Short questions about English

[TheStrayCat]

Let's open a special thread for short questions to native English speakers about the language.

I'll start.

Which syllable should be accented in the word oregano? Looks like I hear people pronounce it in two different ways, with the second or the third syllable stressed. My British ABBYY Lingvo says it should be oregano. Anyone can help?

[linguoboy]

Which syllable should be accented in the word oregano? Looks like I hear people pronounce it in two different ways, with the second or the third syllable stressed. My British ABBYY Lingvo says it should be oregano. Anyone can help?

In North American English, I have never heard anything besides oregano.

[Ciarán12]

Which syllable should be accented in the word oregano? Looks like I hear people pronounce it in two different ways, with the second or the third syllable stressed. My British ABBYY Lingvo says it should be oregano. Anyone can help?

I stress it on the third, as does everyone else here, but I hear it stressed on the second on American TV shows a lot, so it's probably just a regional difference.

[linguoboy]

I wonder how the stress shift took place in UK and Irish English. English borrowed the word from Spanish, where the stress is on the antepenult (orégano), just like in Italian and in the Greek etymon.

[Ciarán12]

I wonder how the stress shift took place in UK and Irish English. English borrowed the word from Spanish, where the stress is on the antepenult (orégano), just like in Italian and in the Greek etymon.

You know far more than I do about this kind of thing, but isn't there a tendency to stress loanwords (or recent ones, at least) on the penultimate syllable? I thought that was a thing.

[linguoboy]

I wonder how the stress shift took place in UK and Irish English. English borrowed the word from Spanish, where the stress is on the antepenult (orégano), just like in Italian and in the Greek etymon.

You know far more than I do about this kind of thing, but isn't there a tendency to stress loanwords (or recent ones, at least) on the penultimate syllable? I thought that was a thing.

Ironically, this is a tendency I've noticed more in American English than in British English. There's also an earlier tendency towards final stress (inspired by French) which is especially prevalent in toponyms, e.g. /kəˈdɪz/ or /kəˈdiːz/ for Cádiz, /beːˈʒɪŋ/ [with hyperforeign [ʒ], also from French) for Běijīng.

[Car]

I wonder how the stress shift took place in UK and Irish English. English borrowed the word from Spanish, where the stress is on the antepenult (orégano), just like in Italian and in the Greek etymon.

It used to be stressed Oregáno in German, but later on, it shifted to Orégano. I always assumed people stressed it on the penultimate syllable because that would be the regular stress in Spanish. It also feels more natural to stress it that way.

[Lazar Taxon]

In American English Pérez gets the Cádiz treatment, though López doesn't. Also, hyperforeign [ʒ] bugs me more than it probably should. In addition to cases like Beijing and Taj Mahal, it can also show up in Italian-American names like DiGiorno.

[linguoboy]

In American English Pérez gets the Cádiz treatment, though López doesn't. Also, hyperforeign [ʒ] bugs me more than it probably should. In addition to cases like Beijing and Taj Mahal, it can also show up in Italian-American names like DiGiorno.

"Di[ʒ]orno" still bothers me less than "[ʃ]ávez" for "Chávez". What's next, /ʃaˈveː/?

[Massimiliano B]

I really like the accent of this woman. Does anyone know where is it spoken?
Or is it simply a "Standard American" accent?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rENyyRwxpHo#t=34

[IpseDixit]

Or is it simply a "Standard American" accent?

That's a British accent, I think from Southern England, don't know from where though. I've heard it often on British tv especially as a voice-over in documentaries, so I suppose it's perceived as quite a neutral accent.

[Massimiliano B]

Thank you!

I can usually distinguish between British and American accent - they are very different. But not now...


I'm waiting also for an answer from a native

[linguoboy]

That's a British accent, I think from Southern England, don't know from where though. I've heard it often on British tv especially as a voice-over in documentaries, so I suppose it's perceived as quite a neutral accent.

What he said. I would describe it as typical BBC English. (I think I might detect a hint of a nonstandard English accent underlying it, but I couldn't say which one.) Perhaps one of the BE-speakers could dissect the subtleties.

[IpseDixit]

Perhaps one of the BE-speakers could dissect the subtleties.

Unluckily there's a dearth of them.

[linguoboy]

Perhaps one of the BE-speakers could dissect the subtleties.

Unluckily there's a dearth of them.

Well where's our token HE-speaker then?

[Lazar Taxon]

I'm not British either, but I agree with linguoboy and IpseDixit. I think I would tentatively call it "modern RP" (i.e. "young people RP"), similar to how many of the posher young British actors in Hollywood speak. Her realizations of /ǝʊ/ and /uː/ are more fronted than those of older RP; her not-back realization of /aɪ/ makes her sound not particularly southern, but her TRAP-BATH split and not-high realization of /ʌ/ make her sound not particularly northern. But one giveaway might be the way that she says "us" with [z] at 2:25; I believe it's only northern dialects that do that.

[Massimiliano B]

Thank you all!

[Ciarán12]

Perhaps one of the BE-speakers could dissect the subtleties.

Unluckily there's a dearth of them.

Well where's our token HE-speaker then?

You rang?

I don't have an better an answer than you, I'm afraid. Definitely Southern English RP, and it does sound like there's something a bit more local lying under the surface but it's so subtle it's barely there. If I had to take a guess I would say somewhere nearer Birmingham than London.

[Hoogstwaarschijnlijk]

I wonder how the stress shift took place in UK and Irish English. English borrowed the word from Spanish, where the stress is on the antepenult (orégano), just like in Italian and in the Greek etymon.

It used to be stressed Oregáno in German, but later on, it shifted to Orégano. I always assumed people stressed it on the penultimate syllable because that would be the regular stress in Spanish. It also feels more natural to stress it that way.

In Dutch it's oregáno, I have never heard it in another way.



I wonder: is there a difference in meaning between: 'It rains' or 'It is raining'? I know the theory, but now I'm learning Turkish out of English in Duolingo and I keep doing it wrong. I know I should translate for instance yağar with 'it rains' and 'yağiyor' with 'it is raining', but isn't it only a technical thing, or is there a real difference?

[linguoboy]

I wonder: is there a difference in meaning between: 'It rains' or 'It is raining'? I know the theory, but now I'm learning Turkish out of English in Duolingo and I keep doing it wrong. I know I should translate for instance yağar with 'it rains' and 'yağiyor' with 'it is raining', but isn't it only a technical thing, or is there a real difference?

If you're talking about English, yes, there is a clear difference in meaning: habitual vs continuous. E.g. "It rains every day about five o'clock in the evening" vs "If it's still raining at five o'clock, then let's call a cab." In Turkish, this represents a contrast between the aorist and the present continuous, and I don't know enough about Turkish to tell you exactly what the contrast is.