密歇根新闻广播 做个调查:你如何发research这个音?

University of Michigan English professor Anne Curzan has been feeling a little self-conscious lately.

Curzan was recently talking with some of her students about how much research had been done on a particular topic, when one student raised her hand and asked about her pronunciation of a particular word.

Keep in mind, this was a linguistics¹ class, and Curzan tends to instill in her students a super-sensitivity to the various quirks² of our language. 

The student said she'd noticed that Curzan pronounces "research" with the emphasis on the second syllable³. She said she only hears that pronunciation in academic settings.

Curzan had never thought about it before, so she turned to the class and said, "How many of you put the stress on the first syllable, 'RE-search'?"

Every student in the class raised their hand.

Curzan, who says she actually pronounces "research" both ways, decided⁴ to see what the Oxford-English Dictionary had to say on the matter. The OED distinguishes "re-SEARCH" as the British pronunciation, while American English uses both.

She decided to discuss the matter with her colleagues. They agreed that putting the stress on second syllable is a pretty academic pronunciation, while the other pronunciation is much more colloquial⁵.

"That makes me self-conscious, because I don't know that I want to use a sort of academically-stylized pronunciation," Curzan said.

Of course, Curzan decided that if she had to feel self-conscious about her pronunciation, it was only right that others feel self-conscious too. Thus, this week's topic.

What about you? Do you put the stress on the first or second syllable of research, or do you say it both ways? Bonus question, do you work in an academic setting?

1 linguistics   

n.语言学

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• Linguistics is a scientific study of the property of language.语言学是指对语言的性质所作的系统研究。

2 quirks   

n.奇事，巧合( quirk的名词复数 )；怪癖

参考例句：

• One of his quirks is that he refuses to travel by train. 他的怪癖之一是不愿乘火车旅行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All men have their own quirks and twists. 人人都有他们自己的怪癖和奇想。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 colloquial   

adj.口语的，会话的

参考例句：

• It's hard to understand the colloquial idioms of a foreign language.外语里的口头习语很难懂。
• They have little acquaintance with colloquial English. 他们对英语会话几乎一窍不通。