Word Pair Technique

[lightcrystal]

Awhile ago when I narrated Yorkshire Battles I encountered an interesting issue.

In the preface there was the word "contemn". Yes, like any normal human I thought at first "it's condemn". Later I realised no, it's contemn! Is there a technique for making such similar words clearer to the listener? That is without creating something un natural. I would be reluctant in such cases to split up the word into two distinct syllables. We do not have the luxury that trial lawyers have; they would use a different word.

In such cases I am conscious of subtly stressing the different letter [d/t in this case] .

[lightcrystal]

I have deleted the dbl post.

[Availle]

you can delete your own posts as long as there's no response yet. Click the x on the top right hand side of your post.

[mightyfelix]

Having come across "contemn" in many works now, and having looked it up as a result (verb form of contempt), I think it's a shame that this word has fallen out of use. It's a great word, and highly useful, I think.

As far as making the meaning clear while narrating, well... I really don't think that there's much you can do. If context and tone can't do it, then I don't really know what would. As far as pronunciation, I find that I naturally pronounce "contemn" and "condemn" differently.

I figure that if anyone gets perplexed about this or any other word they hear in a recording, they always (well, usually) have the option of looking up the online text, finding the word in question, and looking it up in a dictionary.