The syllable is the domain of association for such phenomena as accent, stress and lexical tone. Syllable-timed A type of rhythm where syllables tend to have equal duration. French is an example of a language said to be preponderantly syllable-timed. The weight of a syllable depends on the make-up of its rhyme constituent. The weight of a syllable is important for lexical stress assignment in many languages.
Heavy syllables take precedence over light syllables in the assignment of primary lexical stress.
A type of difference between accents where two accents have different phonological systems.