Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 212, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 September 1919 — Very Difficult to Make Rules for Pronouncing Words of Our Language [ARTICLE]

Very Difficult to Make Rules for Pronouncing Words of Our Language

-• A good American citizen was mildly indignant on being told that ‘he was not correct in saying, *Tll’give you my address,” with the accent on the first syllable of his last word. “Certainly that’s right!" he said. “There’s a well-known rule that when a two-syllable word is used both as a noun and as a verb, it’s accented on the first syllable if it’s a noun and on the last if it’s a verb. Why, I’ll undertake to give you a dozen instances offhand.” And he proceeded, with a little time for cogitation, to produce the following exhibits, all of which undoubtedly comply with his specifications: Convict, export, import, annex, conduct, desert, compound, contest, produce, present, rebel, record. “Your rule is a failure, nevertheless,” said his friend and critic. “I admit that it seems to work with the words you have mentioned; but I’ll undertake to give you twice as many, and equally common ones, that falsify it.” And he did. It did not take him five minutes to think of ttvo dozen words used both as nouns and as verbs, and pronounced identically in both senses. Cover, credit, merit, offer, honor,thunder, order, rescue, reason, season master, purchase—in these the accent is always on the first syllable; while it is always on the last syllable in report, account, exchange,' control, command, attack, effect, advance, attempt, preserve, ally and alarm.* All of which goes to show that it is very difficult to make rules for the pronunciation of our noble and behoved; but unaccountable language.— Munsey’s Magazine.