Spelling harras

[SusanDoris]

When I was young, the word whose spelling now defeats me 'har(r)as(s)' and its family had the accent on the first syllable. It seems it is no use trying to maintain that nowadays and it's one word that Synthetic Dave only knows how to say it with one R and two SSs and the accent on the second syyllable. And now I can't even find how the word was indeed spelt when I was young.

Can anyone help, please?

[Aruntraveller]

From a brief skim of the internet it appears that the word has always been spelt h-a-r-a-s-s, but is frequently misspelt h-a-r-r-a-s-s.

It is one of the 17 most common mistakes in spelling apparently:

 https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/oxford-looked-at-more-than-2-billion-words-these-17-were-spelled-wrong-really-often.html

[SusanDoris]

From a brief skim of the internet it appears that the word has always been spelt h-a-r-a-s-s, but is frequently misspelt h-a-r-r-a-s-s.

It is one of the 17 most common mistakes in spelling apparently:

 https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/oxford-looked-at-more-than-2-billion-words-these-17-were-spelled-wrong-really-often.html

Thank you for reply. Does it give pronunciation? I cannot see the signs that indicate where the stressed syllable is and I don't know whether or how Synthetic Dave  can indicate this. I wonder, too, whether it indicates whether this has changed over the years.

[ekim]

From the On-line Oxford Dictionary:
There are two possible pronunciations of the word harass: one with the stress on the har- and the other with the stress on the -ass. The former pronunciation is the older one and is regarded by some people as the only correct one, especially in British English. However, the pronunciation with the stress on the second syllable -rass is very common and is now accepted as a standard alternative.

[splashscuba]

I was always taught that English (British) always put the stress at the beginning of the word but English (American) moves the stress towards the middle hence hAraas and harAss.

[SusanDoris]

From the On-line Oxford Dictionary:
There are two possible pronunciations of the word harass: one with the stress on the har- and the other with the stress on the -ass. The former pronunciation is the older one and is regarded by some people as the only correct one, especially in British English. However, the pronunciation with the stress on the second syllable -rass is very common and is now accepted as a standard alternative.

Thank you. Yes, I did wonder whether that might b the case. I suppose oldies like me will just have to get used to this new-fangled,  Americanised pronunciation. Synthetic Dave has been taught it, but I shall maintain the stress on the 'har' when I speak the word!   

[Owlswing]

Thank you. Yes, I did wonder whether that might b the case. I suppose oldies like me will just have to get used to this new-fangled,  Americanised pronunciation. Synthetic Dave has been taught it, but I shall maintain the stress on the 'har' when I speak the word!   

Good for you!

If there is one thing that gets my goat more than my rapidly diminishing memory it is the way that we Brits are rapidly accepting more and more Americanisms and ways of pronouncing words!

It is, after all, still the English language not the American language! For how much longer this will remain the cade is beyond me!

Owlswing

)O(

 

[SusanDoris]

Good for you!

If there is one thing that gets my goat more than my rapidly diminishing memory it is the way that we Brits are rapidly accepting more and more Americanisms and ways of pronouncing words!

It is, after all, still the English language not the American language! For how much longer this will remain the cade is beyond me!

Owlswing

)O(

In fairness, and with reluctance, I suppose we must just get used to it in our remaining years! However, at least English has become the world language of choice and use.

[Aruntraveller]

This thread got me thinking about an article I read a few years ago about the English language. It explains just how "abnormal" a language English is, which is part of the reason for its widespread use. The link is here:

https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-english-so-weirdly-different-from-other-languages

[SusanDoris]

This thread got me thinking about an article I read a few years ago about the English language. It explains just how "abnormal" a language English is, which is part of the reason for its widespread use. The link is here:

https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-english-so-weirdly-different-from-other-languages

It is always satisfying to read that sort of article! Thank you for posting he link I I have enjoyed listening to it.

Synthetic Dave just rolls on through the Norse etc !!

[Harrowby Hall]

I hadn't realised this thread was here. - here is a copy of something that I have put on another thread:

Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was one of the most culturally destructive programmes ever to be aired.

It was as a direct result of this programme that (what seems to be) a majority of the population of the United Kingdom lost the ability to pronounce the word harass correctly.

As has been said, the standard practice in English English is to put the stress on the first syllable of the morpheme, so words which start with an additional morpheme ( un-   dis-  etc) the stress is on the second syllable. I have been told that Italian usually  stresses the second syllable and the significant Italian -originating population of New York is responsible for the American practice.

Incidentally, if you go to Birmingham and listen to the way Brummies pronounce the name of the suburb containing the Cadbury factory ... it does sound weird.

[SusanDoris]

I hadn't realised this thread was here. - here is a copy of something that I have put on another thread:



As has been said, the standard practice in English English is to put the stress on the first syllable of the morpheme, so words which start with an additional morpheme ( un-   dis-  etc) the stress is on the second syllable. I have been told that Italian usually  stresses the second syllable and the significant Italian -originating population of New York is responsible for the American practice.

Incidentally, if you go to Birmingham and listen to the way Brummies pronounce the name of the suburb containing the Cadbury factory ... it does sound weird.

Thank you for saying - defend harass to the bitter end!:)

I think one of the best exponents of accents, changed to and from without breaking the flow of speech, is Mark Steele when he does his visits to various towns. Have you heard the programmes?