Re: OT: YAEPT: emphasis

On 6/22/06, Larry Sulky <larrysulky@...> wrote:
> Realise that the shift of emphasis from the second syllable to the
> first, but only in the noun, is a relatively recent phenomenon for a
> great many English words. When I was growing up in the 60s, for
> example, "address" and "defence" were stressed on the second syllable,
> whether noun or verb. Now the nouns are usually stressed on the first
> syllable by the younger folk, and sportscasters. [AmE].
Hm.  I usually only hear the first syllable in "defense" stressed in
the saying "the best defense is a good offense", and that's presumably
just the usual trick of emphasizing the part that differs between two
otherwise similar words.  Especially since it's also "óffense".

But come to think of it, gridiron announcers do seem to vary their
pronunciation.  "And here comes the defénse" but "he's playing défense
for the other team at this point".

Lessee.  "The Defénse Department".  "The defénse rests, your honor."
It seems that in the vast majority of uses, it still has the emphasis
on the last syllable IME.

Whereas "address" is more confused.  I hear "áddress" more often than
"addréss" for the noun, but only just.  The incidence of both is
pretty high.

--
Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>