etymology - Why is the verb form of "record" pronounced [ri-kawrd] but the noun form is pronounced [rek-erd]?


Is there a different origin of pronunciation style for record as a verb and as a noun?


Fun fact: in OS X, if you type say "this record" and say "record this" — the text to speech system picks up the difference. Impressive.



Answer



They have the same etymologic origins.


I thought this was a good explanation of why they're pronounced differently.


"Mispronounced, mangled, changed" http://alientongues.com/?p=316


I am always on the lookout for rec-ord vs. re-cord when I'm proofreading (veterinary copy). The word is inevitably hyphenated as re-cord when the meaning is rec-ord. Your software sounds smarter.



Here's an excerpt from that link:


Let’s try an experiment. Read this sentence aloud: “I can’t read the address.”


Did you say “ADD-dress” or “uh-DRESS”? Is that how you always say it? Are you sure? English has a group of word pairs – REB-el and re-BELL, REC-ord and re-CORD, CON-vict and con-VICT – where the word with the stress on the first syllable is the noun, and the word with the stress on the second syllable is the verb. Since the early sixteenth century, a number of words have changed their stress to match this pattern. As Jean Aitchison says in Language Change: Progress or Decay?, “There were 24 [of these pairs] by 1660, 35 by 1700, 70 by 1800, and 150 by 1934.” The noun “address” is currently in flux – some speakers say it one way, some speakers say it another. And they don’t typically consider either way to be wrong.


Languages always have some variability of this kind. Languages change when one variant edges out another – and it’s not always perceptible to speakers until it’s pointed out. When Aitchison asks “Progress or decay?”, it’s a trick question. Languages aren’t divided into good and decayed, bad groups. Language change isn’t a bad thing – or a good thing; it’s a neutral process.


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