accent of the original; and yet the antepenultimate tendency of our language has placed the accent on the first syllable of orator, senator, auditor, minister, cicatrix, plethora, etc. in opposition to the Latin pronunciation of these words, and would have infallibly done the same by abdomen, bitumen, and acumen, if the learned had not stepped in to rescue these classical words from the invasion of the Gothic accent, and to preserve the stress inviolably on the second syllable: nor has even the interposition of two consonants been always able to keep the accent from mounting up to the antepenultimate syllable, as we may see in minister, sinister, character, magistrate, etc. and this may be said to be the favourite accent of our language. See Miscellany.
(c) But notwithstanding this prevalence of the antepenultimate accent, the general rule still holds good; and more particularly in words a little removed from common usage, such as terms in the arts and sciences: these are generally of Greek original; but coming to us through the Latin, most commonly contract the Latin accent when adopted into our language. This will appear plainly by the following lists: and first, let us select some where the Greek and Latin accents coincide:
| plethōra, | πληθόρα, |
| metabǎsis, | μετάβασις, |
| emphǎsis, | ἔμφασις, |
| antispǎsis, | αντίσπασις, |
| antithĕsis, | αντίθεσις, |
| antiphrǎsis, | αντίφρασις, |
| protăsis, | πρότασις, |
| metathĕsis, | μετάθεσις, |
| epenthĕsis, | επένθεσις, |
| aphaerĕsis, | αφαίρεσις. |
(d) Another list will show us where the accents of these languages differ:
| antanaclāsis, | αντανάκλασις, |
| catachrēsis, | κατάχρησις, |
| paracentēsis, | παρακέντησις, |
| aposiopēsis, | αποσιώπησις, |
| antiptōsis, | αντίπτωσις, |
| anadiplōsis, | αναδίπλωσις, |
| auxēsis, | ἄυξησις, |
| mathēsis, | μάθησις, |
| exegēsis, | εξήγησις, |
| hydrophōbia, | ὑδροφοβία, |
| cyclopaedia, | κυκλοπαιδεία, |
| aporĭa, | απορία, |
| prosopopoeia, | προσωποποία, |
| epiphonēma, | επιφώνημα, |
| diaphorēsis, | διαφόρησις, |
| diplōma, | δίπλωμα, |
| parogōge, | παραγωγή, |
| apostrŏphe, | αποστροφὴ. |
In this list we perceive the peculiar tendency of the Latin language to accent the long penultimate vowel, and that of the Greek, to pay no regard to it if the last vowel is short, but to place the accent on the antepenultimate. It will, however, be easily perceived, that in this case we follow the Latin analogy: this analogy will appear more evident by a list of words ending in osis, where, though the o in the penultimate syllable is the omega, the Greek accent is on the antepenultimate:
| ὑπερσάρκωσις, | ακαμόρφωσις, | αναστόμωσις, | αμαύρωσις, |
| αποθέωσις, | μεταμόρφωσις, | συνάρθρωσις, | συνοικείωσις, |
| γόμφωσις, | παραφίμωσις, | διόρθρωσις, | απονεύρωσις. |
This analogy has led us to accent certain words, formed from the Greek, where the omega was not in the penultimate of the original, in the same manner as those words where this long vowel was found: such as Exostosis, formed from ἐκ and ὄστεον, Synneurosis from σύν and νεῦρον, etc. This tendency therefore has sufficiently formed an analogy; and since rules, however absurdly formed at first, are better than no rules at all, it would, in my opinion, be advisable to consider every word of this form as subject to the penultimate accent, and to look upon apotheosis and metamorphosis, as exceptions.
(e) The next rule we may venture to lay down as a pretty general one, is, that if the words derived from the learned languages, though anglicised by altering the termination, contain the same number of syllables as in the original languages, they are generally to be pronounced with the same accent: that is, with the same accent as the first person present of the indicative mood active voice, or as the present participle of the same verb. The reality of this rule will best appear by a selection of such classes of words as have an equal number of syllables in both languages.
(f) Words which have a in the penultimate syllable:
| prévalent, | praevălens, |
| equívalent, | aequivǎlens, |
| adjácent, | adjăcens, |
| lígament, | ligāmen, |
| ínfamous, | infāmis, |
| própagate, | propāgo, |
| índagate, | indǎgo, |
| súffragan, | suffrāgans. |
In this small class of words we find all but the first two have a different accent in English from that of the Latin. The rule for placing the accent in that language being the simplest in the world: if the penultimate syllable is long, the accent is on it; if short, the accent is on the antepenultimate.
(g) Words which have e in the penultimate syllable:
| pénetrate, | penĕtro, |
| díscrepant, | discrĕpans, |
| precédent, | praecedēns, |
| élegant, | elĕgans, |
| exúperant, | exupĕrans, |
| exúberant, | exubĕrans, |
| éminent, | emĭnens, |
| éxcellent, | excēllens, |
| álienate, | alīeno, |
| délegate, | delēgo. |
In this class we find the penultimate e accented in English as in Latin, except in the three last words. The word alienate departs from the Latin accentuation, by placing the stress on the first syllable, as if derived from the English noun alien. The e in penetro is either long or short in Latin, and in this case we generally prefer the short sound to the long one.
(h) Words which have i in the penultimate syllable:
| acclívous, | acclīvus, |
| declívous, | declīvus, |
| proclívous, | proclīvus, |
| lítigant, | litĭgans, |
| mítigant, | mitĭgans, |
| síbilant, | sibĭlans, |
| vígilant, | vigĭlans, |
| fúlminant, | fulmĭnans, |
| discríminate, | discrimĭno, |
| perspícience, | perspicĭens, |
| cónscience, | conscĭens, |
| obédience, | obedĭens, |
| péstilence, | pestĭlens, |
| súpplicate, | supplĭcans, |
| éxplicate, | explĭcans, |
| ábdicate, | abdĭcans, |
| próvidence, | provĭdens, |
| féstinate, | festīno, |
