6.0645 Rs: Stress and Street Names (6/112)

Elaine Brennan (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Tue, 6 Apr 1993 11:14:45 EDT

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 6, No. 0645. Tuesday, 6 Apr 1993.


(1) Date: Fri, 2 Apr 93 20:20:02 CST (17 lines)
From: "James Marchand" <marchand@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: street stress

(2) Date: 02 Apr 1993 14:46:20 -0700 (MST) (17 lines)
From: DIANA PATTERSON <DPATTERSON@mtroyal.ab.ca>
Subject: Street vs Lane vs Avenue

(3) Date: Sat, 03 Apr 93 07:17:10 CST (23 lines)
From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" <ERIC@SDNET>
Subject: Street Stress

(4) Date: Sat 3 Apr 93 16:53:48-PST (19 lines)
From: Ken Laws <LAWS@ai.sri.com>
Subject: Re: 6.0643 Q: Street Stress (1/24)

(5) Date: Sun, 04 Apr 93 16:07:55 IDT (18 lines)
From: "David M. Schaps" <F21004@BARILVM>
Subject: Re: 6.0643 Q: Street Stress (1/24)

(6) Date: Mon, 05 Apr 93 11:05:42 BST (18 lines)
From: Donald A Spaeth <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK>
Subject: Re: 6.0643 Q: Street Stress (1/24)

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Apr 93 20:20:02 CST
From: "James Marchand" <marchand@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: street stress

A well-known phenomenon of `juncture', as one used to call it in American
linguistics of the 50s, is that familiar collocations change their stress,
witness the American pronunciation of `Little House' (the TV series Little
House on the Prarie), where the stress used to be on House, but now, since
the series is so familiar, is placed on the Little. Henry Lee Smith, of
Where Are You From? and American linguistic fame, used to do an entire
song-and-dance on such phenomena. He would point out that the White House
(accent on White) did not have to be white, a cedar chest (accent on the
cedar) could be made of walnut, etc. When you teach American students the
Swedish `tones', you can sometimes make use of this, telling them that
bomull `cotton' is not the kind of wool but answers the question as to
something about the tree, not TREE-wool, but tree-WOOL. Doesn't always
work.
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------33----
Date: 02 Apr 1993 14:46:20 -0700 (MST)
From: DIANA PATTERSON <DPATTERSON@mtroyal.ab.ca>
Subject: Street vs Lane vs Avenue

Oxford Street was called Oxford street because it was a straight road to the
town of Oxford. A look at an historical atlas will show exactly how far back
this goes, but it is well before the 17th century (which is as far back as I
have evidence for in my office). Park Lane is also an old name. It was not a
thoroughfare that was going anywhere, hence a Lane. It wandered near the
park.
The other issues about naming streets, crescents, and so on in North
America in the 20th century have been addressed by papers by the American Name
Society, and other Name Societies. A quick note to them using the
Encyclopaedia of Associations might bring some more scholarly replies.
Diana Patterson
Mount Royal College
DPatterson@MtRoyal.AB.CA
(3) --------------------------------------------------------------32----
Date: Sat, 03 Apr 93 07:17:10 CST
From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" <ERIC@SDNET>
Subject: Street Stress


A HUMANIST from the UK recently asked why "Lane" (in the address
"Park Lane") is more heavily stressed than "Street" (in "Oxford
Street"), and the writer asked if the practice is the same in the USA.

To my ear, in the USA, "Lane" or "Way" are, indeed, more heavily
stressed in "Park Lane" or "Park Way" than "Street" in "Park Street."

The UK writer wondered if snobbery caused speakers to stress the
Way or Lane, but not the lower-class Street. There may be a simpler
explanation. Since more addresses are on a Street than on a Lane or Way,
a listener will expect to hear "Street" as part of an address, but may
not expect to hear "Way" or "Lane" and thus a heavier stress is put on
these words to make it clear that it is "Park *Lane*." Note that
"Street" could be stressed if the listener misunderstood: "No, stupid,
I said I live on Park *Street*."

-- Eric Johnson
JohnsonE@columbia.dsu.edu
(4) --------------------------------------------------------------30----
Date: Sat 3 Apr 93 16:53:48-PST
From: Ken Laws <LAWS@ai.sri.com>
Subject: Re: 6.0643 Q: Street Stress (1/24)


An alternative theory:

>From an information-theoretic perspective, it makes good sense
to have different stress patterns on Lexington Street and
Lexington Avenue. (This is carried to the extreme in African
drum talk.) I would imagine that the the stress difference
also helps to remind people that Lexington and Lexington
Street are (in the typical case) equivalent, whereas Lexington
*Avenue* is a different entity.

Just guessing. :-)

-- Ken Laws
-------
(5) --------------------------------------------------------------25----
Date: Sun, 04 Apr 93 16:07:55 IDT
From: "David M. Schaps" <F21004@BARILVM>
Subject: Re: 6.0643 Q: Street Stress (1/24)

I should think that the most obvious explanation for "Street" being
unstressed is that since it is the most common term, it receives no
stress; if you live on something other than a street, that fact also
transmits "non-default" information, and receives a stress as well.
(Here in Israel, the word "street" may be left out entirely: "I live
on Rabbi Akiva", one might say, but a person who lived on Rothschild
Boulevard would never say "I live on Rothschild"). It's not snobbery,
just failing to stress the obvious.

David M. Schaps
Department of Classical Studies
Bar Ilan University
Ramat Gan, Israel
FAX: 972-3-347-601
(6) --------------------------------------------------------------27----
Date: Mon, 05 Apr 93 11:05:42 BST
From: Donald A Spaeth <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK>
Subject: Re: 6.0643 Q: Street Stress (1/24)

How about a common sense explanation: the default type is Street.
So, when the thoroughfare is a street the emphasis is on its name,
as in Oxford Street, but when the thoroughfare is another type the
emphasis is on the type. Having grown up in the midwest where
most thoroughfares are Streets, I find it difficult to remember
what type a particular thoroughfare is. This can lead to confusion
since British cities often have several throughfares with the same
name but different types, e.g. Hyndland Street and Hyndland Road.
The phenomenon is taken to extremes in Leeds, in the old back-to-
back neighbourhoods, where you may find 8 or 9 thoroughfares in
close proximity, all with the same name but each of a different type
-- x street, x road, x lane, x avenue, x crescent, etc.

Donald Spaeth