| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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7. Pronunciation Challenges: Confusions and Controversy
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| § 27. barbiturate |
Originally this word had its main stress on the third syllable (bär´´b -t r´t, - t´´, -tyr´-), a pronunciation that is still used sometimes in medicine. As the word passed into the general vocabulary the stress shifted to the second syllable (bär-bch´ r-t, --rt´´), bringing the stress pattern more in line with words like acculturate and saturate. Either way is considered correct now. Since at least the early 1960s the pronunciation (bär-bch´-wt), without the second r, has been considered nonstandard despite the fact that many people pronounce the word that way. | 1 |
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| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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