The main aim of this project is to explore the relationship between semantic-pragmatic and prosodic properties of words on the basis of metrical strength relations. Production and perception experiments will test the influence of (i) utterance-external factors that serve to boost or inhibit the prominence value of a word and (ii) the utterance-internal prosodic context in order to shed light on the interdependence between prenuclear and nuclear accents in the rhythmic organization of German utterances.