the antepenultimate, or last syllable but two: as, "Salvation, victorious, activity." Words which end in ia, io, and cal, have the accent on the antepenult: as, "Cyclopaedia, punctío, despóical." The rules respecting accent, are not advanced as complete or infallible, but proposed as useful. Almost every rule of every language has its exceptions; and, in English, as in other tongues, much must be learned by example and authority. It may be further observed, that though the syllable on which the principal accent is placed, is fixed and certain, yet we may, and do, frequently make the secondary principal, and the principal, secondary: thus "Caravan, complaisant, violin, repartee, referee, privateer, domineer," may all have the greater stress on the first, and the less on the last syllable, without any violent offence to the ear: nay, it may be asserted, that the principal accent on the first syllable of these words, and none at all on the last, though certainly improper, has nothing in it grating or discordant; but placing an accent on the second syllable of these words would entirely derange them, and produce a great harshness and dissonance. The same observations may be applied to "demonstration, lamentation, provocation, navigator, propagator, alligator," and every similar word in the language. SECT. 2. Of Quantity. THE quantity of a syllable is that time which is occupied in pronouncing it. It is considered as LONG or SHORT. A vowel or syllable is long, when the accent is on the vowel; which occasions it to be slowly joined in pronunciation with the following letters as, “Fall, bāle, mõõd, hōūse, feature.” A syllable is short, when the accent is on the consonant; which occasions the vowel to be U quickly joined to the succeeding letter as "Ant, bonnet, hunger.” A long syllable requires double the time of a short one in pronouncing it; thus "Māte" and "Note" should be pronounced as slowly again as "Mat" and "Not." Unaccented syllables are generally short: as, Admire, Lóldrěss, sínněr." But to this rule there are many exceptions: as, A'sō, éxīle, gángiēne, úmpīre, fóretāste, &c. When the accent is on a consonant, the syllable is often more or less short, as it ends with a single consonant, or with more than one: as, Sálly, róbber, persist, mátchless. When the accent is on a semi-vowel, the time of the syllable may be protracted, by dwelling upon the semivowel: as," Cur', can', fulfil':" but when the accent falls on a mute, the syllable cannot be lengthened in the same manner as, " Búbble, cáptain, tótter." The quantity of vowels has, in some measure, been considered under the first part of grammar, which treats of the different sounds of the letters; and therefore we shall dismiss this subject with a few general rules and observations. 1st, All vowels under the principal accent, before the terminations ia, io, and ion, preceded by a single consonant, are pronounced long: as, "Regalia, folio, adhesion, explosion, confusion :" except the vowel i, which in that situation is short: as, "Militia, punctilio, decision, contrition." The only exceptions to this rule seem to be "Discretion, battalion, gladiator, national, and rational." 2d, All vowels that immediately precede the terminations ity, and ety, are pronounced long: as, "Deity, piety, spontaneity." But if one consonant precedes these terminations, every preceding accented vowel is short; except u, and the a in "scarcity," and "rarity;" as, "Polarity, severity, divinity, curiosity,-impunity." Even u before two consonants contracts itself: as, " Curvity, taciturnity," &c. 3d, Vowels under the principal accent, before the termination ic and ical, preceded by a single consonant, are pronounced short; thus, "Satanic, pathetic, elliptic, harmonic," have the vowel short: while "Tunic, runic, cubic," have the accented vowel long: and "Fanatical, poetical, levitical, canonical," have the vowel short; but, Cubical, musical," &c. have the u long. 4th, The vowel in the antepenultimate syllable of words, with the following terminations, is always pronounced short. loquy; as, obloquy. parous; as, oviparous. cracy; as, aristocracy. gony; as, cosmogony. phony; as, symphony. nomy; as, astronomy. tomy; as, anatomy. pathy; as, antipathy. As no utterance which is void of proportion, can be agreeable to the ear; and as quantity, or proportion of time in utterance, greatly depends on a due attention to the accent; it is absolutely necessary for every person who would attain a just and pleasing delivery, to be master of that point. SECT. 3. Of Emphasis. By emphasis is meant a stronger and fuller sound of voice, by which we distinguish some word or words on which we design to lay particular stress, and to show how they affect the rest of the sentence. Sometimes the emphatic words must be distinguished by a particular tone of voice, as well as by a greater stress. On the right management of the emphasis depends the life of pronunciation. If no emphasis be placed on any words, not only will discourse be rendered heayy and life If the em less, but the meaning often left ambiguous. phasis be placed wrong, we shall pervert and confound the meaning wholly. To give a common instance: such a simple question as this, "Do you ride to town to-day ?** is capable of no fewer than four different acceptations, according as the emphasis is differently placed on the words. If it be pronounced thus: "Do you ride to town to-day?" the answer may naturally be, "No, we send a servant in our stead." If thus: "Do you ride to town today?" answer, "No, we intend to walk." "Do you ride to town to-day?" "No, we ride into the country." "Do you ride to town to-day ?" "No, but we shall tomorrow." In like manner, in solemn discourse, the whole force and beauty of an expression often depend on the accented word; and we may present to the hearers quite different views of the same sentiment, by placing the emphasis differently. In the following words of our Saviour, observe in what different lights the thought is placed, according as the words are pronounced. "Judas, betrayest thou the son of man with a kiss?" "Betrayest thou," makes the reproach turn on the infamy of treachery, "Betrayest thou," makes it rest upon Judas's connexion with his master. "Betrayest thou the son of man,” rests it upon cur Saviour's personal character and eminence. "Betrayest thou the son of man with a kiss ?" turns it upon his prostituting the signal of peace and friendship to the purpose of a mark of destruction. as, The emphasis often lies on the word that asks a question: "Who said so?” « When will he come ?" "What shall I do?" Whither shall I go?" "Why dost thou weep?" And when two words are set in contrast, or in opposition to one another, they are both emphatic; as, "He is the tyrant, not the father, of his people ;" "His subjects fear him, but they do not love him." Some sentences are so full and comprehensive, that almost every word is emphatical: as, "Ye hills and dales, ye rivers, woods, and plains:" or, as that pathetic expos tulation in the prophecy of Ezekiel, "Why will ye die !" In the latter short sentence, every word is emphatical; and on whichever word we lay the emphasis, whether on the first, second, third, or fourth, it strikes out a different sense, and opens a new subject of moving expostulation. As accent dignifies the syllable on which it is laid, and makes it more distinguished by the ear than the rest; so emphasis ennobles the word to which it belongs, and presents it in a stronger light to the understanding. Were there no accents, words would be resolved into their original syllables were there no emphasis, sentences would be resolved into their original words; and, in this case, the hearer would be under the painful necessity, first, of making out the words, and afterwards, their meaning. Emphasis is of two kinds, simple and complex. Simple, when it serves to point out only the plain meaning of any proposition; complex, when, beside the meaning, it marks also some affection or emotion of the mind; or gives a meaning to words, which they would not have in their usual acceptation. In the former case, emphasis is scarcely more than a stronger accent, with little or no change of tone; when it is complex, besides force, there is always superadded a manifest change of tone. The following sentence contains an example of simple emphasis: "And Nathan said to David, "Thou art the man." The emphasis on thou, serves only to point out the meaning of the speaker. But in the sentence which follows, we perceive an emotion of the speaker superadded to the simple meaning: "Why will ye die?" As the emphasis often falls on words in different parts of the same sentence, so it is frequently required to be continued, with a little variation, on two, and sometimes three words together. The following sentence exemplifies both the parts of this position; "If you seek to make one rich, study not to increase his stores, but to diminish his desires." Emphasis may be further distinguished, into the weaker and the stronger emphasis. In the sentence, 66 Ex |