The effect of information structure on the distribution of stress degree in Chinese reading texts

摘要

Based on phonetic experiment and statistical analysis, we investigate the effect of information structure on the distribution of stress degree in Chinese reading texts. Different types of information status and stress degree are examined on lexical and referential levels. The lexical information status consists of given, accessible and new information, while the referential information status consists of given, bridging, unused, new and generic information. The results show that i) on both levels, new information is more prominent than given information, and the newer the information is, the higher stress degree it gets; ii) on referential level specifically, stress degree varies in different types of new information, with a referring expression regarded as definite discourse-new more prominent than other new information; iii) a combined investigation of both referential and lexical levels could reveal the relationship between information structure and stress degree in Chinese reading texts.