Re: bless (adj)

Paul Bennett wrote:
>
> I'd say it's verging on compoundhood, but it has the stress
> pattern of a full NP, and not a compound. OTOH, weirdness
> abounds with compound-type stress patterns in America.
> See also the compund-like usage /'r\Abn=,hUd/ instead of
> UK /'r\QbIn 'hUd/ for the name of the folk-hero "Robin Hood",
> which has bugged me from a very early age (before I even
> knew what a stress pattern was).
The one that slightly annoys me is "Empire State Building."
This is a building named the Empire State, thus (Empire
State) Building, which would have stress on Empire.

But everyone pronounces it with the stress on State,
indicating that they analyze it as a state building named
Empire, thus Empire (State Building).

(The State of New York is nicknamed the Empire State,
hence the name.)

--Ph. D.