Difference between revisions of "Impress"

Revision as of 23:45, 14 August 2015

May we imPRESS upon you the importance of the difference in stress between the third word in this sentence and the noun an IMpress?

• The verb 'to impress' has the stress on the second syllable: 'im-PRESS' (IPA: /ɪm ˈprɛs/. It means 'to make an impression on', either literally, as in printing, or, more commonly in figurative senses, as in an idea put into someone else's head - most usually when trying to urge a particular rule or pattern of behaviour on others.
• The noun 'an impress' has the stress on the first syllable, 'IM-press' (IPA: /ˈɪm prɛs/). It is rare in modern English.

Don't confuse, by typing error or other, impress with the noun 'an imprest'. This is a term in finance and accounting. Originally it meant (like the Italian prestare and French prêter,'to lend', with which it is cognate) an advance of money made, usually by the government, against expenditure likely to be incurred on its behalf, such as the travelling and related costs of a diplomatic mission, or payment in advance to soldiers and sailors before setting off in pursuit of their duties. Currently it is more usually a form of accounting petty cash and other accounts - imprest accounts - which are funded with a sum of money which may be gradually disbursed. After a certain proportion has been spent, the imprest is topped up on presentation of the necessary paperwork.

Note

This pattern of shifting stress in words that look identical but belong to two separate word classes is quite common in English.

Quirk (1985) (Appendix I.56 B) describes the most common: "When verbs of two syllables are converted into nouns, the stress is sometimes shifted from the second to the first syllable. The first syllable, typically a Latin prefix, often has a reduced vowel /ə/ in the verb but a full vowel in the noun: He was con-VICT-ed (IPA: /kən ˈvɪkt ɪd/) of theft, and so became a CON vict (IPA: /ˈkɒn vɪkt/)" [AWE's rendition of IPA].

There follows a list of some 57 "words having end-stress as verbs but initial stress as nouns in Br[itish] E[nglish]." Note that "in Am[erican] E[nglish], many have initial stress as verbs also". Quirk's list is the foundation of AWE's category:shift of stress. Additions have been made from, amongst others, Fowler, 1926-1996.