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an other accent shift as it change from noun to verb
deliberate
No entire nother accent shift for me, just an upward vowel shift in the ultimate syllable.
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QA
"controversy", which I stress on the 2nd syllable & which British newsreaders insist on stressing on the 3rd syllable.
I hear different people in UK stressing syllables 1,2,or 3 (or 1=3) in this word. I think we have to accept that some words will be pronounced differently in different countries or social groups. But I agree with you that the "incorrect" pronunciation of some words produces an inordinate and maybe irrational antipathy.
My son learnt to read very early and was a voracious reader. As such he learnt many words first from print and would very often surprise us with a new word pronounced by example from others similarly spelled. Not a strategy designed to produce great accuracy in English. He would sometimes have to write the word down before we could understand what he meant. I can't think of many examples (it was many years ago now) but I do remember taking him in a rowing dinghy when he was about 5. We got about 3 yards from shore and he asked "Daddy, is this the su-blit-oral zone?"
Rod
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Rod: Am I right in thinking your son was a shell collector, and wanted to know if the boat was outside the low tide line? If so, his pronunciation sounds quite acceptable. I wonder how he managed with the jawbreaking Latin names of shells!
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and wanted to know if the boat was outside the low tide line
yes, but I don't remember him wanting to collect shells. We did collect ammonites and other fossils on holiday once. The trouble was that "sub-littoral" wasn't in my everyday vocabulary at the time either, so I probably resorted to the "You may very well be right" type of evasion that as parents we know we shouldn't. I soon found that it was much more profitable for both parties if I asked my son "And what makes you think that?" at which point he would quote chapter and verse from some book he had read, and I would learn a lot. I would also sometimes be able to expand or correct his knowledge.
Rod
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I think US'ns mostly pronounce this with the major emphasis on the first syllable and secondary emphasis on the third. Personally, I think the con TROV ersy pronunciation is kinda cute.
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Dear Rod:
I cannot think of any experience happier than watching a bright child develop.
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I cannot think of any experience happier than watching a bright child develop.
SHHHHHH! my parents might be reading this. i'd hate for them to learn of all they've been missing.
what's the expression, btw, about one's children tending to be the revenge of their grandparents?
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I cannot think of any experience happier than watching a bright child develop.
except that of watching a dull or disabled child managing to outreach their expected potential, perhaps? We were extremely lucky with our children and tok great joy in their development, but we came rather to expect it. Our neighbours had a brain damaged child who overcame great odds to become literate and numerate. They also took great joy particularly in the unexpected triumphs. I must admit that I would not change places however for one minute.
Rod
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" what's the expression, btw, about one's children tending to be the revenge of their grandparents?"
Dear bridget96: As a switch, there was a girl I knew who was in local parlance a hellion. But to the surprise of all who knew her, became a very successful business woman.
When her mother wanted to have the grand-children come visit, the daughter said: "What? And let you turn them into brats as you did with me? I guess not!"
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B96,
I had read not too long ago that "the reason grandparents and their grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy".
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