The place in an utterance where the major pitch movement begins, marking the focal point of the message.

The place in an utterance where the major pitch movement begins, marking the focal point of the message.

• A. Nuclear stress
• B. Primary accent
• C. Initial stress
• D. Secondary tone

Answer: (A)

Nuclear stress is where the major pitch movement in an utterance starts and where the message’s focal point is signaled. In intonation, the nucleus carries the strongest pitch accent, and the contour around it shapes how the entire sentence is interpreted—listeners rely on that peak to identify what’s being emphasized or contrasted. The surrounding material typically provides supporting context with smaller pitch movements, but the nucleus marks the key point of focus. The other terms don’t fit as well. A primary accent often refers to the strongest stress within a word or a phrase member, not the sentence-wide focal point. Initial stress points to the first syllable of a word, which isn’t about marking the main focus of the whole utterance. Secondary tone refers to additional tonal targets in the pre-nuclear region, not the central pitch movement that signals focus.

Nuclear stress is where the major pitch movement in an utterance starts and where the message’s focal point is signaled. In intonation, the nucleus carries the strongest pitch accent, and the contour around it shapes how the entire sentence is interpreted—listeners rely on that peak to identify what’s being emphasized or contrasted. The surrounding material typically provides supporting context with smaller pitch movements, but the nucleus marks the key point of focus.

The other terms don’t fit as well. A primary accent often refers to the strongest stress within a word or a phrase member, not the sentence-wide focal point. Initial stress points to the first syllable of a word, which isn’t about marking the main focus of the whole utterance. Secondary tone refers to additional tonal targets in the pre-nuclear region, not the central pitch movement that signals focus.