Controversial

[DangerUXD]

Contra-vers-e-all or Contra-versh-all?

[squarebear]

contra versh alll

[Old_Geezer]

The latter.

[Bazile]

contra ver shall

[DangerUXD]

well we seem to be in agreement so far! why do I keep hearing the former?

[Huderon]

Silly question, but how come the o part of contro becomes and a sound ? I've always pronounced it contro-ver-shall.

[heathfield]

We're more used to many words spelled "contra...", based on the Latin for "against". There are very few words spelled "Contro..." where it's a variant and with the same meaning. I guess the reason for the "a" pronunciation is just through our being more familiar with "contra..."

[stewey]

I hear a lot of British people pronouncing "controversy" with the emphasis on "tro" rather than "con": is this the norm?

[Hopkirk]

You say tomato and I say tomato

[maggiebee]

Think it depends which part of the country you come from - taking accents into account. Stewey - being a Scot I would put the emphasis on the "tro" in controversy.