Syntax (suntaxis = arrangement, Greek) teaches Syntax. the arrangement of words in sentences. It is subdivided into Concord and Regimen. = Concord (concordia agreement, Lat.) is the Concord. agreement of one word with another in a sentence; as that of the verb with its nomi native case. = Regimen (regimen government, Lat.) is the Regimen. influence or government which one word in a sentence has over another; as that of a transitive verb over the objective case of the following noun. = = Prosody (pros with reference to, and odé an ode, Greek) treats of the accentuation and arrangement of words in verse, their division into metrical feet, and the number of such feet in each line; and the laws of punctuation. = Prosody. Accent (accentus tone, Lat.) is the stress Accent. laid by the voice on a particular syllable in pronouncing a word, Note. The accent of a word is fixed by custom, and is invariable, though it is sometimes transposed in poetry for the sake of the metre. Emphasis (emphasis a speaking on, Greek) Emphasis. is the stress laid by the voice in pronouncing a particular word of a sentence. Note.-Emphasis is variable, and depends on the will of the speaker, and the effect he intends to produce on his hearers. ORTHOEPY. In English the accent is generally placed as Accent. near the beginning as possible; that is, the Accent. Orthoepy. genius of the language and the laws of euphony require the accent nearer the beginning than the end of English words. Monosyllables. Dissyllables. Trisyllables. Polysyllables. Secondary accents. Difference of accent marks a In monosyllables, of course, it is on the first and only syllable; as, mán. In dissyllables on the first syllable; as, tyʼrant. In trisyllables on the first syllable; as, ty'rannous. In polysyllables on the antepenult, or the third syllable from the end; as, tyran'nical. Such words as luminary, au'ditory, etc., are only seeming exceptions, since they are pronounced lu'min'ry, au'dit'ry, etc. As a general rule, English words have only one accent; but in trisyllables and polysyllables there is a secondary accent as well as the principle one, which is rendered necessary by the recurrence of the metrical accent in Iambic, Trochaic, and Spondaic verses; as, "And stripes and árbitráry púnishment."--MILTON. In some words, a difference of accent marks a difference of meaning; as In the above words, the accent is thrown towards the last syllables in the verbs, as they Accent, have to take additional syllables in their in- Orthoepy. flections, particularly the long one of -ing, the termination of the present participle. The nouns have no such reason for requiring the accent at the end, as the only addition they have to bear in their inflections is that of the letter s, which can be pronounced without the addition of another syllable, except where the noun already ends in s or some sound of s, such as x, soft ch, and ce. There are several other words in which a difference of accent marks a difference of meaning, without thus distinguishing the noun from the verb as in the above instances. rivatives. The accent in most of the words which are French deaccentuated towards the end is due to their French origin; as in privatéer, referée, caréer, pursuit, complaisánt, etc. In some, simply to the necessity of distinguishing words of similar letters but of different meaning, such, as, (The month) August An augúst person. Note.-Except for the sake of emphasis or metre, shortmonosyllables, when used in close combination with other words, are generally unaccented, both in ordinary speech and in verse; as, I will be thére. Leáve it alóne. On earth. In heáven. "I would hide with the beasts of the chase." Orthoepy. Measurement of syllables. The measurement of the length of a syllable in English is determined :— (1.) By the length of the vowel: as the o in note, which is long compared with the o in not, which is short; this is generally produced by an e mute at the end. (2.) By the presence of one or two vowels, or a diphthong: as, feed is long compared with fed; coat with cot; read with red. (3.) By the number of sounds involved: as ten is short compared with tend or tends; a short vowel followed by two or more consonants forming generally a long syllable. (4.) By the position of the accent or emphasis; as áccent compared with accént; rébel, rebél, etc. Orthography. Vowels. ORTHOGRAPHY. The English Alphabet (Alpha, Beta, the two first letters of the Greek Alphabet) consists of twenty-six letters; of which five are vowels-a, e, i, o, u; two, w and y, are semivowels; and the rest are consonants. A Vowel (vocalis-easily sounded, Lat.) is a sound produced by the emission of the breath unchecked by any of the organs of speech, as the lips, etc.; a, o, and u, are called broad vowels, from their broad open sound; while e, i, y, are called the short vowels, from their short sharp sound. W and y are vowels except where they . begin a syllable, as in handy, why, bow. U at graphy. the beginning of some words is pronounced as Orthoyu, and may then be considered a semivowel. Vowels. It then takes the indefinite article a instead of an; as, a unit, a union, etc. A Consonant (consonans=sounding together, Consonants. Lat.) is the sound produced by the emission of the breath considerably checked and modified by the different organs of speech, and is so called because it cannot be pronounced without the aid of a vowel; as, f is pronounced eff, etc. Consonants are divided into mutes and li quids. = The liquids (liquidus flowing) are l, m, n, r, Liquids. are so called from their flowing sound, as they most readily coalesce with other sounds. The mutes (mutus=dumb, Lat.) are so called Mutes. because their sound cannot be prolonged to the same extent that vowels and liquids can. They are subdivided into flats and sharps. Each flat has its corresponding sharp; as, Sharp mutes ought always to be followed by sharp mutes, and flat mutes by flat mutes; as in the words wept, where the sharp t follows the sharp p; and robbed, where the flat d follows the flat b. Flats and sharps. |