Abstract
Tone and stress are fundamental features of spoken language that shape perception, comprehension, and communication across diverse linguistic contexts. In many African and Asian languages, tone serves a lexical or grammatical function, distinguishing meaning through pitch variation, whereas in stress-dominant languages such as English, stress organizes rhythm, highlights emphasis, and conveys information structure. In multilingual speakers, these prosodic systems often interact in complex ways: first-language (L1) tone or stress patterns can influence second-language (L2) pronunciation, affecting rhythm, pitch contours, and overall intelligibility. Drawing on recent cross-linguistic research (Gordon, 2023) and advances in machine learning for suprasegmental analysis (de la Fuente & Jurafsky, 2024), this study examines how tone and stress interact in multilingual speech, and investigates their impact on listener comprehension. Using an acoustic and perceptual mixed-methods approach with speakers from both tonal and stress-dominant backgrounds, The study identify patterns of tone preservation, stress shifts, and prosodic interference, and explore how these patterns mediate intelligibility outcomes. Findings indicate that intelligibility is optimized when L2 stress aligns with listener expectations, although exposure to diverse accents can mitigate comprehension challenges arising from L1 prosodic transfer. The study underscores the importance of treating tone and stress as dynamically interacting systems rather than isolated features. Implications extend to language teaching, speech technology design, and international communication practices, emphasizing intelligibility, inclusivity, and recognition of diverse accent patterns in multilingual contexts.
Keywords: Tone, stress, multilingualism, phonology, English as a lingua franca
DOI: 10.36349/alqajolls.2025.v01i01.021
author/Khadijah Bala Muhammad & Ahmad Kainuwa
journal/AL-QALAM JLLS 1(1) | December 2025
