Emphasis

Each word in an utterance is pronounced with a level of emphasis relative to other words in the utterance.
You can override the default emphasis patterns by placing a Word Accent (\xWac\) tag before the word you want to modify.  

Tag 	Annotation	Description
\xWac=00\	`00	reduced emphasis 
\xWac=0\	`0	no emphasis
\xWac=1\	`1	normal emphasis
\xWac=2\	`2	added emphasis
\xWac=3\ or \Emp\	`3	heavy emphasis
\xWac=4\	`4	very heavy emphasis
Emphasis level 1, or "normal emphasis," is the default level of emphasis for a content word, and emphasis level 00 is the default emphasis for a function word.  Emphasis level 2 is assigned to the most prominent word (the nuclear accent) in the intonational phrase.  For example, the default emphasis pattern for the phrase "run through fields of barley" is: 

run	through	fields	of	barley  

1	1	1	00	2



Uses of Emphasis Tags

Reduced Emphasis (\xWac=00\)

The reduced emphasis  tag can be used to reduce a word to a function word:  

That book of his might take years to read. 

That book of his \xWac=00\ might take years to read. 

No Emphasis (\xWac=0\)

When two words form a single compound word (as in "wet suit" in example (b) below), the second word receives less emphasis than the first.  The no emphasis  tag is used to achieve this effect: 

(a)  He wore a wet suit to work because his umbrella broke.  

(b)  He wore a wet \xWac=0\ suit while diving.  

Normal Emphasis (\xWac=1\)

The normal emphasis  tag can be used to mark a word like "can" (in sentence (b)) as a content word rather than a function word:

(a)	Eating fat can make you fat.  

(b)	You're going to need a very fat \xWac=1\ can to hold all those peaches.  

While this tag is used to assign normal emphasis to a word which would otherwise receive no emphasis, the word will still receive the nuclear accent in appropriate contexts.  You can use the added emphasis  tag to shift  the nuclear accent of the phrase to another word.

Added Emphasis (\xWac=2\)

The added emphasis tag can be used to alter the placement of the nuclear accent, as in examples (b) and (c) below.  Note that using the added emphasis tag causes all words after the nuclear accent to be de-emphasized.

(a) We demand absolute equality. 

(b) We demand \xWac=2\ absolute equality. 

(c) We \xWac=2\ demand absolute equality. 

Heavy Emphasis and Very Heavy Emphasis  (\xWac=3\ and \xWac=4\)

To give heavier emphasis to a word, you can assign emphasis level 3 or 4.  

We demand absolute \xWac=3\ equality. 

We demand \xWac=4\ absolute equality.  



Note  that setting the emphasis level to 4 also causes all preceding words to be de-emphasized:

The people of this country \xWac=3\ demand absolute equality.  

The people of this country \xWac=4\ demand absolute equality.  



The higher levels of emphasis are also useful in contradicting a previous statement or expressing incredulity.

Your brother has a dog named Spot?

No, my brother has a dog named \xWac=3\ Fido. 



It's not \xWac=3\ Monday, it's \xWac=4\ Tuesday. 



My aunt has a cat named Fido.

Your aunt has a \xWac=3\ cat named Fido? 





