Stress subordination principle

Definition
Stress subordination principle is a universal convention proposed by Chomsky &amp; Halle (1968) in the linear analysis of stress assignment. In this analysis stress assignment rules assign the feature [1stress] to vowels. The operation of subsequent stress rules is subject to stress lowering in the following way (Chomsky &amp; Halle (1968:17)):

When primary stress is placed in a certain position then all other stresses in the string under consideration at that point are automatically weakened by one.

Example
Consider the assignment of stress in the compound black-board. The main stress rule applies in a cyclic fashion (see cyclic domain), reassigning [1stress]; the previously assigned [1stress] is weakened to [2stress] by stress lowering:

1     1           1    2 	black + board   black board

Links

 * Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics