I am sure your knowledge of French is better than mine. My comment
was based on several such assertions made in guide books and phrase
books, and my experience hearing French conversations while traveling
over the years. Even from what you say an invariable accent on a
certain syllable does not seem to be part of the word as it is in
English, German, or Spanish.
Winsor
Long Beach, California, USA
On Jul 16, 2006, at 9:21 AM, Manuel Viet wrote:
> There is a tonic accent in french too, albeit a bit more subtle
> than in
> english. All individual words are emphasized on the last syllab
> (save the
> words ending by a mute 'e'), but in a sentence only the last word of a
> logical division bears the accent. And that accent is not produced
> by raising
> or lowering the tone, but the accented syllab is longer.
>
> For instance (' is used before the accented syllab), you say
> «pe'tite» (small) or «mai'son» (house) and «la petite mai'son».
> You'd also
> say «la petite mai'son dans la prai'rie» (little house on the prairie)
> because the last part indicates the location of the house.
>
> It *is* subtle, and it's also a powerful social marker.
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