60 ACCENT ON TRISYLLABLES AND POLYSYLLABLES.

they form, ami inversely: thus the noun watermust have preceded the verb to water, as theverb to correspond must have preceded the nouncorrespondent; and to pursue must claim priorityto pursuit. So that we may conclude, wheneververbs deviate from this rule, it is seldom bychance, and generally in those words only wherea superior law of accent takes place.

Accent on Trisyllables.

501. As words increase in syllables, the moreeasily is their accent known. Nouns sometimesacquire a syllable by becoming plural ; adjectivesincrease a syllable by being compared; andverbs by altering their tense, or becoming parti-ciples: adjectives become adverbs by adding lyto them ; and prepositions precede nouns or verbswithout altering the accent of the word to whichthey are prefixed : so that, when once the accentof dissyllables is known, those polysyllables,whose terminations are perfectly English , havelikewise their accent invariably settled. Thuslion becomes lioness;poet, poetess ; polite becomespoliter, or politely, or even politelier; mischief,mischievous; happy, happiness ; nay, lioness be-comes lionesses ; mischief , mischievousness ; andservice, serviceable, serviccableness, serviceably ,and unserviceably, without disturbing the accent,either on account of the prepositive un, or thesubjunctives able, ably, and ableness.

5(V£. Hence we may perceive the glaring ab-surdity which prevails even in the first circles;that of pronouncing the plural of princess, andeven the singular, with the accent on the secondsyllable, like success and successes ; for we mightjust as well say dutchiss and dutchesses as prin-cess and princesses; nor would a correct ear beless hurt with the latter than with the former.

503. So few verbs of three syllables follow theanalogy observable in those of two, that of pro-tracting the accent to the last syllable, that thiseconomy seems peculiar to dissyllables: manyverbs, indeed, of three syllables, are compoundedof a preposition of two syllables : and then, ac-cording to the primary law of formation, and notthe secondary of distinction, we may esteem themradical, and not distinctive : such are contradict,intercede, supersede, contraband, circumscribe, su-perscribe, Sec. while the generality of words end-ing in the verbal terminations ise and ize retainthe accent of the simple, as criticise, tyrannise,modernise, See. : and the whole tribe of trisyllableverbs in ate, very few excepted, refuse the accenton the last syllable : but words of three syllablesoften take their accent from the learned lan-guages from which they are derived ; and thismakes it necessary to inquire how far English accent is regulated by that of the Greek andLatin .

On the Influence of the Greek and Latin Accent ontile Accent of English Polysyllables .

(а) As our language borrows so largely from

the learned languages, it is not wonderful that itspronunciation should be in some measure in-fluenced by them. The rule for placing the Greekaccent was, iudeed, essentially different from thatof the Latin ; but words from the Greek, comingto us through the Latin , are often so much la-tinized as to lose their original accent, and to tallinto that of the Latin ; and it is the Latin accentwhich we must chiefly regard as that which in-fluences our own. , . ,, ,

(б) The first general rule that may be laid downis, that when words come to us whole from theGreek or Latin , the same accent ought to be pre-served as in the original: thus horizon, sonorous,deoorum , dictator, gladiator, mediator, delator,spectator , adulator, Sec. preserve the penultimateaccent of the original; and yet the antepenulti-mate tendency of our language has placed theaccent on the first syllable of orator, senator ,auditor, cicatrix, plethora, Sec. in opposition tothe Latin pronunciation of these words, andwould have infallibly done the same by abdomen,bitumen , and acumen, if the learned had notstepped in \o rescue these classical words fromthe invasion of the Gothic accent, and to preservethe stress inviolably on the second syllable: norhas even the interposition of two consonants been

always able to keep the accent from mounting upto the antepenultimate syllable, as we may see inminister, sinister, character, Sec .; and this maybe said to be the favourite accent of our lan-guage.—See Miscellany.

(c) But, notwithstanding this prevalence of theantepenultimate accent, the general rule stillholds good ; and more particularly in words alittle removed from common usage, such as termsin the arts and sciences: these are generally ofGreek original; but, coming to us through theLatin , most commonly con ct the Latin accentwhen adopted into our language. This will ap-pear plainly by the following lists: ami, lirst, letus select some where the Greek and Latiu accentscoincide t

plethora,

metabasis,

emphasis,

antispdsis,

antithesis,

antiphrasis,

protasis,

metathesis,

epent bests,

aphaeresis,

ir\t]0u>pa,

ptrdfiaCiV,

€U<pa<Jtr,

avrtanaaif,

avri&eatt,

avTt<f>paat9,

irpOTamt,

UerdBeaa,

cirtvOeatr,

atpatptois

(d ) Another list will show us where the accentsof these languages differ:

antanacldsis ,

catachresis,

paracentesis,

aposiopesis,

antiptosis,

anadiplvsis,

auxesis,

mathesis,

exegesis,

hydrophobia,

cyclopedia,

aporta,

prosopopceia ,

epiphonema,

diaphoresis,

diploma,

parogoge,

apostrophe,

avravdn\acit t

KCWIXplJOW,

WUpa«frkTfJ<7JV,

anomumtiGiT,

at/TiiT ruffit,

aMuiiTrXaiffjf,

/u iBnat?,

v£po0o/S»a,

KUfcAojraiiem,

a7ropta,

'Trpooainonola,

«7T(0aivnua,

i«7TAU>Ma,

frapayuffi,

airoarpo<pr}.

In this list we perceive the peculiar tendencyof the Latin language to accent the long penulti-mate vowel t and that of the Greek to pay no re-gard to it if the last vowel is short, but to placethe accent on the antepenultimate. It will, how-ever, be easily perceived that in this case wefollow the Latin analogy: this analogy will ap-pear more evident by a list of words ending inosis, where, though the o in the penultimate syl-lable is the omega, the Greek accent is on theantepenultimate:

UrepodpKbiGi?,aitoBtuiatt,

•f&IMpdHTW,avafi6p<p(ti<Tif,flETClfJiOpipWGi^,

vapatpifiusit,

avarrouoxrtf,

ovvdpBfmm,

btopBptovtv,

afiai'pwrtt,

trvvoiKcimait,

anovevpwoir.

This analogy has led us to accent certain wordsformed from the Greek, where the omega was notin the penultimate of the original, in the samemanner as those words where this long vowel wasfound: such as Exostosis, formed from ik andmttiov, Synneurosis from <n$v and vtZfov, Sec. Thistendency therefore has sufficiently formed ananalogy; and since rules, however absurdlyformed at first, are better than no rules at all, itwould, in iny opinion, be advisable to considerevery word of this form as subject to the penul-timate accent, and to look upon apotheosis andmetamorphosis as exceptions.

(e) The next rule we may venture to lay downas a pretty general one is, that if the words de-rived from the learned languages, though angli-cised by altering the termination, contain thesame number of syllables as in the original lan-guages, they are generally to be pronounced withthe same accent: that is, with the same accentas the first person present of the indicative mood,active voice, or as the present participle of thesame verb. The reality of this rule will be»t aj>-pear by a selection of such classes of words as