Part 302 (1/2)

[494] (1) In the Latin and Greek languages, this is not commonly supposed to be the case; but, on the contrary, the quantity of syllables is professedly adjusted by its own rules independently of e call accent; and, in our English pronunciation of these languages, the accentuation of all long words is regulated by the quantity of the last syllable but one

Walker, in the introduction to his Key, speaks of ”The English pronunciation of Greek and Latin [as] injurious to quantity” And no one can deny, that we often accent what are called short syllables, and perhaps oftener leave unaccented such as are called long; but, after all, were the quantity of Latin and Greek syllables always judged of by their actual ti and short, these our violations of the old quantities would be found much fewer than some suppose they are

(2) Dr Adarave, appears to be peculiar; and of a nature which may perhaps co and short, than any other He says,

”1 The _acute_ or _sharp_ accent raises the voice in pronunciation, and is thus lish word is written, not thus, but with two Effs, _proffer_--G B]

”2 The _grave_ or _base_ accent depresses the voice, or keeps it in its natural tone; and is thus s to all syllables which have no other_

”The accents are hardly ever ra-books, or the like, where the acute accent only is used The accents are likewise seldom marked in Latin books, unless for the sake of distinction; as in these adverbs, _aliqu, continu, docte, una_, &c”--_Adalish Grathens the syllables on which it falls, if we suppose the grave accent to be the opposite of this, and to belong to all syllables which have no peculiar stress,--are not enforced, not acuted, not circumflected, not emphasized; then shall we truly have an accent hich our short quantity may fairly coincide But I have said, ”the mere absence of stress, which produces short quantity, we do not call _accent_;”

and it may be observed, that the learned improver of Dr Adam's Grammar, B

A Gould, has totally rejected all that his predecessor taught concerning _accent_, and has given an entirely different definition of the thing See e 771, above Dr Johnson also cites from _Holder_ a very different explanation of it, as follows: ”_Accent_, as in the Greek naarded the tune of the voice; the acute accent, raising the voice in soher, (_ie_it lower; [Fist] _and both having soorous pronunciation_

HOLDER”--_Johnson's Quarto Dict, w Accent_

[495] (1) ”Ast them [the ancients,] we know that accents were marked by certain _inflexions_ [inflections] of the voice like reat formality infor [of] the voice on a certain syllable; the grave, a depression of it; and the circu and depression both, in one and the sah they have no sort of ideas annexed to these words; for if they are asked to she this is to be done, they cannot tell, and their practice always belies their precept”--_Sheridan's Lectures on Eloc_, p 54

(2) ”It is by the accent chiefly that the quantity of our syllables is regulated; but not according to the _mistaken rule_ laid down by _all who have written_ on the subject, that the accent _always _; than which _there cannot be any thing more false_”--_Ib_, p 57

(3) ”And here I cannot help taking notice of a circu deficiency_ of those, who have hitherto employed their labours on that subject, [accent, or pronunciation,] _in point of knowledge_ of the true genius and constitution of our tongue Several of the co books, have undertaken to mark the accents of our words; but so _little acquainted_ were they with the nature of our accent, that they thought it necessary only to mark _the syllable_ on which the stress is to be laid, withoutthe _particular letter_ of the syllable to which the accent belongs”--_Ib_, p 59

(4) ”Thea bias under the prejudice of false rules, never arrives at a knowledge of the true nature of _quantity_; and accordingly we find that _all attee, have been vain and fruitless”--_Sheridan's Rhetorical Gra extract, this matter is stated somewhat differently: ”The _quantity_ depends upon the seat of the accent, whether it be on the vowel or [on the] consonant; if on the vowel, the syllable is necessarily long: as it ; if on the consonant, _itto the nature of the consonant, or _the ti upon it”--_Sheridan's Lectures on Eloc_, p 57

This last clause shows the ”distinction” to be a very weak one--G BROWN

[497] ”If the consonant be in its nature a short one, the syllable is necessarily short If it be a long one, that is, one whose sound is capable of being lengthened, it _ or short_ at the will of the speaker

By a short consonant I mean one whose sound cannot be continued after a vowel, such as c or k p t, as ac, ap, at--whilst that of long consonants _can_, as, el em en er ev, &c”--_Sheridan's Lectures on Elocution_, p 58

Sheridan here forgets that ”_bor'row_” is one of his examples of short quantity

Murray admits that ”accent on a _se; and his semivowels are these: ”_f, l, _ soft” See his _Octavo Gram_, p 240 and p 8

[498] On account of the different uses ra poetic quantities Soht be useful; but there seems to be a reversal of order in this scheht, and the stenotone dark and heavy ”Long and short syllables have _sonated by the same marks _which_ are used for accent, tones, and the quality of the vowels; but it will be better[,] to prevent confusion[,]

to use differentsyllable, and this a short syllable; as,

'At the close of the day when the hamlet is still'”

--_Perley's Gram_, p 73

[no over 'let', sic--KTH]

[499] _Dr Adam's Gram_, p 267; _B A Gould's_, 257 The Latin word _caesura_ signifies ”_a cutting_, or _division_” This nahtland's Gram_, p 161; or _Worcester's Dict, w Cesure_

[500] ”As to the long quantity arising from the succession of two consonants, which the ancients are unifor voas to lengthen its sound, _as we should do_ by pronouncing the _a_ in _scatter_ as we do in _skater_, (one who skates,) _I have no conception of what it meant_; for if it ed, the vowel retaining the same sound, I must confess as ut er [sic--KTH] an inability of _co this source_ of quantity in the Greek and Latin as in English”--_Walker on Gr and L

Accent_, --24; Key, p 331 This distinguished author see to admit, that the consonants occupy time in their utterance, or that other vowel sounds than those which _na; but these are _truths_, nevertheless; and, since every letter adds _so_ to the syllable in which it is uttered, it is by consequence a ”_source of quantity_,” whether the syllable be long or short

[501] Murray has here a inal note, as follows: ”Moveuished _Moveressive order of sounds, whether fro to short, or vice versa