Pronunciation of the -ate suffix
.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty{ margin-bottom:0;
}
I've noticed that a few words may be both a noun and an adjective, remain spelt the same, but change the pronunciation of -ate to ət or āt. Sometimes the meanings are related, others they are not.
For example: separate.
We separate the objects into separate categories.
We pronounce the first with āt but the second as ət.
Off the top of my head, the only other I can think of is "conjugate", though I'm fairly certain there are others that are just not coming to my mind at the moment.
Is this just coincidence or the product of some understandable process?
pronunciation suffixes
edited Mar 11 at 18:56
Barmar
9,9281529
asked Mar 8 at 21:36
BraaedyBraaedy
61
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 11 hours ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
add a comment |
I've noticed that a few words may be both a noun and an adjective, remain spelt the same, but change the pronunciation of -ate to ət or āt. Sometimes the meanings are related, others they are not.
For example: separate.
We separate the objects into separate categories.
We pronounce the first with āt but the second as ət.
Off the top of my head, the only other I can think of is "conjugate", though I'm fairly certain there are others that are just not coming to my mind at the moment.
Is this just coincidence or the product of some understandable process?
pronunciation suffixes
edited Mar 11 at 18:56
Barmar
9,9281529
asked Mar 8 at 21:36
BraaedyBraaedy
61
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 11 hours ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
1
I pronounce concentrate and condensate the same whether they are verbs or nouns. In any case, you may be interested in What is the term for “‑ate” noun/verb pairs, and why can’t I find references to “hyphenate” used that way?
– choster
Mar 8 at 22:20
Maybe different pronunciation corresponds to verb vs. adjective.
– GEdgar
Mar 8 at 22:23
@choster, yes, I suppose I didn't include that in the original question. It always seems to be āt for verbs and ət for nouns or adjectives.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:44
@GEdgar See above comment.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:45
@choster I actually thing that's basically exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:49
add a comment |
I've noticed that a few words may be both a noun and an adjective, remain spelt the same, but change the pronunciation of -ate to ət or āt. Sometimes the meanings are related, others they are not.
For example: separate.
We separate the objects into separate categories.
We pronounce the first with āt but the second as ət.
Off the top of my head, the only other I can think of is "conjugate", though I'm fairly certain there are others that are just not coming to my mind at the moment.
Is this just coincidence or the product of some understandable process?
pronunciation suffixes
edited Mar 11 at 18:56
Barmar
9,9281529
asked Mar 8 at 21:36
BraaedyBraaedy
61
I've noticed that a few words may be both a noun and an adjective, remain spelt the same, but change the pronunciation of -ate to ət or āt. Sometimes the meanings are related, others they are not.
For example: separate.
We separate the objects into separate categories.
We pronounce the first with āt but the second as ət.
Off the top of my head, the only other I can think of is "conjugate", though I'm fairly certain there are others that are just not coming to my mind at the moment.
Is this just coincidence or the product of some understandable process?
pronunciation suffixes
pronunciation suffixes
edited Mar 11 at 18:56
Barmar
9,9281529
asked Mar 8 at 21:36
BraaedyBraaedy
61
edited Mar 11 at 18:56
Barmar
9,9281529
asked Mar 8 at 21:36
BraaedyBraaedy
61
edited Mar 11 at 18:56
Barmar
9,9281529
edited Mar 11 at 18:56
Barmar
9,9281529
edited Mar 11 at 18:56
Barmar
9,9281529
9,9281529
asked Mar 8 at 21:36
BraaedyBraaedy
61
asked Mar 8 at 21:36
BraaedyBraaedy
61
asked Mar 8 at 21:36
BraaedyBraaedy
61
61
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 11 hours ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 11 hours ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
1
I pronounce concentrate and condensate the same whether they are verbs or nouns. In any case, you may be interested in What is the term for “‑ate” noun/verb pairs, and why can’t I find references to “hyphenate” used that way?
– choster
Mar 8 at 22:20
Maybe different pronunciation corresponds to verb vs. adjective.
– GEdgar
Mar 8 at 22:23
@choster, yes, I suppose I didn't include that in the original question. It always seems to be āt for verbs and ət for nouns or adjectives.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:44
@GEdgar See above comment.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:45
@choster I actually thing that's basically exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:49
add a comment |
1
I pronounce concentrate and condensate the same whether they are verbs or nouns. In any case, you may be interested in What is the term for “‑ate” noun/verb pairs, and why can’t I find references to “hyphenate” used that way?
– choster
Mar 8 at 22:20
Maybe different pronunciation corresponds to verb vs. adjective.
– GEdgar
Mar 8 at 22:23
@choster, yes, I suppose I didn't include that in the original question. It always seems to be āt for verbs and ət for nouns or adjectives.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:44
@GEdgar See above comment.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:45
@choster I actually thing that's basically exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:49
1
1
I pronounce concentrate and condensate the same whether they are verbs or nouns. In any case, you may be interested in What is the term for “‑ate” noun/verb pairs, and why can’t I find references to “hyphenate” used that way?
– choster
Mar 8 at 22:20
I pronounce concentrate and condensate the same whether they are verbs or nouns. In any case, you may be interested in What is the term for “‑ate” noun/verb pairs, and why can’t I find references to “hyphenate” used that way?
– choster
Mar 8 at 22:20
Maybe different pronunciation corresponds to verb vs. adjective.
– GEdgar
Mar 8 at 22:23
Maybe different pronunciation corresponds to verb vs. adjective.
– GEdgar
Mar 8 at 22:23
@choster, yes, I suppose I didn't include that in the original question. It always seems to be āt for verbs and ət for nouns or adjectives.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:44
@choster, yes, I suppose I didn't include that in the original question. It always seems to be āt for verbs and ət for nouns or adjectives.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:44
@GEdgar See above comment.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:45
@GEdgar See above comment.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:45
@choster I actually thing that's basically exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:49
@choster I actually thing that's basically exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:49
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
To begin with, separāt (verb) - separet (noun) is not the only case of this. Moderāt/Moderet, or Mediāt/Immediet both go the same way: -ate is pronounced with the difference you mention even though they are spelled the same way. So does articulāt/articulet. There may be others, but so far I have not found or recalled any. The fact that I have not found any exceptions does not, however, prove that there are none. So I have no basis for saying that it is a co-incidence, though I would have to start leaning towards the idea that there might be some reason for the difference. If there is, it is likely to have something to do with the rhythm of natural speech.
One candidate would be that the various forms of the verbs (separated/articulating and even the noun moderator sit very uncomfortably in the mouth with the '-et' pronunciation. Some other nouns, like magistrate (which has not cognate verb) is actually pronounced magistrāt by some and magistret by others. So there may be some sort of physical/oral explanation. But what it is I am far from sure.
answered Mar 8 at 23:48
TuffyTuffy
4,1051621
I can appreciate the "rhythm of speech" explanation. Saying separated as separəted feels very front-of-the-mouth and bad.
– Braaedy
Mar 9 at 0:05
Although there are bound to be exceptions, there is a metric tendency to accentuate the first syllable of nouns, which makes it useful to end adjectives with a schwa-like syllable. Most direct objects are introduced by unaccented articles, so it's ok for the verb form to end with a stressed vowel. It makes sense, then, to record a record or duplicate a duplicate.
– remarkl
Mar 9 at 1:28
@remarkl Thanks for this.
– Tuffy
Mar 9 at 8:12
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "97"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f488902%2fpronunciation-of-the-ate-suffix%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
To begin with, separāt (verb) - separet (noun) is not the only case of this. Moderāt/Moderet, or Mediāt/Immediet both go the same way: -ate is pronounced with the difference you mention even though they are spelled the same way. So does articulāt/articulet. There may be others, but so far I have not found or recalled any. The fact that I have not found any exceptions does not, however, prove that there are none. So I have no basis for saying that it is a co-incidence, though I would have to start leaning towards the idea that there might be some reason for the difference. If there is, it is likely to have something to do with the rhythm of natural speech.
One candidate would be that the various forms of the verbs (separated/articulating and even the noun moderator sit very uncomfortably in the mouth with the '-et' pronunciation. Some other nouns, like magistrate (which has not cognate verb) is actually pronounced magistrāt by some and magistret by others. So there may be some sort of physical/oral explanation. But what it is I am far from sure.
answered Mar 8 at 23:48
TuffyTuffy
4,1051621
I can appreciate the "rhythm of speech" explanation. Saying separated as separəted feels very front-of-the-mouth and bad.
– Braaedy
Mar 9 at 0:05
Although there are bound to be exceptions, there is a metric tendency to accentuate the first syllable of nouns, which makes it useful to end adjectives with a schwa-like syllable. Most direct objects are introduced by unaccented articles, so it's ok for the verb form to end with a stressed vowel. It makes sense, then, to record a record or duplicate a duplicate.
– remarkl
Mar 9 at 1:28
@remarkl Thanks for this.
– Tuffy
Mar 9 at 8:12
add a comment |
To begin with, separāt (verb) - separet (noun) is not the only case of this. Moderāt/Moderet, or Mediāt/Immediet both go the same way: -ate is pronounced with the difference you mention even though they are spelled the same way. So does articulāt/articulet. There may be others, but so far I have not found or recalled any. The fact that I have not found any exceptions does not, however, prove that there are none. So I have no basis for saying that it is a co-incidence, though I would have to start leaning towards the idea that there might be some reason for the difference. If there is, it is likely to have something to do with the rhythm of natural speech.
One candidate would be that the various forms of the verbs (separated/articulating and even the noun moderator sit very uncomfortably in the mouth with the '-et' pronunciation. Some other nouns, like magistrate (which has not cognate verb) is actually pronounced magistrāt by some and magistret by others. So there may be some sort of physical/oral explanation. But what it is I am far from sure.
answered Mar 8 at 23:48
TuffyTuffy
4,1051621
I can appreciate the "rhythm of speech" explanation. Saying separated as separəted feels very front-of-the-mouth and bad.
– Braaedy
Mar 9 at 0:05
Although there are bound to be exceptions, there is a metric tendency to accentuate the first syllable of nouns, which makes it useful to end adjectives with a schwa-like syllable. Most direct objects are introduced by unaccented articles, so it's ok for the verb form to end with a stressed vowel. It makes sense, then, to record a record or duplicate a duplicate.
– remarkl
Mar 9 at 1:28
@remarkl Thanks for this.
– Tuffy
Mar 9 at 8:12
add a comment |
To begin with, separāt (verb) - separet (noun) is not the only case of this. Moderāt/Moderet, or Mediāt/Immediet both go the same way: -ate is pronounced with the difference you mention even though they are spelled the same way. So does articulāt/articulet. There may be others, but so far I have not found or recalled any. The fact that I have not found any exceptions does not, however, prove that there are none. So I have no basis for saying that it is a co-incidence, though I would have to start leaning towards the idea that there might be some reason for the difference. If there is, it is likely to have something to do with the rhythm of natural speech.
One candidate would be that the various forms of the verbs (separated/articulating and even the noun moderator sit very uncomfortably in the mouth with the '-et' pronunciation. Some other nouns, like magistrate (which has not cognate verb) is actually pronounced magistrāt by some and magistret by others. So there may be some sort of physical/oral explanation. But what it is I am far from sure.
answered Mar 8 at 23:48
TuffyTuffy
4,1051621
To begin with, separāt (verb) - separet (noun) is not the only case of this. Moderāt/Moderet, or Mediāt/Immediet both go the same way: -ate is pronounced with the difference you mention even though they are spelled the same way. So does articulāt/articulet. There may be others, but so far I have not found or recalled any. The fact that I have not found any exceptions does not, however, prove that there are none. So I have no basis for saying that it is a co-incidence, though I would have to start leaning towards the idea that there might be some reason for the difference. If there is, it is likely to have something to do with the rhythm of natural speech.
One candidate would be that the various forms of the verbs (separated/articulating and even the noun moderator sit very uncomfortably in the mouth with the '-et' pronunciation. Some other nouns, like magistrate (which has not cognate verb) is actually pronounced magistrāt by some and magistret by others. So there may be some sort of physical/oral explanation. But what it is I am far from sure.
answered Mar 8 at 23:48
TuffyTuffy
4,1051621
answered Mar 8 at 23:48
TuffyTuffy
4,1051621
answered Mar 8 at 23:48
TuffyTuffy
4,1051621
answered Mar 8 at 23:48
TuffyTuffy
4,1051621
4,1051621
I can appreciate the "rhythm of speech" explanation. Saying separated as separəted feels very front-of-the-mouth and bad.
– Braaedy
Mar 9 at 0:05
Although there are bound to be exceptions, there is a metric tendency to accentuate the first syllable of nouns, which makes it useful to end adjectives with a schwa-like syllable. Most direct objects are introduced by unaccented articles, so it's ok for the verb form to end with a stressed vowel. It makes sense, then, to record a record or duplicate a duplicate.
– remarkl
Mar 9 at 1:28
@remarkl Thanks for this.
– Tuffy
Mar 9 at 8:12
add a comment |
I can appreciate the "rhythm of speech" explanation. Saying separated as separəted feels very front-of-the-mouth and bad.
– Braaedy
Mar 9 at 0:05
Although there are bound to be exceptions, there is a metric tendency to accentuate the first syllable of nouns, which makes it useful to end adjectives with a schwa-like syllable. Most direct objects are introduced by unaccented articles, so it's ok for the verb form to end with a stressed vowel. It makes sense, then, to record a record or duplicate a duplicate.
– remarkl
Mar 9 at 1:28
@remarkl Thanks for this.
– Tuffy
Mar 9 at 8:12
I can appreciate the "rhythm of speech" explanation. Saying separated as separəted feels very front-of-the-mouth and bad.
– Braaedy
Mar 9 at 0:05
I can appreciate the "rhythm of speech" explanation. Saying separated as separəted feels very front-of-the-mouth and bad.
– Braaedy
Mar 9 at 0:05
Although there are bound to be exceptions, there is a metric tendency to accentuate the first syllable of nouns, which makes it useful to end adjectives with a schwa-like syllable. Most direct objects are introduced by unaccented articles, so it's ok for the verb form to end with a stressed vowel. It makes sense, then, to record a record or duplicate a duplicate.
– remarkl
Mar 9 at 1:28
Although there are bound to be exceptions, there is a metric tendency to accentuate the first syllable of nouns, which makes it useful to end adjectives with a schwa-like syllable. Most direct objects are introduced by unaccented articles, so it's ok for the verb form to end with a stressed vowel. It makes sense, then, to record a record or duplicate a duplicate.
– remarkl
Mar 9 at 1:28
@remarkl Thanks for this.
– Tuffy
Mar 9 at 8:12
@remarkl Thanks for this.
– Tuffy
Mar 9 at 8:12
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f488902%2fpronunciation-of-the-ate-suffix%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
1
I pronounce concentrate and condensate the same whether they are verbs or nouns. In any case, you may be interested in What is the term for “‑ate” noun/verb pairs, and why can’t I find references to “hyphenate” used that way?
– choster
Mar 8 at 22:20
Maybe different pronunciation corresponds to verb vs. adjective.
– GEdgar
Mar 8 at 22:23
@choster, yes, I suppose I didn't include that in the original question. It always seems to be āt for verbs and ət for nouns or adjectives.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:44
@GEdgar See above comment.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:45
@choster I actually thing that's basically exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks.
– Braaedy
Mar 8 at 22:49