Abstract:
This work presents an optimality account of primary stress assignment in Standard British English (SEE) as well as a comparative Optimality Theory (OT) account of stress in S8E and Nigerian English (NE), particularly from the point of view of lgala users of English as a second language. It is largely a descriptive research, which might not have relied heavily on instrumental analysis. Data for the study included ready-made exercises and already recorded cassettes, which deals directly with primary stress assignment in SBE and equally the use of wordlists in both SEE and NE, The method for elicitation of segments was mainly perceptual. The investigation reveals that OT satisfies the requirement that any serious theory of phonology must rely on well formedness constraints, which means it must be committed to Universal Grammar. The study has also shown how the constraint ordering in SBE is re-ordered in NE, observing that the different constraint orderings notwithstanding, these constraints are the same, and are present in each of these varieties of English. As it were, resolving these often-conflicting universal constraints through ranking to scan violabilily and or preferences distinguishes one language (variety or dialect) from another, This knowledge, especially the markedness between stress assignment in SBE and that of using this ,constraint ordering approach could lead to improved teaching, learning and overall better usage of English in Nigeria. However appealing the constraint based analysis of OT may appear, certain weaknesses can be identified with it which in turn necessitate the suggestions for further research in this area (see 6.3)
