# Is there a phonetic difference between "weakened" and "weekend"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 12, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350 "2011-01-12T15:55:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/1 "2011-01-12T15:55:15Z")
Just wondering. Poll to follow. Also, please provide what you think the difference is, if any. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/2 "2011-01-12T15:57:18Z")
The difference in both pronunciation and emphasis is very obvious to me. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/3 "2011-01-12T16:07:57Z")
WEAK’nd weekEND ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/4 "2011-01-12T16:09:37Z")
Yes, there’s a very distinct difference. “Weekend” is pronounced almost as if it were two separate words, while “weakened” is pronounced more like a single word with less stress on the second syllable. Another difference is that the last “e” in “weekend” is pronounced like “eh” as opposed to the “uh” sound in “weakened.” ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/5 "2011-01-12T16:09:39Z")
There’s no difference in the first syllable (“weak”=“week”), but in “weakened”, the vowels aren’t pronounced in the 2nd syllable (could be “weaknd”). In “weekend”, the ‘e’ in the 2nd syllable is distinctly pronounced. ETA: what Leaffan said, much more succinctly. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/6 "2011-01-12T16:14:21Z")
Definitely different in my experience. The difference is usually distinct, sometimes subtle, but always detectable. Weakened: WEEK-ənd (WEEKind), with the vowel in the second syllable swallowed, almost nonexistent Weekend: WEEK-end, with the vowel in the second syllable clearly a “short e” ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/7 "2011-01-12T16:33:47Z")
To me, the difference is pretty subtle, to the point they could almost be said interchangeably. I live in the Northeastern U.S. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/8 "2011-01-12T16:59:15Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > To me, the difference is pretty subtle, to the point they could almost be said interchangeably. I live in the Northeastern U.S. Northeast and New England, too. Very obvious in the way others have pointed out. Weekend almost sounds like two words with heavy emphasis on the “end”, weakened is clearly one word with the end sounding more like “ind”. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/9 "2011-01-12T17:08:15Z")
The biggest difference in my dialect (Chicago) is the vowel sound in the second syllable. Not having access to the phonetic alphabet, the best I can describe it is that Weekend has the same vowel sound as “pen”, while Weakened has the same vowel sound as “pin”. (Of course, this won’t help those of you for whom pen and pin are homophones.) “Weakened” actually sounds almost exactly like “weaken”, with a teeny tiny “d” at the end. The second vowel in “weekend” requires the mouth to be more open and the tongue down further. The difference is slight, and if you said one for the other at conversational speed, no one would notice, though. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/10 "2011-01-12T17:18:11Z")
Weakened = week-und - u as in “under” Weekend - week-ind i as in “in” ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/11 "2011-01-12T17:53:44Z")
I’m with **Evil Captor**. Also the stresses are different, so: WEAK-und vs week-IND although the stress difference may have something to do with where the words usually fall in speech, rather than an intrinsic difference in the words just by themselves. I \*\*\*think \*\*\*of them that way because that’s how I say them most often, but I don’t know if it would sound as distinct if I just said the words off of a list. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/12 "2011-01-12T18:01:02Z")
Waitaminnit. Are some of you putting the stress on the _last_ syllable in ‘weekend’? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/13 "2011-01-12T18:09:56Z")
In “weaken” or “weakened,” the second syllable has a **schwa** , and the accent is definitely on the first syllable. In “weekend,” the second syllable has a short **e** (just like in the word “end”). The accent is still on the first syllable, but the second syllable has more stress than it does in “weakened.” ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/14 "2011-01-12T18:23:08Z")
I have heard people stress the first syllable in “weekend,” and might even do it myself occasionally, but I think it is more common to stress the last. In either case, it sounds distinctly different from “weakened.” ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/15 "2011-01-12T18:26:17Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Waitaminnit. Are some of you putting the stress on the _last_ syllable in ‘weekend’? 😕 That’s a British thing I think. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/16 "2011-01-12T18:26:24Z")
This thread would be a lot more useful/interesting if people INCLUDED THEIR LOCATIONS. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/17 "2011-01-12T18:30:10Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I have heard people stress the first syllable in “weekend,” and might even do it myself occasionally, but I think it is more common to stress the last. Do you have an example? It’s certainly the first syllable that’s stressed in the Loverboy song [“Working for the Weekend”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rutArtds6r8&feature=player_detailpage#t=39s). ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/18 "2011-01-12T19:17:12Z")
I’d say both syllables in “weekend” are more or less equally stressed, so perhaps folks are saying that the second syllable is stressed _compared to_ “weakened,” in which the stress on the first is heavy and obvious. weakened = WEE-kinned (or perhaps more accurately WEE-knd) weekend = week-end (I rarely hear WEEK-end and never week-END) (Chicago) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/19 "2011-01-12T19:21:14Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Do you have an example? It’s certainly the first syllable that’s stressed in the Loverboy song [“Working for the Weekend”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rutArtds6r8&feature=player_detailpage#t=39s). That’s a typical Central/Western Canadian accent, such as I have. I wonder about some of the others… ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/20 "2011-01-12T19:51:16Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > Yes, there’s a very distinct difference. “Weekend” is pronounced almost as if it were two separate words, while “weakened” is pronounced more like a single word with less stress on the second syllable. > > Another difference is that the last “e” in “weekend” is pronounced like “eh” as opposed to the “uh” sound in “weakened.” Agree: [weakened](http://soundkey.com/ia92sb) vs [weekend](http://soundkey.com/rubowm) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350.md?page=2)