Re: word separation (was:Hobbits spoke ?)

Marshall and Endemann wrote:

>on 30/10/04 9:07 PM, J. 'Mach' Wust at j_mach_wust@YAHOO.COM wrote:
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>>But 'oil cloth' and 'oilcloth' are the same.
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>Not the way I say them - as with black bird as opposed to blackbird, the two
>words contain more or less equal stress and duration. In the compound word
>the second syllable has significantly less stress and shorter duration than
>the first. The meanings are different too - 'oilcloth', a kind of linen (or
>cotton?) impregnated with oil - 'oil cloth' a cloth for cleaning up oil.
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>Or maybe that's only Kiwi usage?
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No, English too.  'a black bird' is different to 'a blackbird'.