Three pairs of pronunciation

[Joel S. Berson]

At 6/28/2010 11:19 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>How about
>
>morning coat/dress/attire vs. mourning coat/dress]/attire?
>
>[when someone is describing it that way and you don't have visual access

But isn't the difference there more stress or pause (or something)
than the word(s) themselves?  (I hear "morning coat" with equal
stress on both words, and "mourning coat" with greater stress on the
first word.)

Joel


>Or even "Mourning Becomes Electra"?  [I wager that this is frequently
>misunderstood by those unfamiliar with O'Neill and/or the Oresteia
>trilogy.]

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org