# Pronunciation of “hotel room” **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 14, 2024, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544 "2024-05-14T10:11:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [May 14, 2024, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/21 "2024-05-14T14:12:23Z")
As an American, I feel like I stress both syllables about equally, or slightly more stressed on the second. “We at the HO-tel, MOtel, holiday inn!” ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/22 "2024-05-14T14:36:17Z")
Deep South resident here (Alabama, born and bred), and I say “ho-TEL.” However, a fair number of folks in this area say “HO-tel.” Interestingly, though, I think the pronunciation of “motel” is usually “MO-tel.” Not sure how much the phrase “no-tell motel” (which refers to a cheap place to engage in shenanigans) might have to do with that. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/23 "2024-05-14T14:47:53Z")
“Motel” is also a portmanteau of “hotel” and “motor,” the latter of which is pronounced “MO-tor.” ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/24 "2024-05-14T14:58:42Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > Not sure how much the phrase “no-tell motel” (which refers to a cheap place to engage in shenanigans) might have to do with that. I think I would change my emphasis of “hotel” in a phrase, depending on how it scans. For instance, there’s a TV show called Hotel Hell; in that case, I think I would emphasize the first syllable. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/25 "2024-05-14T15:01:40Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > In English English, I think that both syllables are emphasised equally. My dialect is originally from central Ohio. I think both syllables are equally emphasized, with some variance due to the surrounding context. Similar to “Nobel”. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/26 "2024-05-14T15:09:00Z")
As a New Yorker, I say “get outta my hoTEL room, jerk, I’m sleepin’ heah.” How about equal stress? [“Ho-tel mo-tel Holiday Inn…now if your girl starts actin’ up, then you take her friend.”](https://youtu.be/WjE4Vxe5-Ak?si=jjud9otMnoplyq4z&t=119) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/27 "2024-05-14T18:53:06Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > I understand that the HO-tel California is a lovely place, with plenty of room. They’re livin’ it up at the HO-TEL CALifornia. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/28 "2024-05-14T18:59:11Z")
ho-TEL ho-TEL room HO-tel room key ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/29 "2024-05-14T19:32:12Z")
Man, English is screwed up. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/30 "2024-05-14T22:36:17Z")
Sure, but that doesn’t really have any bearing on where the stress falls in a portmanteau. It’ll fall where speakers decide it’s most natural. That said, Merriam-Webster shows _motel_ as having the stress on the second syllable: > **[Definition of MOTEL](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/motel)** > > an establishment which provides lodging and parking and in which the rooms are usually accessible from an outdoor parking area… See the full definition Same with [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) > **[Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/motel)** > > The world's leading online dictionary: English definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more. A trusted authority for 25+ years! Same with Wiktionary. However, Wiktionary also list the first-syllable stress pronunciation of _hotel_, and notes it as being Southern American English. I pronounce _motel_ with stress patterns similar to _hotel_: it’s either about equal or slight more stress on the second syllable. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/31 "2024-05-15T00:36:38Z")
Other than Hotel California, when I first saw the thread title I “heard” a song lyric in my head, but it took me a while to track down the song. I remembered it wa HOtel room, but in reality the syllables are pretty much evenly stressed. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/aowSGxim_O8/maxresdefault.jpg "Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Mary Jane's Last Dance (Official Music Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aowSGxim_O8) (Words are around 2:58 in, and I never expected the music video to be about playing with a corpse.) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/32 "2024-05-15T14:48:49Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I think I would change my emphasis of “hotel” in a phrase, depending on how it scans. For instance, there’s a TV show called Hotel Hell; in that case, I think I would emphasize the first syllable. Same. Ho-TEL room, HO-tel Hell. ---
**Author:** ![Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/33 "2024-05-15T14:59:44Z")
I would have thought it is almost impossible to put more stress on the second syllable, unless you are actually pronouncing it otell. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/34 "2024-05-15T19:19:42Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > There is, however, a shift in word stress when a modifier+noun gets treated as a unit. For example, I’d pronounce “hot dog” with the stress on the first syllable if I were talking about a weenie on a bun, but with equal or greater stress on the second syllable if I meant a dog who was hot. > > But I don’t remember the term for this, if there is one. This is absolutely correct. I am not sure if the phenomenon has a name, but normally an adjunct noun is stressed over the noun it modifies. This well illustrated by the (true, as it happens) sentence: The brown _building_ on the McGill campus is the _Brown_ building. Once I was trying to decide whether north was an adjective or a noun adjunct in the phrase north Atlantic, I realized that the emphasis was on Atlantic so it was an adjective. On the other hand, north is emphasized in North Atlantic Treaty Organization, so it is a noun there. The interesting thing is that I could not query my internal grammar but had to imagine invoking it to answer these questions. Incidentally it is ho_tel_ room to me all the way. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/35 "2024-05-15T20:02:43Z")
1:55: “You stupid HO-tel manager!” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2_KrSWI8F2E/hqdefault.jpg "Busy Bee scenes from "best in show"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_KrSWI8F2E) ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/36 "2024-05-15T20:39:25Z")
I’m not sure if it’s a general term or is specific to noun/verb pairs, but the name I’ve seen for that phenomenon (changing the part of speech by accenting a different syllable) is just called “stress shift.” The first syllable stress in these pairs denotes the noun form. Stressing the second makes it a verb: PERmit/perMIT OBject/obJECT REbel/reBEL PROgress/proGRESS PREsent/preSENT CONtest/conTEST CONduct/conDUCT ENvelope/enVELope There are, of course, tons more. I specifically chose, for all but one of these, pairs where the meanings are closely related. (Object is the one that isn’t so close). But there are some where the relationship between the words’ meanings is not obvious, or is at least more distant. Content, entrance, converse, subject are examples. Hotel room is an interesting one because it seems to break the pattern of stress shift between the noun and adjective or adjunct noun use of hotel. As a noun, it’s always stressed on the second syllable for me. When it’s used as a modifier, I _think_ the stress reliably moves to the first syllable, except when it’s part of a set phrase. Hotel hell, hotel California, even something like “Hotel del Mar” or “she works a hotel front desk job.” Lastly, there’s a difference to my ear between the Southern version of the HOtel pronunciation and the version I use or hear in “HOtel Hell.” ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/37 "2024-05-15T23:19:51Z")
> [@saje](#): > > For me personally (raised in the northeast US, currently living in the southeast US) it’s: > > The ho-TEL > A ho-TEL room > > with no change of inflection. Lifelong Midwesterner here - I pronounce it as you do, so no, probably not a “Midwestern thing”. Then again, the Midwest is a large region, and I’m from the north end of it. Maybe it’s more Southern? > [@Schnitte](#): > > As I understand it (and dictionaries confirm this), the standard pronunciation of “hotel” has the stress on the second syllable. But where the word is used as an adjunct, e.g. in “hotel room”, the stress moves to the first syllable. In actual usage you will be understood no matter which version you use, and I suspect most won’t care either way as that is well within the normal usage for native speakers in the US. > [@hogarth](#): > > “Meanwhile, back at the MO-tel…” I’ll just point out that Ray Steven’s dialect is more Southern than Northern. We seem to be arriving at a consensus this is more of Southern or Southern Midwest variation. > [@veryfrank](#): > > Though I tend to code switch with some place names for reaons I’m not suite sure of. I’m going to DE-troit this weekend, not De-TROIT. That’s likely because people from Detroit say DEE-troit and not the French pronunciation of _deh-TOIS_ or the French-influenced De-TROIT. There are a number of US cities that have different emphasis/pronunciation than you might expect, such say Cairo, Illinois which is say KAY-ro, not KI-ro, and New Madrid, Missouri which is said New MAW-drid and not like the city in Spain, Ma-DRID. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/38 "2024-05-16T00:34:25Z")
Also Aloha Oregon, pronounced ah-LOW-uh, not ah-LOW-ha as in the original Hawaiian. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/39 "2024-05-16T02:39:45Z")
NEW-urk New Jersey and new-ARK Delaware. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544/40 "2024-05-16T02:47:15Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Or TOMshure. Theres a southern man on the radio who promises to get me out of my tomshure. Are those still a thing? I thought they were pretty much eradicated from Anglo-Saxon culture with Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-hotel-room/1001544.md?page=3)