# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/21 "2011-01-12T20:03:05Z")
To answer without reading the thread and without my IPA symbols handy… I pronounce “weakened” without a vowel between the k and n. I pronounce “weekend” with a very distinct vowel between them. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/22 "2011-01-12T21:30:46Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Weakened = week-und - u as in “under” > Weekend - week-ind i as in “in” > [@Lasciel](#): > > I’m with **Evil Captor**. > > Also the stresses are different, so: > > WEAK-und > vs > week-IND **Lasciel** , I’m surprised by both your and **Evil Captor** ’s pronunciations of Weekend. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard anyone pronounce the word ‘end’ as ‘ind’. The end of the week. WeekEnd. How are you getting WeekInd? > [@Sunspace](#): > > Waitaminnit. Are some of you putting the stress on the _last_ syllable in ‘weekend’? 😕 British usage. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > 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.” Precisely. > [@WhyNot](#): > > This thread would be a lot more useful/interesting if people INCLUDED THEIR LOCATIONS. New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/23 "2011-01-12T22:54:16Z")
I would pronounce them as follows: - Weakened: [ˈwiːkənd] Weekend: [wiːkhɛnd] The way I pronounce the words, there are three differences: - - “Weakened” is stressed on the first syllable; “weekend” has equal stress on each syllable. - The second syllable of “weakened” has a neutral vowel sound; the second syllable of “weekend” has a short “e” sound. - The K in “weakened” is unaspirated; the K in “weekend” is aspirated. (Standard [Received Pronounciation] British) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/24 "2011-01-17T08:01:17Z")
> [@Kiyoshi](#): > > I would pronounce them as follows: - > > Weakened: [ˈwiːkənd] > Weekend: [wiːkhɛnd] > > The way I pronounce the words, there are three differences: - > > - “Weakened” is stressed on the first syllable; “weekend” has equal stress on each syllable. > > - The second syllable of “weakened” has a neutral vowel sound; the second syllable of “weekend” has a short “e” sound. > > - The K in “weakened” is unaspirated; the K in “weekend” is aspirated. > > (Standard [Received Pronounciation] British) I agree with you entirely, and (if for some reason my location goes away), I am an Arkansan, and I’ve not even heard them pronounced differently on any American TV. The only difference I’ve ever heard is what the neutral vowel is: it can be closer to “uh” [ʌ] or “ih” [ɪ]. I seem to more often use the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/25 "2011-01-17T08:21:57Z")
Weakened is pronounced like wee-kund with a clear stress on the first syllable. Weekend is pronounced like week-end. The first syllable is still stressed but the stress between the two syllables is more equal. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/26 "2011-01-17T10:57:31Z")
I’m a Brit. I pronounce “weekend” like it is two separate words, “weakened” like it is one. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/27 "2011-01-17T13:12:46Z")
New Zealander living in UK. Weekend has two equal length syllables, stress on ‘week’ but both syllables pronounced how they are spelt: week-end. Weakened has a longer first syllable, stress on ‘wee’, pronounced wee-knd. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/28 "2011-01-17T15:54:51Z")
Grew up in Chicago, live now in the Northeastern US. Big difference in pronunciation. I think you WOULD notice if you substituted one for the other. “He gradually weakened as the fight went on…” If I pronounced that as “weekend” in my dialect (He gradually weekend as the fight went on) I think it would stand out as odd, in the same way as “pointed” stands out in the Monty Python “pointed stick” routine. You’d know what I was saying, but it would strike you as mispronounced in some way. “The second day of the weekend is Sunday” – well, if that were pronounced as I pronounce “weakened,” it would strike me as how my grandmother (from Georgia, lived most of her life in the South) might say it (She said Sun-dy, not Sun-day as I say it, which is a similar combo to weakened/weekend in my dialect, I think.) So maybe not as much of a standout. --Still, if my wife or my kids said it, I think (again) I’d notice. Hmm. Maybe some experimentation is in order. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/29 "2011-01-17T17:00:01Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > weakened = WEE-kinned (or perhaps more accurately WEE-knd) > weekend = week-end (I rarely hear WEEK-end and never week-END) Yes, like this. **Agent Foxtrot** , what part of the northeast? It’s not a subtle difference in NH or MA. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/30 "2011-01-17T17:48:26Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > That’s a British thing I think. Confirmed. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350/31 "2011-01-17T20:19:04Z")
Chicago here, and it’s obvious to me. “Weakened” is something like “WEEk(i)nd” with a definite emphasis on the first syllable and a schwa or short “i” sound in the second syllable. In scansion, it’s a trochee. “Weekend” is something like “WEEK-END” or possibly “WEE-KEND” with nearly equal emphasis on both syllables, and a clear “eh” (non-schwa) in the second syllable. In scansion, it’s a spondee. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-phonetic-difference-between-weakened-and-weekend/567350.md?page=1)