'Controversy' Pronunciation [closed] - English Stack Exchange

There are two possible pronunciations of the word controversy: one puts the stress on the con- and the other puts it on the -trov-. EnglishLanguage&UsageStackExchangeisaquestionandanswersiteforlinguists,etymologists,andseriousEnglishlanguageenthusiasts.Itonlytakesaminutetosignup. Signuptojointhiscommunity Anybodycanaskaquestion Anybodycananswer Thebestanswersarevotedupandrisetothetop Home Public Questions Tags Users Unanswered Teams StackOverflowforTeams –Startcollaboratingandsharingorganizationalknowledge. CreateafreeTeam WhyTeams? Teams CreatefreeTeam Teams Q&Aforwork Connectandshareknowledgewithinasinglelocationthatisstructuredandeasytosearch. LearnmoreaboutTeams 'Controversy'Pronunciation[closed] AskQuestion Asked 6years,3monthsago Modified 6years,3monthsago Viewed 925times 0 1 Closed.Thisquestionisopinion-based.Itisnotcurrentlyacceptinganswers. Wanttoimprovethisquestion?Updatethequestionsoitcanbeansweredwithfactsandcitationsbyeditingthispost. Closed6yearsago. Improvethisquestion MayIpleaseaskwhetherthereisadefinitiveastowhetherthewordshouldbepronounced'contr-o-versy',or'contro-versy',asthishasbaffledmeforyears!ThereappearstobeadifferenceinpronunciationbetweenhowtheEnglishandtheNorthAmericanspronounceit,butitwouldbegoodtounderstandbothwhythisisthecaseandwhichoftheoptionsismorecorrect? Thankyou. pronunciation Share Improvethisquestion Follow askedMay6,2016at12:39 KRSKRS 1 2 2 IntheU.S.,theNorthAmericanpronunciationismorecorrect.IntheU.K.,theBritishpronunciationismorecorrect. – PeterShor May6,2016at12:43 1 Therearemanywordsthatarepronounced(and/orspelt)differentlybetweenBritish&N.Americans. – TrevorD May6,2016at12:48 Addacomment  |  1Answer 1 Sortedby: Resettodefault Highestscore(default) Datemodified(newestfirst) Datecreated(oldestfirst) 1 FromOxfordDictionariesOnline: Therearetwopossiblepronunciationsofthewordcontroversy:oneputsthestressonthecon-andtheotherputsitonthe-trov-.Theformerpronunciationisthemoretraditional,butthelatterisnowmorewidespreadinBritishEnglish. Astowhythisisthecase?Icanguess.Theprefixcon-isquitecommoninEnglish,andmanywordsbeginningcon-areaccentedonthesecondsyllable: containment, conception, contingent, contentment, convertible. Thewordcontroversyisetymologicallycontra-+verse,soaccentingthetrovdoesn'tmakesenseetymologically.ButmostEnglishspeakersdon'tknowetymologies,anddon'ttakethemintoaccountwhendecidingonpronunciation. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedMay6,2016at12:55 answeredMay6,2016at12:45 PeterShorPeterShor 81.9k88goldbadges164164silverbadges284284bronzebadges Addacomment  |  Nottheansweryou'relookingfor?Browseotherquestionstaggedpronunciationoraskyourownquestion. FeaturedonMeta PleasewelcomeValuedAssociate#1301-Emerson AnnouncingtheStackOverflowStudentAmbassadorProgram Tagsolutionbyvoting(tagmerge,renameorremove):[terminology]vs.... Related 4 Pronunciationof"undoable" 13 Howdidthepronunciationoftheword"derby"evolve? 4 Thepronunciationof'Aryan' 3 pronunciation:autistic 0 WhydoesNorthernIrelandpronunciationsoundsimilartoAmerican? 2 Pronunciationof"thank"usingð(voicedth)insteadofθ(unvoicedth) 2 Asianspronounce'people'as'peopo' 15 WhydoNorthAmericanspronounce"caramel"as"carmel"? HotNetworkQuestions Howtoavoidorcopewithabaddaywheremyflyingfeltsloppy? Animpossiblequantumadderclaimedbyajournalarticle? WhathappensifIprovokereactionsfrommultiplecreatures,butthefirstreactionwouldpreventmefromcontinuingtoprovokethosereactions? Howcanphotonshaveanelectricfieldwithouthavingacharge? Whydobikesharebiketypicallyhavedrumbrakes? Couldanaliencivilizationdiscoverelectricitybeforefire,iftheirplanetlackedsignificantoxygenbutdidholdcommonstorms? Ifyoumixtheanodeandcathodeinaelectrolytesolutionyouwillhaveashort-circuit? Severancecontractrequiresalie.Isthisenforceable? DoeswaterexistinMedievalTimes,orwasitnotinventeduntiltheSpaceAge? Forafunctionthattakesaconststruct,doesthecompilernotoptimizethefunctionbody? 70s?Shortstory.MantryingtoinventForceField,butiffails.Someoneelsebuildsabetterone IsanyreasongivenfortheBlackstaffmagicitemtrappingthesoulsofitsownersondeath? Do"equi-homomorphic"groupelementslieinthesameorbit? Alternativestoif-elseondatareading Whateffectscandirectlyharmapilotwhilethey'reinamech? IsturbulencemorelikelytoformwiththeEulerequationasopposedtoNavier-Stokes? Isthisconsideredgraphicdesign? bashscriptproducesdifferentoutputthanwhencommandsruninbashprompt Numerals13-19arebasedon10.Whydo11and12followadifferentpattern? BetelnutsonSaudiaAirlinestoParis PolyglotQuiz(Robbers'thread) Whatthreadlockisappropriateforcaliperbracketbolts? Whyisthedenominatorinaconditionalprobabilitytheprobabilityoftheconditioningevent? SolvinganeasySudokuinincreasingdigitorder morehotquestions Yourprivacy Byclicking“Acceptallcookies”,youagreeStackExchangecanstorecookiesonyourdeviceanddiscloseinformationinaccordancewithourCookiePolicy. Acceptallcookies Customizesettings