The Syllable and the Foot : Summary - Speech Resource Pages

('abracadabra'), a binary foot followed by a non-branching foot
('lemonade'), two non-branching feet ('latex') and so on.
For example (where "(a)" = binary, "(b)" = ternary, and "(c)" =
non-branching):-
(a) + (a) "economics"
(b) + (a) "abracadabra"
(a) + (c) "matador"
(c) + (a) rare, but possible: "Nintendo"
(c) + (b) very rare
(c) + (c) + (c) impossible
Because of these constraints and the preference for (a)+(a), strong
and weak syllables tend to nearly alternate in English.
This near-alternation of s and w is the basis for our perception of
rhythm in English.
Natural speech is highly rhythmic, it tends to have a regular beat.
But different languages have different rhythms. In English all feet
tend to be of roughly the same length so that feet with more
syllables will have relatively shorter syllables than those with fewer
syllables. eg abracadabra 2 feet, 1 with three syllables and 1 with 2
but approximately equal duration.
antidisestablishmentarianism
5 feet, 12 syllables
an-ti dis-est
ab-lishment
a-ri-an
ism
s w s w s w w s w w s w
Having said this, its important to note that the stress pattern of
natural spoken English is not based on words at all. Phrases like
"my dog, the chair, love it", pattern like single words with just one
prominent syllable. There is no difference in stress between pairs of
words like "arise, a rise" or "ago, a go". Words that begin with
unstressed syllables like "above" may have initial unstressed
syllable allocated to a preceding foot. eg /IT was a /SIGN from
a/BOVE
Stress patterns associated with the foot determine the characteristic
rhythm of spoken English. A foot can comprise just a single word or
a group of words. In English there are some words that are
generally unstressed. They are high frequency, usually monosyllabic
function words like "the, a, is, to, and, that". These words can in
exceptional circumstances be stressed for particular semantic intent
but generally speaking they remain unstressed.