Page:Critical Pronouncing Dictionary (Walker, 4th edition, London, 1806).pdf/81

Rh

. Some of these Greek compounds seem to refuse the antepenultimate accent, for the same reason as orthodoxy; such as necromancy, chiromancy, hydromancy; and those terminating in archy, as hierarchy, oligarchy, patriarchy: all of which have the accent on the first syllable, which gives the organs time to recover their force upon the third, and to pronounce the two consonants with much more ease than if the accent immediately preceded them, but periphrasis and antiphrasis, besides their claim to the accent of their originals, readily admit of the accent on the second syllable, because the consonants in the two last syllables do not come together, and are therefore easily pronounced after the accent. Words of more than two syllables, ending in ogue, as pedagogue, dialogue, etc. have the accent on the antepenultimate. Orthöepy having no consonant in the antepenultimate syllable, naturally throws its accent on the first. See.

. By this view of the enclitical terminations we may easily perceive how readily our language falls into the antepenultimate accent in these compounded polysyllables; and that those terminations which seem to refuse this accent, do it rather from a regard to etymology than analogy: thus words ending in asis, as periphrasis, apophasis, hypostasis, antiperistasis, etc. have the antepenultimate accent of their originals. -The same may be observed of those ending in esis, as hypothesis, antithesis, parenthesis; etc. but exegesis, mathesis, auxesis, catachresis, paracentesis, aposiopesis, have the accent on the penultimate syllable, because the vowel in this syllable is long in Greek and Latin. But all words ending in osis have the accent on the penultimate, except metaphorphosis and apotheosis, which desert the accent of their Latin originals, while those in ysis are accented regularly on the antepenultimate in Greek, Latin, and English, as analysis, paralysis, etc. We may note too, that every s in all these terminations is sharp and hissing. See the words and.

. Words of three syllables ending in ator, have the accent on the penultimate, as spectator, collator, delator, etc. except orator, senator, legator, and barrator. But words in this termination, of more than three syllables, though they have generally the accent on the penultimate, are subject to a diversity not easily reduced to the rule: thus navigator, propagator, dedicator, etc. are sometimes pronounced with the accent on the first syllable, and sometimes on the third: but as these words may be pronounced with an accent on both these syllables, it is of less consequence on which syllable we place the accent, when we use only one. (528) The general rule certainly inclines to the penultimate accent; but as all these words are verbal nouns, and, though generally derived from Latin words of the same terminations, have verbs corresponding to them in our own language, it is very natural to preserve the accent of the verb in these words, as it gives an emphasis to the most significant part of them: thus equivocator, prevaricator, dedicator, might be regularly formed from the verbs to equivocate, to prevaricate, and to dedicate; and, agreeably to analogy, would have been written equivocater, prevaricater, and dedicater; but an affectation of preferring every analogy to our own, has given these words a Latin termination, which answers no purpose but to involve our language in absurdities; but the ear, in this case, is not quite so servile as the eye: and though we are obliged to write these words with or, and not er, we generally hear them pronounced as if they were formed from our own verbs, and not from Latin nouns in ator. But when the word has no verb in our own language to correspond to it, the accent is then placed with great propriety upon the a, as in Latin: thus violator, instigator, navigator, etc. ought to have the accent on the first syllable; but emendator, gladiator, adulator, etc. on the last but one.

. Hitherto we have considered that accent only, which necessarily distinguishes one syllable in a word from the rest; and which, with very little diversity, is adopted by all who speak the English language.

. The secondary accent is that stress we may occasionally place upon another syllable, besides that which has the principal accent, in order to pronounce every part of the word more distinctly, forcibly, and harmoniously. Thus this accent may be placed on the first syllable of conversation, commendation, etc.

. There are few authors who have not taken notice of two accents upon some of the longer polysyllables, but none have once hinted that one of these is not essential to the sound of the word: they seem to have supposed both accents equally necessary, and without any other difference than that one was pronounced more forcibly than the other. This mistake arose from a want of studying the speaking voice. A knowledge of this would have told them, that one accent only was essential to every word of more than one syllable, and that the secondary stress might, or might not, be adopted, as distinctness, force, or harmony should require, thus, complaisant, contraband, caravan; and violin, partisan, artisan, courtesan, metaphysick, have frequently an accent on the first, as well as on the third syllable, though a somewhat less forcible one. The same may be observed of repartee, referee, privateer, domineer, etc. but it must still be observed, that though an