Fixed tonicity

We've often made the difference between stress and prominence in that the former is system-bound, as the language system tells you what should be done. By way of example, you cannot choose how to stress convict; if you mean the verb, it should be conˈvict. However, if you mean 'a person who has been sent to jail' you have no other choice but to say ˈconvict. Prominent syllables, on the other hand, are those syllables which are made to stand out in connected speech by virtue of being important for the meaning we want to make. We can say that prominence is context-bound and it is up to speakers to decide that one syllable will be made prominent instead of another one.

It's also been said that the last prominent syllable in a tone unit is the tonic syllable (= that on which the major pitch movement is initiated). Along these lines, we can say that in a tone unit such as //I want that//, any of the syllables can be the tonic, depending on the meanings speakers want to make. Nevertheless, there are a great number of ready-made phrases and expressions of current use in English in which the tonic is not the choice of the speakers but a feature which is dictated by the language itself. We may say these cases are instances of fixed tonicity. Below are some expressions bearing this type of tonicity. The meaning in each case has not been added. With the help of a dictionary, would you contribute the meanings absent?

By ˈall means
ˈKeep your ˈnose clean.
There's ˈnothing ˈto it really.
ˈGet your ˈact together.
ˈSet/put your (own) ˈhouse in order.
I've had my ˈhands full.
(She) of ˈall people
They ˈget on like a ˈhouse on fire

Whatchamacallit

There are a number of words in English used to refer to things or people when you don't know or remember their names. From the point of view of stress, it may be useful to remember that these lexical items are always stressed on the first syllable and they are single stressed. Their origin may be clear as some of these words have sprung from questions, such as What is it? or What is her name? and have become single lexical units: whatsit and whatshername. It may be difficult, however, to trace the origin of whatchamacallit, as its present spelling reflects its phonological identity. It derives from the interrogative What you may call it? In some dictionaries, the way it is spelt represents a more straightforward orthographic-phonological relationship. For example, in the Cambridge Pronouncing Dictionary, you will find it as what-d'you-ma-call-it and in the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, apart from whatchamacallit, you will see what-you-may-call-it. Different spellings may have arisen due to the fact that this word is normally used in spoken English. Below you will find some of these......whatchamacallit?.......expressions.

ˈso-and-so
ˈdoodah
ˈwhatchamacallit
ˈwhatsisname
ˈwhatsit
ˈthingy
ˈthingamajig
ˈthingamabob
ˈthingammy