Which feature of sentence stress indicates what the speaker regards as important in a sentence by making it longer, higher, or louder?

• A. Prominence
• B. Stress
• C. Intonation
• D. Rhythm

Answer: (A)

Prominence is the way a speaker marks a part of what is said as important by making it stand out acoustically. When a piece of a sentence carries the focus or new information, the speaker often lengthens it, raises its pitch, and/or increases its loudness. This combination of longer duration, higher pitch, and greater intensity makes that syllable or word more noticeable than the surrounding material, signaling to the listener that it’s the part to pay attention to. While stress refers to emphasis within a word and intonation to the overall pitch pattern across a phrase or sentence, or rhythm to the timing pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, prominence specifically captures the salience created by those acoustic cues to indicate importance.