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Destressing

PHONOLOGY: a type of rule which deletes either a stress or the constituent of which this stress is the head (i.e. a foot). The footless syllable(s) undergo(es) stray adjunction. Destressing rules adjust the representation assigned by stress assignment rules. EXAMPLE: in English a stress on a light syllable (i.e. a foot) assigned by the stress rules is removed by a destressing rule: /bŕnána/ /banána/. The application of the destressing rule explains that the vowel of the first syllable can reduce (cf. [b@nána]), whereas this is not allowed in /bŕndána/ -/-> *[b@ndána] which has a heavy syllable.
LIT. Hammond, M. (1984)
Hayes, B. (1981)
Kager, R. (1989)