Alan Prince in his article " Relating to the Grid " (1983), dealt with metrical theory from a different angle . He argues that Metrical theory employs two distinct hierarchical structures ,the s/w relational tree and the metrical grid .It can be thought of as mapping between surface structures and the grid : first a translation into a binary branching (s/w)tree , and second an interpretation of the s/w relations which is then derived in terms of alignment with the grid . Surface structure s/w Trees Grid In this article , Prince tries to prove that surface structures (words and phrases ) should be related directly to the grid without the intervention of metrical trees .Thus , he tries to give evidence that a theory of metrical grid is …show more content…
The first is the theory of accessibility which describe the calculation that can be made on the basis of structural information alone ; its basic principle is that only a strictly peripheral entity may be accessed . The End Rule and the Rule of Extrametricality are the chief examples of the accessibility theory. The End Rule stresses first or last syllables . It stresses a first or last syllable as main word stress and puts a first or last word stress to phrasal prominence . Extrametricality falls under the principle of accessibility i.e. only an accessible constituent –first or last-may be extrametrical . Prince(1983:28) stated that it was Bruce Hayes's idea that phonological constituent – segment , syllable ,morpheme – can be declared as extrametrical if it occurs at the edge (beginning , ending ) of a domain .Extrametrical element will be ignored when stress rules are being assigned For example if in a language it happens that word final consonants are extrametrical , a final syllable CVC which is ordinarily heavy , will count as equivalent to CV …show more content…
The theory of rhythm takes clash as a central construct along with a principle of maximal rhythmic organization . One of the rules associated with the theory of rhythm is Perfect Grid Construction (PG) which establishes a perfect grid ,maximally organized to a certain level and clash free .Prince (p .48) stated that the main burden of lexical stress theory is to map words onto the perfect grid . As mapping takes place either left to right or right to left , only one parameter can be fixed : whether the mapping starts at a peak ( ) or a trough (x) . Four cases are possible: a- L-R; trough X X X….. X X X X X X ….. # O O O O O O…. b- L-R,