I have the impression all Anglophones pronounce contrary with
stress on the second syllable (cont-RARE-ee) when applied to a
person's actions or disposition, as in: Mary Mary quite
contrary, How does your garden grow? With silver bells and
cockle shells And pretty maids all in a row. ...but it's nearly
always stressed on the first syllable (CONT-rər-ee) in all other
contexts. It's still the same word, and I can't really see any
difference in meaning apart from that which arises naturally by
virtue of it being applied to a person, rather than something
abstract/inanimate. Is my impression correct? If so, is there
any reason? It can't just be for the sake of that well-known
nursery rhyme, can it? I know I probably shouldn't ask, but are
there any other cases where "the same word" has a different
stress pattern according to context? (I'm not counting things
like You don't haff to do that, where the consonant can change
according to whether the word is stressed or not.)