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QUANTITY.

A Vowel or syllable is long when the accent is on the Vowel, which occasions it to be slowly joined in the pronunciation of the following letters; as, Fa'll, ba'le. A syllable

is short when the accent is on the Consonant, which occa-
sions the Vowel to be quickly joined to the succeeding letter;
as, Bănner.

A Long syllable generally requires double the time of a
short one in pronouncing it. Thus, Māte and Nōte should
be pronounced as slowly again as Mat and Not.

Unaccented syllables are generally short; as, Admi're, baldness. But to this rule there are many exceptions; as, Al'so, ex'ile.

When the accent is on a consonant, the syllable is often more or less short, as it ends with a single consonant or more than one; as, Rob"ber, match'less. a Continuous consonant, the time of the syllable may be proWhen the accent is on tracted by dwelling on the consonant; as, Can', fulfill'. But when the accent falls on an Explosive consonant, the syllable can not be lengthened in the same manner; as, Bub'ble,

tot'ter.

1. All vowels under the principal accent, before the terminations -ia, -io, and -ion, preceded by a single consonant, are pronounced long; as, Regalia, folio, adhesion, explosion, confusion; except the vowel i, which in that situation is short; as, Militia, punctilio, decision, contrition. The only exceptions to this rule seem to be, Discretion, battalion, gladiator, national, rational.

2. All vowels that immediately precede the terminations -ity and -ety are pronounced long; as, Deity, piety, spontaneity. But if one consonant precedes these terminations, every preceding accented vowel is short; except u, and the a in scarcity; as, Polarity, severity, divinity, curiosity, im punity. Even u before two consonants contracts itself; as, Curvity, taciturnity, &c.

3. Vowels under the principal accent, before the terminations -ic and -ical, preceded by a single consonant, are pro nounced short; thus, Satanic, pathetic, elliptic, harmonic, have the vowel short; while Tunic, runic, cubic, have the accented vowel long; and Fanatical, poetical, Levitical,

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canonical, have the vowel short; but Cubical, mūsical, &c., have the u long.

4. The vowel in the antepenultimate syllable of words, with the following terminations, is always pronounced short.

-loquy, as obloquy. -strophe," apostrophe. meter," barometer.

-gonal," diagonal.

-vorous," carnivorous.

-ferous," somniferous. -fluous, superfluous. fluent," mellifluent.

-parous, as oviparous. -cracy, "aristocracy. -gony, "cosmogony. -phony, "symphony. -nomy, "astronomy. -tomy, "anătomy. -pathy, "antipathy.

CHAPTER VIII,

ACCENT.

§ 93. ACCENT, from the Latin ad, and cano, to sing, is a particular stress of voice or ictus upon certain syllables of words, which distinguish them from others. In the word tyrant there is a stress on the first syllable. In the word presume there is a stress on the second syllable. This stress is called Accent, which is sometimes expressed by a mark ('); in which case the word is said to be accented, that is, to have the accent signified by writing.

1. Words accented on the last syllable: Brigade', pretense', harpoon'. Words accented on the last syllable but one: An'chor, has'ten, fa'ther. Words accented on the last syllable but two: Reg'ular, antidote, for'tify. Words accented on the last syllable but three: Reg'ulating, ab'solutely, inevitable.

2. Some words have a Secondary accent; as, Car'avan', violin', privateer'.

3. "In words from the Anglo-Saxon, the accent is generally on the root; in words from the Classical languages, it is generally on the termination. If to these we add the different

accent we lay on some words to distinguish them from others spelled like them, we seem to have the three great principles of accentuation, namely, the radical, the terminational, and the distinctive; as, Lo've, lovely, love'liness; 2. Er'ror, erro'neous; 3. Con'vert, to convert'."-Murray's Grammar.

4. Whether the statement concerning the terminational accent needs further qualification or not, at least many words have the distinctive accent. Thus, At'tribute, to attribute; the month August, an august' person; a Com'pact, compact', close; to con'jure (magically), to conjure', enjoin; Des'ert, wilderness, desert', merit; Min'ute, sixty seconds, minute', small; Su'pine, part of speech, supine', careless.

5, "When one word in a sentence is distinguished by a stress as more important than the rest, we say that it is em phatical, or that an emphasis is laid upon it." is a Logical Accent. Here, then, "When one syllable in a word is distinguished by a stress, and more audible than the rest, we say that it is accented, or that an accent is put on it. Accent, therefore, is to syllables what emphasis is to sentences; distinguishes one from the crowd, and brings it forward to observation."—Nares's Orthoepy.

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§ 94. 1. Accent plays an important part in determining the nature of certain compound words. tion on Composition. For this, see the Sec

2. Accent plays an important part in determining the nature of the English Meters. See Prosody.

3. Accent plays an important part in all systems of orthography.

The

$95. Accent on Dissyllables.Words of two syllables have necessarily one of them accented, and but one. word A'men' is the only word which is pronounced with two accents when alone.

1. Dissyllables formed by affixing a termination have the former syllable commonly accented; as, Child'ish, king'dom.

2. Dissyllables formed by prefixing a syllable to the radical word have commonly the accent on the latter; as, To beseem', to retain'.

3. Of Dissyllables which are at once nouns and verbs, the verb has commonly the accent on the latter and the noun on

the former syllable; as, To cement', a ce'ment; to contract', a contract.

4. Dissyllables that have two vowels which are separated in the pronunciation, have always the accent on the first; as, Lion, riot, except crea'te.

2.

§ 96. Accent on Trisyllables.-1. Trisyllables formed by adding a termination or prefixing a syllable, retain the accent on the radical word; as, Ten'derness, bespat'ter. Large classes of words of three syllables have the accent on the first; as, Coun'tenance, en'tity, leg'ible, hab'itude. 3. Trisyllables ending in -ator, or which have in the middle syllable a diphthong, or a vowel before two consonants, accent the middle syllable; as, Specta'tor, endeav'or, domes'tic, except Or'ator, sen'ator, bar'rator, leg'ator. 4. Trisyllables that have their accent on the last syllable are commonly French; as, Repartee', magazine'.

§ 97. Accent on Polysyllables.-Polysyllables generally follow the accent of the words from which they are derived; as, Ar'rogating, incontinently.-See Murray's Grammar.

§ 98. Accent and Quantity do not coincide. Nothing shows this more clearly than words like the Adjective August', and the Substantive August, when the Quantity remains the same, although the Accent is different.

"Besides the increase of loudness, and the sharper tone which distinguishes the accented syllable, there is also a tendency to dwell upon it, or, in other words, to lengthen its quantity. We can not increase the loudness or the sharpness of the tone without a certain degree of muscular action; and to put the muscles in motion requires time. It would seem that the time required for producing a perceptible increase in the loudness or the sharpness of a tone is greater than that of pronouncing some of our shorter syllables. If we attempt, for instance, to throw the accent on the first syllable of the word become, we must either lengthen the Vowel, and pronounce the word bee-come, or add the adjoining Consonant to the first syllable, and so pronounce the word bec-ome. We often find it convenient to lengthen the quantity even of the syllables, when we wish to give them a very strong and marked accent. Hence, no doubt, arose the vulgar notion that Accent always

lengthens the Quantity of a Syllable."-See Guest's En glish Rhythms, book i., ch. xiv. On the relation of Accent to Quantity, see PART VIII., on Poetical Forms.

CHAPTER IX.

PRINCIPLES OF ORTHOEPY.

§ 99. ORTHOEPY is a word derived from the Greek opóv (upright), and лоç (a word), and signifies the right utterance of words. Orthoepy differs from Orthography by determining how words are to be spoken; whereas Orthography determ ines how they are spelled. The one is a question of speech, the other a question of spelling. Orthography presupposes Orthoepy. Quintilian has said that a vicious orthography must bring on a vicious pronunciation. Quod male scribitur, male etiam dici necesse est. But the converse of this is still more true," inasmuch as the visible form of language naturally accommodates itself to the pronunciation."-Hallam, Hist. Lit., vol. i., p. 34.

Of Pronunciation there are two kinds, the Colloquial and the Rhetorical. In common conversation we pronounce the i in wind like the i in bit; in rehearsing or in declamation, and in singing, however, we pronounce it like the i in bite, to rhyme with bind. In reading the Scriptures, we say blessed; in current speech we say blest. words occurring in poetry. In the rapidity of common conIt is the same in many versation, sounds, which ought to be distinctly brought out, are often slurred over and sunk in the pronunciation, as if they had no place in the language.

ERRORS IN PRONUNCIATION.

§ 100. 1. To pronounce the Verb to survey' as if it were survey, that is, with the accent on the first syllable, is to err with respect to the accentuation of the word.

2. To say ora'tor instead of or'ător, is to err in respect to quantity and accent.

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