Pronunciation watch

[Serial_Apologist]

Gold hill? Rural?
Tell that to the farmers on market day in Shaftesbury !!

There are fields if you look into the background, TS - that's RURAL to a Londoner!

[teamsaint]

There are fields if you look into the background, TS - that's RURAL to a Londoner!

isn't wimbledon common much the same as a field? they have horses n stuff there.

But then again to a real londoner, Wimpleton ( as the american tennis players have it) is probably the countryside !!

( I think the fields in the ad were prolly Photoshopped anyway......pretty certain there is a mock tudor estate at the bottom of the hill ).

[P. G. Tipps]

Er not quite. My parents' generation always would say "contrOversy"; Dad always made the point that the "modern" alternative would require two stresses for it to sound balanced, e.g. "cOntrovErsy" - hence his version (which I too have always preferred) being the correct one.

AbSOLutely ...

[vinteuil]

Pronunciation in English is determined by the number of syllables in a word, rather than whatever other word it might be derived from, or related to. There's nothing illogical about this.

What seems to be happening is that rthe conventions are changing - whereas in four-syllable words the stress used to be on the first syllable - FORmidable, CONtroversy, HARrassment, (ir)REVocable and many more - the fashion now seems to be to shift the stress to the second syllable.

.

"... a stressed syllable followed by three unstressed ones is very unpopular except with professors & the like if there is an alternative handy... "

[ Fowler, Modern English Usage (first edition), under 'Contumely'. His entry on Recessive Accent is well worth re-reading too... ]

[jean]

Er not quite. My parents' generation always would say "contrOversy"; Dad always made the point that the "modern" alternative would require two stresses for it to sound balanced, e.g. "cOntrovErsy" - hence his version (which I too have always preferred) being the correct one.

The only pronunciation given in the OED has always been, and (I'm quite surprised to see) is still, /ˈkɒntrəvɜːsɪ/.

But see Fowler on Recessive Accent (referenced above).

.

[jean]

"... a stressed syllable followed by three unstressed ones is very unpopular except with professors & the like if there is an alternative handy... "

Ahead of his time, as so often (despite what people think!)

[jean]

...His entry on Recessive Accent is well worth re-reading too... ]

Very interesting - I'd forgotten it.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Frau A and I disagree on how to pronounce "migraine". Is it "me' or "my"?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Frau A and I disagree on how to pronounce "migraine". Is it "me' or "my"?

With asparagus like yours, I'm astonished the word even features in your conversations!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

http://www.drpodell.org/migraine-diets-nj.shtml

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

With asparagus like yours, I'm astonished the word even features in your conversations!

YOU LEAVE MY ASPARAGUS ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, this thread is about pronunciation.

[french frank]

YOU LEAVE MY ASPARAGUS ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, this thread is about pronunciation.

Me say meegraine

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Anyway, this thread is about pronunciation.

I say "my-grain".

Actually, I usually say "bad headache" - but when I read the word, that's the pronunciation I imagine.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Me say meegraine

Moi aussi, but Frau A. laughed at me. She definitely preferred Ferney's pronunciation.

[french frank]

I say "my-grain".

At the root of the word is Latin 'hemi-cranium' (hemicrania) which may or may not influence how any individual pronounces it.