Chapter VIII: Word-Accent

§ =113.= In discussing the English Word-accent and its relationship to rhythmic accent it is necessary to consider the Middle English and the Modern English periods separately, for two reasons. First, because the inflexional endings which play an important part in Middle English are almost entirely lost in Modern English, and secondly, because the word-accent of the Romanic element of the language differs considerably in the Middle English period from what it became in Modern English. In the treatment of each period it will be convenient to separate Germanic from Romanic words.

I. Word-accent in Middle English.

=A. Germanic words.= The general laws of Germanic accentuation of words, as existing in Old English, have been mentioned above (cf. §§ 18, 19). The same laws are binding also for Middle English and Modern English.

The main law for all accentual versification is this, that verse-accent must always coincide with word-accent. This holds good for all even-beat kinds of verse, as well as for the alliterative line.

The language in all works of the same date and dialect, in whatever kinds of verse they may be written, must obey the same laws of accentuation. For this reason the results derived from the relation in which the word-accent and the metrical value of syllables stand to the verse-accent, with regard to the general laws of accentuation, and especially those of inflexional syllables, must be the same for the language of all even-beat kinds of verse as for that of the contemporary alliterative line, or the verse of Layamon's _Brut_ and other works written in a similar form of verse and derived from the ancient native metre.

Now, when we wish to ascertain the state of accentuation of forms of words no longer spoken the evidence supplied by the even-beat rhythms is especially valuable. This is so, chiefly because it is much more difficult to make the word-accent agree with the verse-accent in this kind of rhythm, in which it is essential that accented and unaccented syllables should alternate continuously, than in the alliterative line, which allows greater freedom both in the relative position of accented and unaccented syllables and in the numerical proportion between the unaccented and the accented syllables.

In the alliterative line the position of the rhythmic accent depends on the accent of the words which make up the verse. In the even-beat metres on the other hand the regular succession of thesis and arsis is the ruling principle of the versification, on which the rhythmic accent depends, and it is the poet's task to choose his words according to that requirement. The difficulties to be surmounted in order to bring the word-accent into conformity with the verse-accent will frequently drive the poet using this kind of rhythm to do violence to the accented and, more frequently still, to the unaccented syllables of the word. He will be induced either to contract the unaccented syllables with the accented ones, or to elide the former altogether, or to leave it to the reader to make the word-accent agree with the verse-accent by making use of level stress, or by slurring over syllables, or by admitting disyllabic or even polysyllabic theses in a verse. On the other hand, the poet who writes in the native alliterative long line or in any of its descendants is allowed as a rule to use the words required for his verse in their usual accentuation or syllabic value, or at least in a way approximating very closely to their ordinary treatment in prose. Hence those unaccented syllables which, in even-beat rhythms, are found to be subjected to the same treatment (i.e. to be equally liable to slurring, elision, syncopation, or apocopation, according to the requirements of the verse) must be presumed to have been at least approximately equal in degree of accentual force.

Now when we examine the relation between word-accent and verse-accent in certain poetical works of the first half of the thirteenth century, viz. the _Ormulum_ (which on account of its regularity of rhythm is our best guide), the _Pater Noster_, the _Moral Ode_, the _Passion_, and other poems, we arrive at the following results:--

§ =114.= The difference in degree of stress among inflexional endings containing an _e_ (sometimes _i_ or another vowel) which is alleged by some scholars--viz. that such endings (in disyllabic words) have secondary stress when the root-syllable is long, and are wholly unaccented when it is short--has no existence: in both cases the endings are to be regarded as alike unaccented. For we find that in even-beat measures (especially in the _Ormulum_) these endings, whether attached to a long or to a short root-syllable, are treated precisely alike in the following important respects:--

1. Those inflexional endings which normally occur in the thesis, and which are naturally suited for that position, are found in the arsis only in an extremely small number of instances, which must undoubtedly be imputed to lack of skill on the part of the poet, as e.g. in _hallȝhé_ Orm. 70, _nemmnéd_ ib. 75, whereas this is very frequent in those disyllabic compounds, the second part of which really has a secondary accent, as e.g. _larspéll_ ib. 51, _mannkínn_ ib. 277.

2. It is no less remarkable, however, that such syllables as those last mentioned, which undoubtedly bear a secondary accent, are never used by Orm to form the catalectic end of the septenary verse, evidently because they would in consequence of their specially strong accent annul or at least injure the regular unaccented feminine verse-ending. On the other hand, inflexional endings and unaccented terminations containing an _e_ are generally used for that purpose, as on account of their lightness of sound they do not endanger in any way the feminine ending of the catalectic section of the verse. In any case, inflexional syllables following upon long root-syllables cannot have the same degree of stress, and cannot be used for the same rhythmic functions, as the end-syllables of disyllabic compounds, which undoubtedly bear a secondary accent.

The _regular_ rhythmic employment of the two last-mentioned groups of syllables proves their characteristic difference of stress--the former being wholly unaccented, the latter bearing a secondary accent. Further inquiry into the _irregular_ rhythmic employment of the two similar classes of inflexional endings, those following upon long root-syllables, and those following upon short ones, tends to prove no less precisely that they do not differ in degree of stress, and so that they are both unaccented. For it is easy to show that with regard to syncope, apocope, elision, and slurring they are treated quite in the same way.

Elision of the final _-e_ before a vowel or an _h_ takes place quite in the same way in those inflexional syllables following upon long root-syllables as it does in those less numerous syllables which follow upon short ones, e.g. _Annd ȝétt ter tákenn marẹ inóh_ Orm. 37; _Wiþþ állẹ swillc rímẹ alls hér iss sétt_ ib. 101; _For áll þat ǽfrẹ onn érþẹ is néd_ ib. 121; _a wíntrẹ and éc a lóre_ Moral Ode 1; _Wel lóngẹ ic hábbe chíld ibíen_ ib. 3; _Icc háfẹ itt dón forrþí þatt áll_ Orm. 115, &c. It is the same with apocopation: _Forr gluternésse wácneþþ áll Galnésses láþe strénncþe, Annd állẹ þe flǽshess kággerleȝȝc Annd álle fúle lússtess_ Orm. 11653-6; cf. also: _þatt hé wass hófenn úpp to kíng_ ib. 8450, and _wass hófenn úpp to kínge_ ib. 8370; _o fáderr hállf_ ib. 2269, and _o fáderr hállfe_ 2028, &c.; similarly with syncopation, cf. _ȝiff þú seȝȝst tátt_ ib. 5188, and _annd séȝȝest swíllc_ ib. 1512; _þet scúlen bén to déaþe idémd_ Moral Ode 106; _for bétere is án elmésse bifóren_ ib. 26, &c.; and again with the slurring of syllables following upon long as well as upon short root-syllables, as the following examples occurring in the first acatalectic sections of septenary verse will show sufficiently: _Ál þet bétste þét we héfden_ Moral Ode 51; _Gódes wísdom ís wel míchel_ ib. 213, &c.

Now as a syllable bearing a secondary accent cannot become mute, as an unaccented syllable does, if required, it is evident that those inflexional syllables which follow upon long root-syllables and frequently do become silent cannot bear that secondary accent which has been ascribed to them by several scholars; on the contrary, all syllables subject in the same way to elision, apocope, syncope, and slurring must have the same degree of stress (i.e. they must be alike unaccented) whether preceded by short or by long root-syllables.

Other terminations of disyllabic words which, though not inflexional, consist, like the inflexional endings, of _e_ + consonant, are treated in the same way, e.g. words like _fader_, _moder_, _finger_, _heven_, _sadel_, _giver_, &c. Only those inflexional and derivational endings which are of a somewhat fuller sound, as e.g., _-ing_, _-ling_, _-ung_, _-and_, _-ish_, and now and then even the comparative and superlative endings _-er_, _-est_, and the suffixes _-lic_, _-lich_, _-ly_, _-y_, may be looked upon as bearing a secondary accent, as they may be used at will either in the arsis of the verse or lowered to the state of unaccented syllables as the thesis.

§ =115.= In a trisyllabic simple word the root-syllable, of course, has the primary accent, and of the two following syllables, that which has the fuller sound, has the secondary accent, as in _áskedèst_, _wrítìnge_, _dággère_, _clénnèsse_, _híèste_. If, however, the two last syllables are equally destitute of word-accent, as e.g. in _clepede_, _lufede_, they are both metrically unaccented; and, as mentioned before (cf. § 96), may be shortened either to _lufde_, _clepte_, or to _lufed_, _cleped_. If they are used, however, as trisyllables in the iambic rhythm they naturally admit of the metrical accent on the last syllable.

It is the same with compounds of nouns or adjectives. The first syllable takes the chief accent, and of the two others that has the secondary accent which is the root-syllable of the second part of the compound, as in _fréendshìpe_, _shírrève_, but _wódecràft_, _bóldelỳ_.

In verbal compounds the primary accent, in conformity with the Old English usage, generally rests on the root-syllable of the verb, while the first and last syllable are mostly unaccented, as e.g. _alihten_, _bisechen_, _forgiven_, _ibidden_, _ofþunchen_. In denominatives, which in Old English have the primary accent on the first syllable, as e.g. _ándswarian_, both kinds of accentuation are allowed: _ánswere_ and _answére_.

In disyllabic and trisyllabic compounds of nouns with certain prefixes, partly accented in Old English, as e.g. _al-_, _un-_, _for-_, _mis-_, _y-_, _a-_, _bi-_, the primary accent does not rest on these syllables, but on the second syllable, this being the root-syllable of the word, e.g. _almíhti_, _forgétful_, _unhéele_, _bihéeste_; the first syllable in this case bears a secondary accent if it has a determinative signification, as e.g. _al-_, _mis-_, _un-_, but it is unaccented if it is indifferent to the meaning, as e.g. _a-_, _y-_, _bi-_.

§ =116.= A peculiar rhythmical position is held by those words which we may call parathetic compounds.[141] To these belong certain compound nouns formed by two words of almost the same weight from a syntactical and metrical point of view, as e.g. _goodman_, _goodwyf_, _longswerd_, and also by similar composite particles, as e.g. _elleswhere_, _also_, _into_, _unto_. Although the regular colloquial pronunciation was probably in the Middle English period, as it is in Modern English, with the accent on the first syllable, they may be pronounced with the accent on the second syllable, or at least with level stress, as e.g. _g+oo+dm+á+n_, _+a+ls+ó+_, _+i+nt+ó+_, &c. To this class also belong certain compounds of adverbs with prepositions, as e.g. _herein_, _therefore_, _thereof_, the only difference being that the usual accent rests here on the last syllable, but may be placed also on the first, as in _hereín_ and _hérein_, _thereóf_ and _théreof_, &c.

§ =117.= These gradations of sound in the different words regulate their rhythmical treatment in the verse. In disyllabic words as a rule the syllable with the primary accent is placed in the arsis of the verse, the other syllable, whether it be an unaccented one, or have a secondary accent, is placed in the thesis. Such words as those described in the preceding section may much more easily be used with level stress than others. In that case the rhythmical accent rests on the syllable which has the secondary accent, while the syllable which in ordinary speech has the chief accent is used as a thesis.

The ordinary as well as the abnormal use of one and the same word will be illustrated by the following example:--

_O mánnkinn swá þatt ítt mannkínn._ Orm. 277.

With regard to the rhythmical treatment of trisyllables two classes of such words are to be distinguished, namely, (1) those in which the syllable bearing the primary accent is followed or (rarely) preceded by a syllable bearing a secondary accent, as e.g. _gódspèlles_, _énglìshe_, and (2) those in which the syllable bearing the primary accent is preceded or followed by a syllable wholly unaccented, as e.g. _bigínnen_, _òvercóme_, _crístendòm_, _wéathercòck_. In the latter case level stress is hardly ever met with, as the natural word-accent would be interfered with to an intolerable extent by accentuations like _cristéndom_, _weathércock_, _ovércome_, _bíginnén_, _fórgottén_, _béhavióur_, &c.

Words like these therefore can in regular iambic or trochaic verse be used only with their natural accentuation, and hence those syllables which either have the primary or the secondary accent are always placed in the arsis, and the unaccented ones in the thesis, e.g.: _To wínnenn únnder Crísstenndóm_ Orm. Ded. 137; _off þátt itt wáss bigúnnenn_ ib. 88; _Though the séas thréaten, théy are mércifúl_ Shakesp. Temp. V. 178; _Ónly compóund me wíth forgótten dúst_ id. 2 Hen. IV, IV. v. 116, &c. On the other hand, when primary and secondary accent occur in two adjacent syllables level stress is very common, in Middle English, especially between the first and the second syllable, as _g+o+dspélles háll[gh]he láre_ Orm. 14, more rarely between the second and the third syllable, as _þa Góddsp+e+ll+é+ss neh álle_ ib. 30; it also occurs in Chaucer's poems, as _For thóus+a+nd+é+s his hóndes máden dýe_ Troil. v. 1816; in the same way Modern English words are treated to fit the rhythm, as e.g. _mídsùmmer_, _faíntheàrted_, in _Farewéll_, _f+á+int-h+éa+rted ánd degénerate kíng_ Shak. 3 Hen. VI. I. i. 138; _And górgeous ás the sún at míds+u+mm+é+r_ 1 Hen. IV, IV. i. 102. With the more recent poets this latter kind of rhythmical accentuation becomes the more usual of the two, although the nature and the meaning of the compound word always play an important part in such cases.

With regard to their accentuation and metrical employment words of four syllables also fall into three classes: 1. Inflected forms of words belonging to the first group of trisyllables, like _crístendómes_, which can be used in the rhythm of the verse only with their natural accentuation; 2. words like _fordémde_ (first and last syllable unaccented, the second syllable having the chief accent) with a determinative prefix, as e.g. _únfordémde_; these likewise are used in the rhythm of the verse according to their natural accentuation; 3. words of the third group with a prefix which either has the secondary accent, or is unaccented, as _ùnwíslìce_ or _iwítnèsse_; the metrical usage of these is regulated according to the rules for the trisyllabic words. The same is to be observed with regard to words of five and six syllables like _únderstándìnge_, _únimételiche_, which, however, are only of rare occurrence.

§ =118. B. Romanic words.= It was not till the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries that Romanic words passed in considerable numbers into the English language; and they were then accommodated to the general laws of accentuation of English. The transition, however, from Romanic to Germanic accentuation certainly did not take place at once, but gradually, and earlier in some districts and in some classes of society than in others; in educated circles undoubtedly later than amongst the common people. The accentuation of the newly introduced Romanic words thus being in a vacillating state, we easily see how the poets writing at that period in foreign even-beat rhythms, of whom Chaucer may serve as a representative, could use those words with whichever accentuation best suited their need at the moment, admitting the Romanic accentuation chiefly in rhymes, where it afforded them great facilities, and the usual Germanic accentuation mostly in the interior of the line. A few examples will suffice to illustrate this well-known fact. We arrange them in five classes according to the number of syllables in the words; the principles of metrical accentuation not being precisely identical in the several classes.

=Disyllabic words.= I. Words whose final syllable is accented in French. They are used in even-beat rhythms (1) with the original accentuation, e.g. _prisóun: raunsóun_ Kn. T. 317-18; _pítouslý: mercý_ ib. 91-2; _pitóus: móus_ Prol. 143-4; (2) with the accent on the first syllable according to the accentuation which had already become prevalent in ordinary English speech, e.g. _This prísoun cáusede me_ Kn. T. 237; _With hérte pítous_ ib. 95; _But wé beséken mércy ánd socóur_ ib. 60.

II. Words having in French the accent on the first syllable, the last syllable being unaccented. These words, partly substantives or adjectives, as _people_, _nombre_, _propre_, partly verbs, as _praye_, _suffre_, _crie_ (in which case the accentuation of the sing. of the present tense prevails), are always used in verse with the original accentuation, the second unaccented syllable either (1) forming a full thesis of the verse, as in _the péple préseth thíderward_ Kn. T. 1672; _bý his própre gód_ Prol. 581, or (2) being elided or slurred and forming only part of the thesis, as in _the nómbre and éek the cáuse_ ib. 716; _and crýe as hé were wóod_ ib. 636.

As a rule also the original and usual accent is retained by disyllabic words containing an unaccented prefix, as in _accord_, _abet_, _desyr_, _defence_, &c. Only words composed with the prefix _dis-_ occur with either accentuation, as _díscreet_ and _discréet_.

§ =119. Trisyllabic words.= I. Words, the last syllable of which in French has the chief accent, the first having a secondary accent. In these words the two accents are transposed in English, so that the first syllable bears the chief accent, the last the secondary accent, and both of them as a rule receive the rhythmical accent: _émperóur_, _árgumént_. But if two syllables of such a word form a disyllabic thesis, generally the last syllable which has the secondary accent is lowered to the unaccented grade: _árgument_, _émperour_.

II. Words which in French have the chief accent on the middle syllable, the last being unaccented. These are sometimes used with the original accentuation, mostly as feminine rhymes, e.g.: _viságe: uságe_ Prol. 109-10; _chére: manére_ ib. 139-40; _penánce: pitánce_ ib. 233-4; _poráille: vitáille_ ib. 247-8; _prudénce: senténce_ ib. 305-6; _offíce: áccomplíce_ Kn. T. 2005-6, &c.; more rarely in the interior of the verse, where the last syllable may either form a thesis as in _Ál your plesánce férme and stáble I hólde_ Cl. T. 663, or part of it, being elided or slurred, as in _The sáme lúst was híre plesánce alsó_ ib. 717. In other instances, mostly in the interior of the verse, they have the accent on the first syllable, the last being always elided or slurred: _And sáugh his vísage was in anóther kýnde_ Kn. T. 543; _He fél in óffice wíth a chámberléyn_ ib. 561.

Verbs ending in _-ice_ (_-isse_), _-ishe_, _-ie_, as e.g. _chérisse_, _púnishe_, _stúdie_, _cárrie_, _tárrie_, nearly always have the accent on the first syllable, the last syllable being elided or apocopated, except where it is strengthened by a final consonant, as e.g. _chérishëd_, _tárriëd_. If the first syllable of a trisyllabic word be formed by an unaccented particle, the root-syllable of the word, in this case the middle one, likewise retains the accent, as e.g. in _despíse_, _remaíne_.

§ =120. Four-syllable words= of French origin when they are substantives or adjectives frequently have disyllabic or trisyllabic suffixes such as: _-age_, _-iage_, _-ian_, _-iant_, _-aunce_, _-iance_, _-iaunce_, _-ence_, _-ience_, _-ient_, _-ier_, _-ioun_, _-ious_, _-eous_, _-uous_, _-ial_, _-ual_, _-iat_, _-iour_, _-ure_, _-ie (-ye)_. As most of these words already have a trochaic or iambic rhythm, they are used without difficulty in even-beat disyllabic verses, chiefly in rhymes, and then always with their full syllabic value, as e.g.: _pílgrimáge: coráge_ Prol. 11-12; _hóstelrýe: cómpanýe_ ib. 23-4; _resóun: condícióun_ ib. 37-8; _chývalrýe: cúrtesýe_ ib. 45-6; _chívachíe: Pícardíe_ ib. 185-6; _cónsciénce: réverénce_ ib. 141-2; _tóun: conféssióun_ ib. 217-18; _curát: licénciát_ 219-20; _góvernáunce: chévysáunce_ ib. 291-2, &c. In the interior of a verse also the words not ending in an unaccented _e_ are always metrically treated according to their full syllabic value, e.g.: _That héeld opínyóun that pléyn delýt_ Prol. 337; _Of hís compléxióun he wás sangwýn_ ib. 333. In those words, on the other hand, which end in an unaccented _e_, this vowel is in the interior of the verse generally elided or apocopated: _no vílanýe is ít_ ib. 740; _ín that óstelríe alíght_ ib. 720; _So móche of dáliáunce and fáir langáge_ ib. 211; _And ál was cónsciénce and téndre hérte_ ib. 150.

Further shortenings, however, which transform an originally four-syllable word into a disyllabic one, as in the present pronunciation of the word _conscience_, do not take lace in Middle English before the transition to the Modern English period. In Lyndesay's _Monarchie_ we meet with accentuations of this kind, as e.g.:

_The quhílk gaif sápience tó king Sálomóne._ 249.

_Be tháy contént, mak réverence tó the rést._ 36.

In a similar way adjectives ending in _-able_ and verbs ending in _-ice_, _-ye_ adapt themselves to the disyllabic rhythm, and likewise verbs ending in _-ine_ (Old French _-iner_); only it must be noticed that in the preterite and in the past participle verbs of the latter class tend to throw the accents on the antepenultimate and last syllables, e.g. _enlúminéd_, _emprísonéd_.

=Words of five syllables= almost without exception have an iambic rhythm of themselves and are used accordingly in even-beat verses, as e.g. _expériénce_; the same is the case with words which have Germanic endings, like _-ing_, _-inge_, _-nesse_, e.g. _discónfytýnge_.

The rhythmic accentuation of foreign proper names both in disyllables and in polysyllables varies. Thus we may notice the accentuations _Junó_, _Plató_, _Venús_, and, on the other hand, _Júno_, _Pláto_, _Vénus_; _Arcíte_, _Athénes_, and _Árcíte_, _Áthenes_; _Antónie_ and _Ántoníe_. Wherever in such cases level stress may help to smooth the rhythm it certainly is to be assumed in reading.

II. Word-accent in Modern English.

§ =121.= Modern English accentuation deviates little from that of the Old English and Middle English; the inflexional endings, however, play a much less important part; further, in many cases the Romanic accentuation of Middle English is still in existence, or at least has influence, in words of French or Latin origin. This is evident from many deviations in the rhythmic accentuation of such words from the modern accentuation which we here regard as normal, though it is to be noted that in the beginning of the Modern English epoch, i.e. in the sixteenth century, the actual accentuation in many cases was still in conformity with the earlier conditions.

Only these real and apparent anomalies are noticed here. We have first to consider the =Romanic endings= _-ace_, _-age_, _-ail_, _-el_, _-ain_, _-al_, _-ance_, _-ence_, _-ant_, _-ent_, _-er_, _-ess_ (Old French _-esse_), _-ice_, _-ile_, _-in_, _-on_, _-or_, _-our_, _-une_, _-ure_, _-y(e)_ (in disyllabic words). As the final _e_ has become mute, all these endings are monosyllabic.

In the works of the earlier Modern English poets some words ending in these syllables are only exceptionally used with the accent on the last syllable according to the Old French or Middle English accentuation, the Modern English accentuation being the usual one; others are employed more frequently or even exclusively with the earlier accentuation, e.g. _paláce_ Sur. 174, _bondáge_ Wyatt 224, _traváil_ Sur. 82, Wyatt 19, _certáin_ ib. 179, _mountáin_ Sur. 37, _chieftáin_ ib. 112, _cristál_ Wyatt 156, _presénce_ ib. 81, _grievánce_ ib. 55, _penánce_ ib. 209, _balánce_ ib. 173, _pleasánt_ ib. 130, _tormént_ (subst.) ib. 72, _fevér_, _fervóur_ ib. 210, _mistréss_ ib. 109, _richés_ ib. 209, _justíce_ ib. 229, _servíce_ ib. 177, _engíne_ Sur. 130, _seasón_ ib. 149, _honóur_ ib. 166, _armóur_ 148, _colóur_: _therefóre_ Wyatt 6, _terrór_: _succóur_ ib. 210, &c., _fortúne_: _tune_ ib. 152, Sur. 115, _measúre_ Wyatt 125, _natúre_: _unsúre_ ib. 144, _glorý_: _mercý_ ib. 208.

In almost all these cases and in many other words with the same endings this accentuation seems to be due to the requirements of the rhythm, in which case level stress must be assumed.

§ =122.= It is the same with many other disyllabic words, especially those both syllables of which are almost of equal sound-value and degree of stress, as in cases in which two different meanings of one and the same word are indicated by different accentuation, a distinction not unfrequently neglected in the metrical treatment of these words.

So the following adjectives and participles are used by Shakespeare and other poets with variable accentuation: _complete_, _adverse_, _benign_, _contrived_, _corrupt_, _despised_, _dispersed_, _distinct_, _distract_, _diverse_, _eterne_, _exact_, _exhaled_, _exiled_, _expired_, _express_, _extreme_, _famous_, _insane_, _invised_, _misplaced_, _misprised_, _obscure_, _perfect_, _profane_, _profound_, _remiss_, _secure_, _severe_, _sincere_, _supreme_, _terrene_; and so are also the many adjectives and participles compounded with the prefix _un-_, as e.g. _unborn_, _unchaste_, _unkind_, &c. (cf. Alexander Schmidt, _Shakespeare-Lexicon_).

Substantives and verbs are treated in a similar way, e.g. _c+o+mf+ó+rt_ (subst.) Wyatt 14, _r+e+c+ó+rd_ ib. 156, _d+i+sc+ó+rd_ Sur. 6, _c+o+nfl+í+ct_ ib. 85, _p+u+rch+á+se_ ib. 58, _m+i+sch+íe+f_ Wyatt 78, _s+a+fegu+á+rd_ ib. 212, _M+a+d+á+me_ ib. 149, _pr+o+m+é+ss_ ib. 25. So also in Shakespeare (cf. Alexander Schmidt, l.c.): _+á+cc+e+ss_, _+a+sp+é+ct_, _c+o+mm+é+rce_, _c+o+ns+ó+rt_, _c+o+ntr+á+ct_, _c+o+mp+á+ct_, _+e+d+í+ct_, _i+nst+í+nct_, _+ou+tr+á+ge_, _pr+e+c+é+pts_, _c+é+m+e+nt_, _c+ó+nd+u+t_ (vb.), _c+ó+nf+i+ne_, _p+ú+rs+ue+_, _r+é+l+a+pse_ (cf. _Metrik_, ii. § 62).

§ =123.= Trisyllabic and polysyllabic words, too, of French or Latin origin are still used frequently in the beginning of the Modern English period with an accentuation contrary to present usage. Words e.g. which now have the chief accent on the second syllable, the first and third syllable being unaccented, are often used with the rhythmical accents on these two syllables, e.g.: _c+ó+nf+e+ss+ó+r_ Meas. IV. iii. 133, _c+ó+nt+i+n+úe+_ Wyatt 189; _d+é+p+a+rt+ú+re_ ib. 129; _r+é+p+e+nt+á+nce_ ib. 205, _+é+nd+ea+v+óu+r_ ib. 232; _d+é+t+e+st+á+ble_ John III. iv. 29, _rh+éu+m+a+t+í+c_ Ven. 135, &c. Likewise in words the first and third syllables of which are now accented and the second unaccented, the rhythmical accent is placed on this very syllable, e.g. _charácter_ Lucr. 807, _confíscate_ Cymb. V. v. 323, _contráry_ Wyatt 8, _impórtune_ Ant. IV. xv. 19, _oppórtune_ Temp. IV. i. 26, _perséver_ All's Well IV. ii. 37, _prescíence_ Troil. I. iii. 199, _siníster_ Troil. IV. v. 128. Certain verbs also in _-ise_, _-ize_ are used with fluctuating accentuation; Shakespeare e.g. always has _advértise_ Meas. i. 142, _authórise_ Sonn. 35, _canónize_ Troil. II. ii. 202; sometimes also _solémnize_ Temp. v. 309 (cf. _Metrik_, ii. §§ 64, 65).

Foreign proper names especially in many cases are subject, as in earlier times, to variable accentuation, as e.g.: _Ajáx_ Sur. 129, _Cæsár_ Wyatt 191, _Cató_ ib. 191, the more usual accentuation also occurring in the writings of the same poets; similarly _Átridés_ Sur. 129 and _Atríde_ ib. 116, _Cárthages_ ib. 149 and _Cartháge_ 175. Shakespeare has always the unclassical _Andrónicus_, _Hypérion_, _Cleopátra_, but for rhythmical reasons _N+ó+rth+a_mpt+ó+n_ Rich. III, II. iv. 1 instead of _Northámpton_, and so in several other cases (cf. _Metrik_, ii. § 67).

§ =124.= Amongst the =Germanic vocables= the parathetic compounds chiefly call for notice, as their accentuation in common speech also approaches level stress, and for this reason they may be used with either accentuation. This group includes compounds like _moonlight_, _welfare_, _farewell_, and some conjunctions, prepositions, and pronouns, as _therefore_, _wherefore_, _something_, _nothing_, _sometimes_, _into_, _unto_, _towards_, _without_, as e.g.: _thérefore_ Wyatt 24, &c., _therefóre_ ib. 42, _nóthing_ Rich. II, II. ii. 12, _nothíng_ Rich. III, I. i. 236, _únto_ Sur. 125, _untó_ Sur. 117 (cf. _Metrik_, ii. § 58).

Greater arbitrariness in the treatment of word-accent, explained best by the influence of Middle English usage, is shown in the rhythmical accentuation of the final syllable _-ing_ in words like _endíng_: _thing_ Wyatt 27; and of the suffixes _-ness_, _-ly_, _-y_, _-ow_, e.g. _goodnéss_: _excéss_ Wyatt 206, _free_: _trulý_ 147; _borrów_: _sorrów_: _overthrów_ ib. 227. Less admissible still are such accentuations with the endings _-er_, _-est_, used on the whole only by the earlier Modern English poets, e.g. _earnést_ Wyatt 11, _aftér_ ib. 207, and least of all with inflexional endings, e.g. _scornéd_ Sur. 170, _causéth_ Wyatt 33 (cf. _Metrik_, ii. §§ 59-61).

As a rule, however, such unnatural accentuations can be avoided by assuming the omission of a thesis at the beginning or in the interior of a line. With regard to trisyllabic and polysyllabic words the remarks on pp. 176-7 are to be compared.

DIVISION II

VERSE-FORMS COMMON TO THE MIDDLE AND
MODERN ENGLISH PERIODS