Nice discussion, but doesn't explore nearly enough. As Don Gause and I showed in http://www.geraldmweinberg.com/Site/Exploring_Requirements.h..., you can stress more than one word in a sentence. In fact, you can stress two, three, or any number up to the number of words in the sentence.
This sounds really weird, but if you say these sentences out loud, you can make a different meaning from each variation. Try it:
<i>I</i> <i>didn't</i> say she stole my money. That is, I was one of the few who didn't.
I didn't <i>say</i> she <i>stole</i> my money. I wrote a letter about how she found my money.
See if you can get all the way up to all 7 words stressed. There are lots of cases (which you can computer using the binomial theorem).
This sounds really weird, but if you say these sentences out loud, you can make a different meaning from each variation. Try it:
<i>I</i> <i>didn't</i> say she stole my money. That is, I was one of the few who didn't.
I didn't <i>say</i> she <i>stole</i> my money. I wrote a letter about how she found my money.
See if you can get all the way up to all 7 words stressed. There are lots of cases (which you can computer using the binomial theorem).