A really general question

Question

How come some words are accented differently when in different forms (such as "retard",which is accented on the first syllable when as a noun, but second one when as a transitive verb) and VERY FEW certain words are not?

HOW DO I TELL?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

I don't think there is any way to tell.

I suspect that these "very few ... words" that are different from the others are words that are not used as much as other words, so people never got used to using them with different stress patterns. I really don't know.

If you have some examples of these "very few", maybe you could list some. It would give us a better idea of the kind of thing you're interested in.

CJ

Chivalry · Answer

CalifJimI don't think there is any way to tell.I suspect that these "very few ... words" that are different from the others are words that are not used as much as other words, so people never got used to using them with different stress patterns. I really don't know.If you have some examples of these "very few", maybe you could list some. It would give us a better idea of the kind of thing you're interested in.CJ

For example, "accent"! It's just a two-syllable word as "transfer" and "******" are.
There are multiple others that I cannot think of right now, but I swear that I do bump into them from time to time.
I don't think they're rarely used vocabulary, though.

And speaking of which,
I also want to ask,
how do I know which syllable to accent on when it comes to a two-syllable word?
Thank you.

CalifJim · Answer

chivalryI also want to ask,how do I know which syllable to accent on when it comes to a two-syllable word?

There's no rule that applies to all two-syllable words, but much more often than not, those that are not verbs take the stress on the first syllable because the first syllable usually contains the root of the word, whereas the second syllable is usually a suffix or common ending. worker, sailor, building, hopeless, jazzy, comic, backward, ripeness, knowledge, wisdom, kingdom, Spanish, English, global, portal, fiddle, bottle, cattle, castle, ticket, basket, salad, squalid, valid, follow, mallow, window, sudden, satin, cotton, silo, fresco, photo, Laura, Sara, Ella, ...

Latinate verbs that consist of a prefix and a root are usually stressed on the second syllable. receive, inspire, confess, declare, evolve, insert, ...

CJ

Chivalry · Answer

CalifJim chivalryI also want to ask,how do I know which syllable to accent on when it comes to a two-syllable word?There's no rule that applies to all two-syllable words, but much more often than not, those that are not verbs take the stress on the first syllable because the first syllable usually contains the root of the word, whereas the second syllable is usually a suffix or common ending. worker, sailor, building, hopeless, jazzy, comic, backward, ripeness, knowledge, wisdom, kingdom, Spanish, English, global, portal, fiddle, bottle, cattle, castle, ticket, basket, salad, squalid, valid, follow, mallow, window, sudden, satin, cotton, silo, fresco, photo, Laura, Sara, Ella, ...Latinate verbs that consist of a prefix and a root are usually stressed on the second syllable. receive, inspire, confess, declare, evolve, insert, ...CJ

Thank you so much Jim,
but just one more question,
how do you tell if a word's Latinate?
I know that you native speakers can be able to tell due to its structure and the constituents of it,
but can you tell the general logic that you apply to figure out if the words are are Latinate?

CalifJim · Answer

chivalrythe general logic that you apply to figure out if the words are are Latinate?

This is the flaw in my "system".

I have studied Latin, and several languages derived from Latin (Italian, French, Spanish), so these Latinate words in English stand out for me as if they were painted red.

I suppose I recognize certain prefixes and certain roots as Latinate. If you haven't been exposed to Latin or languages related to it, I suppose you will just have to try to learn them, if you think it's worth the trouble.

I make no claim that the lists below are complete. There are undoubtedly more items that could be added to these lists.

Prefixes:
ab, abs, ac, ad, ap, as, at,
con, com, col, cor, contra, circum,
de, di, dis, des, ex, e,
in, im, il, ir, inter, intra,
per, pre, pro, pur, re, retro, o, ob, op,
trans, se, sub, sup, sur, super

Roots:
bate, bine, ceal, cede, ceed, ceive, cel, cern, cept, cess, cide, cise, cite, claim, clude, cord, count, crease, crete, cure, cur, cuse, cuss, deem, dent, dict, duct, fect, fend, fer, fess, fine, firm, flate, flect, flict, form, found, fract, fuse, gest, gregate, gress, hale, haust, hend, here, hibit, hor, hort, it, ject, join, jure, lapse, late, lay, lect, limin, lude, man, mand, mend, merge, merse, mise, mit, mote, mount, mute, nect, note, nounce, pand, peal, peat, pel, pend, pense, *****, pete, plain, plete, plex, plore, ploy, ply, point, port, pose, pound, press, prise, prove, pugn, punge, pute, quest, quire, rect, rive, rode, rupt, scend, scribe, sect, secute, sede, semble, sent, sert, serve, sess, side, sign, sist, solve, sorb, sort, spire, spend, spect, spond, strain, strict, struct, sult, sume, tain, tect, tend, ter, test, tinguish, tort, tract, tress, tribute, trude, turb, vade, veal, vene, venge, vent, verge, verse, vert, vest, vey, vict, vide, vince, vise, vive, volt, volve, voke, vote

Hundreds of Latinate English words can be made from the elements above, but of course, not all possible combinations are actually English words.

debate, rebate, proceed, exceed, receive, deceive, conceive, inject, reject, project, commit, transmit, permit, omit, announce, pronounce, renounce, appeal, repeal, repel, propel, impel, reside, preside, design, resign, consign, convene, intervene, oppose, suppose, compose, propose, ...

And with two prefixes and a root: comprehend, disassemble, superimpose, improvise, appertain, decompress, ...

Words derived from Latinate words are also Latinate, of course:

propel > propulsion
appoint > appointment
concept > conception
arrive > arrival
...

I believe I once read that 60% of the vocabulary of English comes from Latin.

CJ

Khoff · Answer

I would add that using "******" as a noun is quite offensive.  Even the term "mental retardation" has been replaced in many official uses by "intellectual disability" or "developmental disability."

Chivalry · Answer

khoffI would add that using "******" as a noun is quite offensive. Even the term "mental retardation" has been replaced in many official uses by "intellectual disability" or "developmental disability."

Actually, I'm aware of that

I'm just listing examples so that everybody else could understand the point I was trying to make.

Khoff · Answer

Oh, good.  I know you were using it to make a point about pronunciation -- I just didn't want anyone to think it was a fine word to use in conversation.

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