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I am an American and I always pronounce “inquiry” with second syllable stress. After hearing more and more Americans say it with first syllable stres, along with British people saying it the way I do, I though I was pronouncing it the British way. But when I consulted wiktionary and all the American dictionaries, I realized that they prefer the second syllable stress, or “British way”. Does anyone know why people pronounce it with first syllable stress and why it is so widespread among educated Americans when no American dictionary prefers it?

Jason Bassford
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Polubios
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    Why is it so widespread among educated Americans when no American dictionary prefers it? Because educated Americans don't look up pronunciations in dictionaries, except sometimes for very uncommon words. – Peter Shor Jan 27 '19 at 19:42
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    The question should probably be asked the other way around: why do American dictionaries prefer it when that's not the way most educated Americans pronounce it? Probably the predominant American pronunciation has changed over time, and the dictionaries haven't caught up yet. If I had any evidence for this statement, I'd make it an answer. – Peter Shor Jan 27 '19 at 19:46
  • The other possibility is that most Americans do pronounce it with first-syllable stress and the dictionaries are actually accurate. This despite the fact that I, like you, stress the second syllable. Perhaps there are many regions (where we don't live) where it's pronounced the other way. – Jason Bassford Jan 27 '19 at 21:22
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    @ Jason Bassford What do you mean? I’m saying that the American dictionaries sanction the second syllable stress pronunciation over first syllable, the one that you and I say. The second syllable stress seems to be the dominant pronunciation in Britain, but it does not seem to be the dominant one for most of the educated Americans that I come across. Just to see the pronunciations, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inquiry. As you can see, merriam Webster’s prefers the pronunciation that you and I use, and the standard one in Britain. – Polubios Jan 27 '19 at 21:48
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    All the US TV shows we get in the UK pronounce inquiry the "American" way, with the stress on the first syllable and the second having a short i. I've never heard an American pronounce it the "British" way, including the few I've met personally. – Andrew Leach Jan 27 '19 at 22:03
  • @AndrewLeach Well my point is that I’m wondering where this pronunciation came about, because no American dictionary prefers it. They all prefer the “British” pronunciation and they list the “American” one as a substandard variant. I myself and a few others I know pronounce it ɪnˈkwaɪ(ə)ɹi, but the other way is gaining ground. To me, the “American” way sounds like a faux intellectual pronunciation like saying ˈdætə instead of ˈdeɪtə, which is unfortunately common also. But I’m trying to do an “inquiry” into whether there are other reasons for it being so widespread. – Polubios Jan 28 '19 at 00:25
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    I'm with @PeterShor on this. The dictionaries all seem to have it wrong about American pronunciation, and they don't say anything about it being regional. So the question is why the dictionaries are wrong, not why Americans don't pronounce it as the dictionaries say. Modern dictionaries are generally descriptive, not prescriptive. – Barmar Jan 28 '19 at 19:58
  • Isn't the usual rule that nouns, not verbs stress the first syllable? E.g. "REC-ord" vs. "re-CORD" and "PER-mit" vs. "per-MIT". And British tend to follow this more, as in their stressing the first syllable of "garage". – Ray Butterworth Oct 25 '19 at 13:29
  • @RayButterworth: Actually, Americans in the south are the ones who follow this rule the most. See this question. – Peter Shor Oct 31 '19 at 17:57

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The educated Americans I know all say "inquiry" stressing the second syllable. I think many in the media believe stressing the first syllable is more "sophisticated" for some reason -- but it's not. Then some of the "educated public" repeat what they hear from the media, thinking the media must know better -- but they don't. Interestingly, both Nancy Pelosi and Lester Holt stress the second syllable. Personally, I cringe everytime someone stresses the first syllable. How about dispensing with "inquiry" completely and substituting "probe"?

Bruce
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