The Language of
Sports Talk
ESPN vets Linda Cohn and Shelley Smith seemed to be doing a
quick Mike and Mike imitation one Sunday morning a few weeks back. Smith’s
reference to the crowd at a Justin Bieber concert – which had apparently been
the prior evening’s curtain-jerker for Kobe Bryant’s Houston swansong – sparked
an amusing “Two Moms Talkin’” digression akin to the morning boys’ shtick. When
the Backstreet Boys got involved, it was time to get back to business.
This little interlude seemed spontaneous and genuine … I
enjoyed it.
I had quite a different reaction to a bit (or it it a byte?)
of verbiage the previous week that also emanated from right here in Houston and
was likewise broadcast live, this time on the Mother Ship’s signature program,
the 6PM SportsCenter.
The spunky young anchor’s faux-pas is one that pops up in
print far too often these days, yet I can’t recall ever having heard it spoken
aloud prior to this night which Villanova was soon to make historic in that
very venue.
You see, there are certain words in our language whose
appropriate pronunciation is dependent upon context. For example: When we
approximate, we get an approximate result. [Or how about: When we intimate
rather than elaborate, we should expect an intimate response only from an
intimate.] Notice that when “approximate” or “intimate” is used to represent an
action (i.e. as a verb), the final syllable gets spoken like the number
“eight.” But when used to describe an outcome (i.e. as an adjective) or to
identify someone/something (i.e. as a noun), the closing sound more resembles
the pronoun “it.” [The Phonics Pholks may also want to note that verb usage
also puts a “stress” on that final syllable.]
Certainly, recognizing patterns (in language usage and other
areas, as well) and making inferences (i.e. generalizations) therefrom is a
valuable learning device. Used indiscriminately, though, this tool can result
in some cringe-worthy malapropos.
Somehow, one of these verbal nerve-graters has been elevated
to the level of “Since you see it so often, it must be right!” status in the
eyes (and inner ears) of far too many internet sports scribes, who write of
“dominate” players or teams.
MY inner ear always
hears that misusage with the softer “it” ending. This error (perhaps too
generously) can be written off as merely a mis-hearing or mispronunciation of
the proper adjective form of this particular verb – “dominant,” whose final
syllable incorporates a similarly soft, unstressed vowel-sound.
Alas, no such plausible explanation springs to mind when a
prime-time SportsCenter anchor speaks of
the domin-EIGHT team in a given match-up.
ESPN, I got one word for ya’ – mentorship!
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