Chapter IV: Accent

In every word which contains more than one syllable, one of the syllables is pronounced with a somewhat greater stress of voice than the others. This syllable is said to be accented. The accented syllable is distinguished by this mark ('), the same which is used in inflections.

EXAMPLES.

Love'ly, re-turn', re-mem'ber,
Con'stant, re-main', a-sun'der,
Mem'ber, a-bide', a-ban'don,
Win'dow, a-tone', rec-ol-lect',
Ban'ner, a-lone', re-em-bark',

REMARK.--In most cases custom is the only guide for placing the accent on one syllable rather than another. Sometimes, however, the same word is differently accented in order to mark its different meanings.

EXAMPLES.

Con'jure, to practice enchantments. Con-jure', to entreat. Gal'lant, brave. Gal-lant', a gay fellow. Au'gust, a month. Au-gust', grand.

REMARK.--A number of words used sometimes as one part of speech, and sometimes as another, vary their accents irregularly.

EXAMPLES.

Pres'ent, noun. Pres'ent, adjective. Pre-sent', verb. Com'pact, noun. Com-pact', adjective. Com-pact', verb.

In words of more than two syllables there is often a second accent given, but more slight than the principal one, and this is called the secondary accent; as, car'a-van'', rep''ar-tee', where the principal accent is marked (') and the secondary (''); so, also, this accent is obvious in nav''-i-ga'tion, com''pre-hen'sion, plau''si-bil'i-ty, etc. The whole subject, however, properly belongs to dictionaries and spelling books.