How would you stress this compound?

[Stephan Wilhelm]

Hello,

Well, this isn't really about meaning, but I was wondering if:

you would rather stress the first syllable of Stanley or that of products when referring to this well-known range of American homeware (I often buy STANley products, as in I often buy VAcuum cleaners; or I like Stanley PROducts, as in I like stone BUILdings)?

Many thanks for whatever help you could provide me with.

Warmest regards,

Stephan

[Fizi]

Well, this isn't really about meaning, but I was wondering if:
you would rather stress the first syllable of Stanley or that of products when referring to this well-known range of American homeware (I often buy STANley products, as in I often buy VAcuum cleaners; or I like Stanley PROducts, as in I like stone BUILdings)?

You're correct. All those words are normally stressed on the first syllable.

[Donbelid]

Stanly Product

Stress is on the first syllable of the first word.

[Stephan Wilhelm]

Thanks a lot for that.

Well, I guess I'll have to spill the beans. I am currently working on a linguistic analysis of compound forms, and one of the instances of such forms I am considering is the compound noun: 'Stanley products woman', which appears in a short story by Raymond Carver. In this story, a man meets his father at an airport. The two men then strike a conversation in which the father explains to his son how, a few years earlier, a woman he barely knew became his lover. He then tells his son how, one day, he opened the door to the women in question when she rang the bell. The first thing he says by way of description is precisely that she was 'a Stanley products woman'.

If you had to read the story aloud, could I ask how, instinctively, you think you would stress the compound (would you stress Stanley or products, or both?

[Dippit]

Hi Stephan,
It all depends on which area you want to emphasise - Stanley or products. Each would produce a different expectation in the listener. It might be a good idea to stress each at different points in time (possibly a month apart) to see what the reaction is.
As I remember being told at university, it's not up to us to guess what the author/poet/etc, had in mind, but to analyse the various options avaiable from a wide variety of interpretations.

Hope this is of some help,

Dippit