The online American Heritage Dictionary at www.yourdictionary.com allows
you to hear the pronunciation via a wave file.
Prior to hearing it, I would have said people around here put the accent
on the second syllable, the same as indicated by the annotation in the
dictionary. After hearing it I realized that is not quite right, yet it
also is not right to say we put the accent on the first syllable.
The difference I detect between the dictionary pronunciation and the
northwest Ohio pronunciation is more timing and vowel sound than accent.
The way the voice in the wave file says it is... come PO nent.... in
which the timing for each syllable is about equal. The voice rattles
off the word quite quickly.
In northwest Ohio I think we say... cahhhhhm' PO nent. (1) The first
vowel sound changes from uh to ah. (2) The first syllable is stretched
in time (compared to the voice in the wave file) then the second and
third syllables go quickly (just like in the wave file). (3) There is a
minor accent on the first syllable but the most loud syllable is the
second.
I don't think I have ever heard anyone say component with a true accent
on the first syllable such as in the word compliment.
I don't believe the science/math pronunciation is different than the
street pronunciation, at least not around here.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Physics and Chemistry
Bluffton College
Bluffton, OH 45817
(419)-358-3270
edmiston@bluffton.edu