Wilbur A. Benware

A polycentric approach to stress assumes that for languages with complex stress assignment, such as Modem Standard German, that devising algorithms based solely on prosodic features is not sufficient. Morphosemantic, syntactic and pragmatic factors may also have to be taken into consideration. In (AB]C compounds, where the A-constituent is a numeral, stress can only be determined in part by prosodic factors based on the syllable structure of the B-constituent. However, the stress in many other of these compounds has to be accounted for by implicit or explicit paradigmatic relations. In a few instances, a marked pattern (rightward stress), which occurs elsewhere in the German lexicon, will account for the observed stress.