I once had a civil argument with a German. Germans’ arguments are usually uncivil, but this one time …. I once had a civil argument with a German. Most of my arguments with Germans are flamewars and cussin’. I once had a civil argument with a German. Germans are so civil, even their arguments are civil! I once had a civil argument with a German. I’m so good at civil arguments (or so well-traveled) I’ve even had one with a German!
Trouble is, the default stress pattern is identical to the last. And you don’t usually interpret the first sentence of a text with a non-default stress pattern when the following text doesn’t force you.
I once had a civil argument with a German. Germans’ arguments are usually uncivil, but this one time ….
I once had a civil argument with a German. Most of my arguments with Germans are flamewars and cussin’.
I once had a civil argument with a German. Germans are so civil, even their arguments are civil!
I once had a civil argument with a German. I’m so good at civil arguments (or so well-traveled) I’ve even had one with a German!
I once had a civil argument with a German. I have such interesting and unusual experiences.
I once had a civil argument with a German. The rest of you have merely heard about civil arguments with Germans.
I once had a civil argument with a German. As opposed to a civil argument about a German.
I once had a civil argument with a German. I’m not trying to generalize the pattern to all Germans.
Trouble is, the default stress pattern is identical to the last. And you don’t usually interpret the first sentence of a text with a non-default stress pattern when the following text doesn’t force you.