Which term describes a language in which stressed syllables recur at different intervals and the intervening syllables are accommodated?

• A. Stress-timed language
• B. Syllable-timed language
• C. Language
• D. Rhythmic language

Answer: (A)

Rhythmic patterns in languages are described by how stresses align over time. In a stress-timed language, the stressed syllables occur at roughly regular time intervals. The syllables in between—unstressed ones—can vary in number and duration, and the language “accommodates” these intervening sounds to keep the overall timing between stresses fairly constant. That flexibility in the in-between syllables is exactly what characterizes this pattern. It helps explain why English, German, and Dutch feel rhythmically driven by stresses rather than by each syllable having the same length. In contrast, syllable-timed languages tend to give each syllable a more even duration, so the rhythm tracks syllable count rather than the spacing of stressed syllables. The described behavior—in which the in-between syllables are adjusted to maintain stress-based timing—points to a stress-timed language.