Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Jeffrey Clark's error offers a learning opportunity for using noun/verb homophones

In a broadcast from the Center for Renewing America studios, former Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division Jeffrey Clark expressed his objection to 50 Trump officials having received DOJ subpoenas. “All of this makes me angry,” Clark said. “It seems like they won’t stop. This is really causing a lot of upsetment in the country.”

The use of the non-word, “upsetment,” was intended to express the noun form of the verb, “to upset.” The word he was going for of course is very simply, “upset.” The verb/noun relationship of upset/upset is just one example of dozens that exist in the English language in which the noun/verb forms are homophones. In these cases, however, they are of course not homonyms because that would be maddening.

 

In the noun form, the accent is on the first syllable, whereas in the verb form, the accent is on the final syllable. Two-syllable examples include “survey,” “implant,” and “conscript.” For another example, the code enforcement agency will only permit you to build if you have a permit. 

 

One disclaimer here–you may find "upsetment" in Wiktionary or other highly permissive dictionaries. It has been coined before, but it hasn't caught on in journalistic, fiction or historical writing, nor has it been welcomed into the benchmark dictionaries.