Is respect awarded, accorded or afforded?

Question

I was revising a colleague's work, and saw the phrase "awarded the respect it deserves". This struck me as incorrect, but I was struck harder still by an uncertainty as to whether it actually is, compounded by an inability to choose between "accorded" and "afforded" as a replacement.
Google searching implies that "awarded" is largely out of use, but "accorded" and "afforded" each appear at comparable frequency, changing depending on the context.
I can't help but feel that there's some eggcorning going on here. Does anybody have an inside track on whether either or both (or all three, why not?) are correct?

Laurel · Accepted Answer

I did a collocate search in COCA to get some solid numbers.
The verbs with the intended meaning that collocate most with "respect" (collocate search for respect and VERB, group by lemmas) are "show" (~2488 hits), "get" (~2184 hits), and "give" (~1171 hits).
However, looking only at the verbs starting with A that collocate with it (collocate search for respect and a*_v, group by lemmas), I see that "accord" is the most common (~165 hits), followed by "afford" (~61 hits). "Award" returns 4 hits.

Greybeard · Answer

Does anybody have an inside track on whether either or both (or all three, why not?) are correct?

It is a mistake to think that any are incorrect. All are correct and all have different nuances:
to afford = to provide (usually from one's resources);
to accord = to agree (upon);
to award = to give by way of judgement.
Which one you use will depend on the context.
The frequency of the use is no guide to which is correct or appropriate.
OED

Afford II. To provide, to yield.
3. a. transitive. To give, provide, contribute; to grant, bestow, confer (a privilege, benefit, gift, etc.).Also with direct and indirect object.
1957   Times 14 May 11/2   The decision to afford British ships the facilities for using the Suez Canal again was announced.
2000   A. Ghosh Glass Palace (2001) xxiii. 281   Hardy..assumed that they would afford him the same indulgence and affection that he remembered from the past.
Accord: 3. a. transitive. To give, bestow, award, esp. by deliberate decision or with full consent; to agree to, consent to, grant (a request or something requested). Also: to attribute. Frequently with to or indirect object. Also occasionally intransitive.
1965   N.Y. Times Mag. Apr. 105/1   A majority of mankind, both Afro-Asian and Western, do not accord each other a qualitatively equal humanity.
2004   Q Sept. 138/3   She ticks most of the boxes that should give her the maverick status accorded to Kate Bush or Joni Mitchell.

MW:

Award
transitive verb
1 : to confer or bestow as being deserved or merited or needed
award scholarships to disadvantaged students

Is respect awarded, accorded or afforded?

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