Trisyllables which have in the middle syllable a diphthong, as, "Endeavour;" or a vowel before two consonants; as, "Domestic;" accent the middle syllable.

Trisyllables that have their accent on the last syllable, are commonly French: as, "Acquiesce, repartee, magazine;" or they are words formed by prefixing one or two syllables to a long syllable: as, "Immature, overcharge."

ACCENT ON POLYSYLLABLES.

Polysyllables, or words of more than three syllables, generally follow the accent of the words from which they are derived; as, "Árrogating, continency, incontinently, commendable, communicableness."

Words ending in ator have the accent generally on the penultimate, or last syllable but one: as, "Emendator, gladiator, equivocator, prevaricator."

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Words ending in le commonly have the accent on the first syllable: as, Amicable, despicable:" unless the second syllable has a vowel before two consonants: as, "Combustible, condemnable."

Words ending in ion, ous, and ty, have their accent on the antepenultimate, or last syllable but two: as, "Salvátion, victorious, activity."

Words which end in ia, to, and cal, have the accent on the antepenult: as, "Cyclopadia, punctilio, despotical." 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, com

4

plaisant, 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.

Section 2.

of Quantity.

THE quantity of a syllable, is that time which is occupied in pronouncing it. It is considered as

LONG or SHORT.

t

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, bale, mood, house, feature."

A syllable is short, when the accent is on the consonant; which occasions the vowel to be quickly joined to the succeeding letter: as, "Ant, bonnet, hunger."

A long syllable generally requires double the time of a short one in pronouncing it: thus, "Mate" and "Note" should be pronounced as slowly again as "Mat" and "Nŏt.”

UNACCENTED syllables are generally short: as, " Ad

mire, boIdness, sinner."

many exceptions: as, fóretaste," &c.

But to this rule there are

Álsõ, éxīle, gangrene, umpire,

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, "Sadly, robber; persist, matchless."

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, " Bubble, captain, totter."

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 only add a few general rules on the subject, and some observations respecting the various degrees of length in the time of the vowels.

Ist, 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, vity, taciturnity," &c.

"Cur

3d, Vowels under the principal accent, before the ter minations 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. strophe: as, apostrophe. meter: as, barometer. gonal: as, diagonal. vorous; as, carnivorous. ferous: as, somniferous. fluous: as, superfluous. fluent: as, mellifluent.

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.

In this work, and in the author's Spelling-book, the vowels e and o, in the first syllable of such words as, behave, prejudge, domain, propose; and in the second syllable of such as, pulley, turkey, borrow, follow ; are considered as long vowels. The second syllables in such words as, baby, spicy, holy, fury, are also considered as long syllables. This arrangement is founded on the general practice of good speakers; and is supported by the authority of the judicious Walker, author of "The Critical Pronouncing Dictionary," who has uniformly, throughout his celebrated work, assigned to the vowels

e and o a long sound, in the syllables just mentioned, and in all others of a similar nature. It might reasonably have been supposed, that the very general approbation, which this performance of Walker has received from the public, would have settled the pronunciation of the vowels and syllables in question. But there are some critical writers, who dispute the propriety of his arrangement; and assert, that the vowels e and o, in the construction mentioned, are short vowels, and that the syllables which contain them, are, consequently, short syllables. These writers seem to think, that all long syllables are equally long; that there are no degrees in the length of them. In this supposition, they are, however, evidently mistaken. It will doubtless be admitted, that the second syllable of the word degree, is longer than the second of the word coffee; and that both the latter syllables of these words, are long. In the words scarecrow, wherefore, both the syllables are unquestionably long, but not of equal length. We presume therefore, that the syllables under consideration, may also be properly styled long syllables, though their length is not equal to that of some others: or, at least, that there can be no objection to a syllable's being long, on the ground of its not being so long, or so much protracted, as some other long syllables are.

Will the opponents of the positions for which we contend, assert, that the syllables referred to, in behave, domain, pulley, borrow, holy, fury, &c. are short syllables? If they are such, the words must be pronounced, beh ave, dom ain, pul leh, bor roh, ho lih, fu rih, &c. There are no other sounds to denote e and o short. But it is manifest that e and o short, cannot be the true sounds of the vowels in these words: and that, therefore, they must have the less protracted sounds of e and o long. It will not, however, follow, (as the critics insist,) that, on our principles, the words should be pronounced, bee