Responds to Gussenhoven's essay (1983) which endorses the deterministic view in description of English stress and accent. Argues that accents respond to the speaker's sensation of interest in what he/she is saying plus a general desire to impress and that stress is part of the morphology of words. (SED)

A survey of the substance of linguistics and of the activities of linguists is presented in an attempt to acquaint ordinary readers with the various aspects of la"guage. A discussion of the human tendency toward speech, of the traits of language, and of phonetic elements prepares the way for an analysis of the structure of languag e in terms of…