Monotonic Stress

a type of stress in which changes in the basic tone are not used to differentiate either between stress and lack of stress, or between different kinds of stress. In monotonic stress, tone is subordinate to the other components of stress, intensity and length. In contrast to polytonic stress, tone is not used to distinguish meaning. Monotonic stress is characteristic of Russian, in which tone has almost no significance, and German, in which a raising of the tone is an essential indication of stress.