Hayes 1995:297, Walker 1996:25	VV > V Walker notes Street's description is mistaken!
12..89/1L		Mordwin, Mokshan	Kenstowicz 1994, Tsygankin & DeBaev 1975, Walker 1996:12	Non-high V > {High V or schwa}
12..89/1L		Murik	Abbott 1985, Hayes 1995:297, Walker 1996:11	VV > V Max 1 VV per word
12..89/1L		Persian, Old	Lambton 1961, Oranskij 1963
12..89/1L		Russian	Idsardi 1992:51	Lexical accent
12..89/1L		Sanskrit, Vedic	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:84, Hayes 1995:297	High tone > Low tone (or lexical accent)
12..89/1L		Serbo-Croatian	Hayes 1995:278	High tone > Low tone Ambiguous with 12..89/9L, since all words have a high tone
12..89/1L		Tibetan, Lhasa	Hayes 1995:297, Odden 1979	VV > V
12..89/1L		Yana	Hayes 1995:297, Sapir & Swadesh 1960	VX > V
12..89/1R		Golin	Bunn & Bunn 1970; Hayes 1995:278	High tone > Low tone
12..89/1R		Mamainde	Eberhard 1995	Relative to root morpheme Possibly 12/1R or 123/1R since roots have few syllables Some words purportedly have multiple 1ry stresses
12..89/1R		Mayan, Aguacatec	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:71, Hayes 1995:297, Hyman 1977:51, McArthur & McArthur 1956, Walker 1996:10	VV > V M&M do not show words with multiple heavy syls
12..89/12/2R		Mam	Hayes 1995:282	{VV, V?} > VC > V, where ? is a glottal stop
12..89/12..89/1L		Maori	Hyman 1977:51	VV > ViVj > V, where ViVj is a cluster of non-identical vowels
12..89/2L		Mongolian, Khalkha (per Stuart)	Goldsmith 1990:343, fn. 9	VV > V If no long vowel, stress reportedly falls on the 2nd vowel which is not short /i/; the SPC to the left does not take short /i/ into account
12..89/23/3R		Klamath	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:74, Hayes 1995:280	VV > VC > V
12..89/9L		Komi	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:52, Hayes 1995:297, Itkonen 1955, Lytkin 1961	Weight depends in part on vowel height
12..89/9L		Kwakw'ala / Kwakiutl	Boas 1947, Hayes 1995:297, Walker 1996:23, Zec 1994	{VV, VN} > V(K), where N is sonorant
12..89/9R		Chuvash	Hayes 1995:296, Krueger 1961	V > v (full vs. reduced vowels)
12..89/9R		Huasteco	Hayes 1995:296, Hyman 1977:51, Larson & Pike 1949	VV > V
12..89/9 R		Kashubian, Slovincian	Dogil 1995a	Long V and lexical accents are heavy Prestressing suffixes Defunct dialect
12..89/9R		Kuuku-Ya?u	Hayes 1995:296, Thompson 1976	VV > V
12..89/9 R		Polabian (per Dogil)	Dogil 1995a	Extinct Slavic language
12..89/9R		Selkup	Halle & Clements 1983:189, Idsardi 1992:10, Kuznecova et al. 1980, Walker 1996:21	VV > V
2L (3+)	1L (2)	Araucanian	Hayes 1995:266, Hyman 1977:41	1L=2R in bisyllables
2L		Dakota	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:90, Hayes 1995:267
2L		Paiute, Southern	Hayes 1995:266	Stress attracts to heavy first syllables, but these are arguably derived from separate underlying syllables (CV.V) after stress is assigned (Hayes, p. 122)
2R		Cavinenya (Cavinena)	Hayes 1995:202
2R		Chamorro	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:204, Hayes 1995:204	Lexical 1R, 3R; accented prefixes
2R		Dagaare (Dagaari)	Anttila & Bodomo 1996	Lexical 1R analyzed as lexical hiatus CV.V
2R		Djingili	Hayes 1995:202	Lexical 1R, 3R
2R		Nengone	Hayes 1995:203
2R		Onondaga	Hayes 1995:266	Lexical 1R, 3R
2R		Piro	Hayes 1995:201
2R		Polish	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:57, Idsardi 1992	Lexical 1R, 3R
2R		Spanish	Harris 1995	Lexical 1R, 3R
2R		Swahili	Hayes 1995:204	Lexical 3R
2R		Tagalog	Hyman 1977:42	1R, 3R in some verbs
2R		Tanna, Southwest	Hayes 1995:180
2R		Warao	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:40, Hayes 1995:203	Lexical 1R, 3R
2R		Welsh	Williams 1983
2R		Yawelmani	Archangeli 1988; Hayes 1995:204	Lexical 3R
2R		Zoque, Chimalapa	Hayes 1995:104
21/1R		Aklan	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:45	VC > V Lexical 2R
21/1R		Javanese	Hayes 1995:262	V > 6
21/1R		Malay (per Winstedt)	Hayes 1995:263	V(X) > 6
21/1R		Manobo, Sarangani (per Meiklejohn & Meiklejohn)	Hayes 1995:262	V > 6
21/2R		Awadhi	Hayes 1995:179	VX > V
21/2R		Manobo, Sarangani (per DuBois)	Hayes 1995:179	V > 6
213/2 R		Maithili	Hayes 1995:149	VV > V
23@s R		Cayuga	Hayes 1995:223	Feet=(LH), (LL') or (H), from left VV > V
23@s R (3+)		Malecite / Passamaquoddy	Hayes 1995:215	Feet=(LH), (LL') or (H), from left VV > V
23@s R (3+)	12@s L (2-)	Munsee	Hayes 1995:211	Feet=(LH), (LL') or (H), from left VX > V
23@s R (3+)	12@s L (2-)	Unami	Hayes 1995:211	Feet=(LH), (LL') or (H), from left VX > V
23/2R		Turkish	Inkelas 1994	Place names and some loans only VX > V Lexical 2R
23/3R (3+)	1L (2-)	Latin, Classical	Mester 1994	VX > V Stem-final stress in cliticized forms
23/3R (3+)	12/2L (2-)	Malay (per Lewis)	Hayes 1995:263	V(X) > 6
234@w3 / 324@s@w2 / 324@s R		Asheninca	Hayes 1995:288	Feet=(LH), (LL') or (H), from left VV > {iN, V(C)} > i (N is a nasal consonant) In feet, H=VV
23..89@s@w2/0 R		Seneca	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:100, Hayes 1995:225	{VC, V.CVC} > V Feet=(ss'), from left Rightmost nonfinal even-numbered syllable attracts stress if it's either closed or followed by a closed syllable; no stress if no closed syl
23..891/2 R		Bhojpuri (per Shukla/Tiwari)	Hayes 1995:278	Feet=('LL) or (H)
23..891/2 R		Hindi (per Jones)	Hayes 1995:278
23..891/2 R		Hindi (per Sharma)	Hayes 1995:278
23..891/2 R		Sindhi	Hayes 1995:278, Stowell 1979, Walker 1996:13
23..891/23..891/2 R		Hindi (per Kelkar)	Hayes 1995:276, Kelkar 1968, Walker 1996:14	VXC > VX > V
23..891/9R		Buriat	Poppe 1960:19, Walker 1996:25	VV > V
23..891/9R		Mongolian, Khalkah (per Bosson)	Bosson 1964, Poppe 1970, Walker 1996:25	VV > V Walker notes variable stress between this SPC and stress on 2nd to last heavy syl
23..89/2R		Cheremis, Mountain	Hayes 1981:123	V > v (full vs. reduced vowels) Lexical stress in words with no full vowels, so ambiguous with 23..89R 12..89/1R in first member of compound
23..89/2R		Cheremis, Western	Hayes 1995:297, Itkonen 1955:28, Walker 1996:15	V > v (full vs. reduced vowels)
23..89/9R		Cheremis, Eastern	Hayes 1995:296, Sebeok & Ingemann 1961:9, Walker 1996:31	V > v (full vs. reduced vowels) Optional 1R
23..89/9R		Nubian, Dongolese	Hayes 1981:112
3R (4+)	2R (3-)	Bhojpuri	Hyman 1977:77
3R (3+)	1L (2-)	Cayuvava	Hayes 1995:205, 309	Lexical 1R, 2R 2ry stress on every 3rd syllable in sequences of light syllables
3R (5+)	2R (4-)	IcuaN Tupi: (Icua)	Hyman 1977:77
3R (3+)	1L (2-)	Kela	Hayes 1995:205
3R (3+)	1L (2-)	Macedonian	Halle & Vergnaud 1987:55, Hayes 1995:205	Lexical 1R, 2R
3R (3+)	1L (2-)	Mae	Hayes 1995:205
3R (3+)	1L (2-)	Paamese	Hayes 1995:178	Lexical 4R
3R (3+)	1L (2-)	Parnkalla	Hayes 1995:205
_ (?)		Bulgarian	Dogil 1995b	Lexical accent
_ (?)		Byelorussian	Dogil 1995b	Lexical accent
_ (?)		Ukrainian	Dogil 1995b	Lexical accent