I just noticed that "refuse" as a verb has the accent on the second syllable, but as a noun the accent is on the first syllable.

Is there a name for this?

Can you think of other instances of this difference?

How 'bout "pervert"

also, "confines" and "compound".

the closest i can come to naming this phenomenon would be prosodic variation.

i'll bet tsuwm knows, though =)

finance.

Do you count 'project' - where the noun and the verb are not (so closely) related in meaning?

Or 'collect' for those of us with enough Christian background to know what a collect is?!?

Could this distinction be the start of what has split the word "envelop" and "envelope" into two seperate dictionary entries - with the addition of the "e" to 'force' the issue?

'nother one = contract

Object. I've heard "homage" with both accents, but I think they mean the same thing. Gentle and genteel, almost. Defense. I have no idea what you'd call it.

I can't think of the technical name for this (stress shift? stress variation? no) but it's common enough in English and can even be a productive force (i.e. it can cause pronounciations to change to match the pattern).

Possible examples of noun/verb stress difference, depending on your accent: import, export, contact, research, digest, retard, compact.

re stress shift in noun/verb pairs.

All the examples given (as far as my usage is concerned anyway) have the stress on the first syllable for nouns and later for verbs. Are there any exceptions to this?
[Ok "fish" as a verb has the stress on the first syllable and "fish" as a noun on the last, but apart from that one]

re homage
I've never heard this as other than a noun and only the one stress pattern and pronounciation. (=hOmij). How else is it pronounced? =homIj, homage (like fromage)?

Edit: of course there are adjective/verb pairs too, such as "absent", "abstract". I think some of the earlier examples were of this type.

Rod

ello. In German there are cases where two different verbs are written the same; they can only be differentiated from one another through context or 'stress-placement', for example 'übersetzen'. It usually means 'interprete' or 'translate', but can mean 'transfer to (the other side of)' when pronounced ÜBERsetzen, though this is not a very common use. Most would opt for a word with a clearer meaning.
Are there any such stressy verbs in English?

adjective/verb pairs too, such as "absent", "abstract".

Abstract can also be a noun, of course. I think in all such cases, adjectives and nouns share the same stress, and are opposed to verbs.

Homage: could be pronounced om-AHZH, but I'd spell it hommage if doing so.

NW points out: Homage: could be pronounced om-AHZH, but I'd spell it hommage if doing so.

Never saw the hommage* spelling but when you pronounce it that way you're claiming that what you did wasn't really plagiarism but rather an honor to the person you plagiari...oops, i mean paid homage to.

*Quick M-W lookup shows this to be the Old French spelling.

re hommage Quick M-W lookup shows this to be the Old French spelling

It is the modern French spelling as well. I have only heard "hommage" pronounced om-AHZH, in a French context. But as far as I am aware they mean the same thing in both French and English. Am I missing something?
Rod

My knowledge of Modern French is minimal. ICLIU. I have heard the HAHM ij pronunciation but normally hear the oh MAZH pronunciation in the context I outlined above.

Never saw the hommage* spelling

Neither had I, and since my meagre resources, paper and online, don't list it as English, I'll stick with spelling it with one m, while indicating the intended pronunciation by using "an".

Hommage is what an auteur pays in their oeuvre. I see it mainly in artistic contexts, especially film.

Hommage is what an auteur pays in their oeuvre. I see it mainly in artistic contexts, especially film.

Thanks. I mostly use homage in that sense, but did not know tthat doing so required use of the French spelling. Still on the subject of pronunciation, are there any interesting nodes on the "how did Romans pronunce Latin" thread at E2? Even though it is way out of my league,I have been lurking there a bit, but find searching for specific topics a little challenging in such an amoprhous environment. I need a seer to guide to me, I think.

On E2? Well I haven't written the definitive write-up on Latin pronunciation, if that's what you mean.

an other accent shift as it change from noun to verb
deliberate

It often grates on me when I hear a word which I pronounce in a certain way being pronounced another way. The one which irritates me most is "controversy", which I stress on the 2nd syllable & which British newsreaders insist on stressing on the 3rd syllable. I call this putting the emPHAsis on the wrong syllABle...Perhaps I'm just unreasonable!

Sara x

. I call this putting the emPHAsis on the wrong syllABle...Perhaps I'm just unreasonable!

Not at all, as long as you don't react adversely to such HARassment.

"controversy", which I stress on the 2nd syllable

My Webster New World Dictionary suggests equal accent on first and third syllables, which is what I am used to. I too experience a bit of inappropriate irritation when a pronunciation I am not used to interrupts the auditory recording of the message.

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.

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

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!

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

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.

Dear Rod:

I cannot think of any experience happier than watching a bright child develop.

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?

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

" 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!"

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".

Grandparents, parents, etc

and the bumper sticker with; "If I'd known grandchildren were this much fun, I'd have had them first"

A neigbour remarked the other day, "I don't mind being a great-grandmother, it's the thought that my daughter is a grandmother that's so annoying".

Rod

Someone mentioned "defense" - has anyone mentioned "offense"?

Dear francais31415: Your mentioning "defence" reminded me of a chuckle I got way back in 1942 when a Boston newspaper published a picture of American troops "pouring ashore past a sign calling for the defense of Africa." The poster on the telephone pole read "Defence d'afficher"
Regrettably I have been unable to check the spelling.
But I know the sign meant "Post no Bills".