[General] Intonation, stressed verb

[englishhobby]

I read somewhere that if you stress the verb in a question like the one below, it will sound more formal while if you don't stress it, the question will sound less formal. Is it so? (I coloured the stressed syllables blue)

Is Joseph a teacher? - more formal?
Is Joseph a teacher? - less formal?

 

[MikeNewYork]

I don't see a change in formality. There is a difference in stress on word syllables and stress on words. The stresses on the first syllables of Joseph and teacher are just a part of the words.

In a normal use, one could stress the word "Joseph" or the word "teacher". Usually, it would be "teacher". That is just asking for information.

If one stresses "Is" it suggests that the speaker has doubts about that.

 

[englishhobby]

And if stressing IS expresses doubt, can I ask "Is he a teacher?" in two different ways (with the verb IS 1) unstressed and 2) stressed)?

1) Is he an athlete? - simply asking for information
2) Is he an athlete? - doubting that he is an athlete

Am I right to say that in the following recording is is not stressed, so the sentence is neutral, it's just asking for information (like in number1))?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B72XkxRIV0-RMTg0NTd6Zi1VVXc/edit?usp=sharing

 

[Tdol]

I read somewhere that if you stress the verb in a question like the one below, it will sound more formal while if you don't stress it, the question will sound less formal. Is it so? (I coloured the stressed syllables blue)

Is Joseph a teacher? - more formal?
Is Joseph a teacher? - less formal?

If you stress is, it sounds to me that you're surprised or don't believe that Joseph is a teacher. It's not a question of formality but meaning to me.