ACC
The Jhort Accent /hews that the Time of Pronunciation ought to be fhort, and is marked thus (- u ).
Some even rank the Hyphen, Diaftole, and Apoftrophe, among Accents. See Hyphen, Diastole, and Apostro- phe.
The Hebrews have a Grammatical, a Rhetorical, and a Mufical Accent ; tho the firft and laft feem, in effect, to be the fame ; both being comprized under the general Name of Tonic Accents, becaufe they give the proper Tone to Syl- lables : as the Rhetorical Accents are faid to be Euphonic; inafmuch as they tend to make the Pronunciation more fwect and agreeable.
There are four Euphonic Accents, and twenty five Tonic, of which fome are placed above, and others below the Syl- lables ; the Hebrew Accents ferving not only to regulate the Rifings and Fallings of the Voice, but alfo to diftinguifh the Sections, Periods, and Members of Periods in a Difcourfe ; and to anfwer the fame Purpofcs with the Points in other Languages. See Point.
Their Accents are divided into Emperors, Kings, Dukes, &c. each bearing a Title anfwerable to the Importance of the Diftinclion it makes. — TheirEmperor rules over a whole Phrafe, and terminates the Senfe compleatly ; anfwering to our Point.— Their King anfwers to our Colon ; and their Duke to our Comma. — The King, however, occafionally be- comes a Duke, and the Duke a King, as the Phrafes are
more or lefs fhort. It mud be noted, by the way, that
the Management and Combination of thefe Accents differs in Hebrew Poetry from what it is in Profe.
The Ufe of thefe Tonic or Grammatical Accents has been much controverted; fome holding that they diftinguifh the Senfe, while others maintain that they are only intend- ed to regulate the Mufick or Singing ; alledging, that the Jews fing rather than read the Scriptures in their Syna- gogues.
The Truth feems here to be between the two Opinions ; for tho we are inclined to think, that the primary Intention of thefe Accents was to direct the Singing ; yet the Singing feems to have been regulated according to the Senfe ; fo that the Accents feem not only to guide the Singing, but alfo to point out the Diftinctions. — Tho it muft be conk-fs'd, that many of thefe Diftinctions arc too fubtil and inconfiderable ; nor can the modern Writers, or the Editors of old ones, agree in the Matter ; fome of them making twice as many of thefe Diftinctions as others.
The Hebrew Accents, in effect, have fomething common with thofe of the Greeks and Latins ; and fomething pecu- liar to the Hebrew.— What they have in common, is, that they mark the Tones ; fhewing how rhe Voice is to be rais'd and funk on certain Syllables. What they have peculiar, is, that they do the Office of the Points in other Languages. Sec Pointing.
Be this as it will, 'tis certain the antient Hebrews were rot acquainted with thefe Accents ; fo that, at beft, they are not Jure divine. — The Opinion which prevails among the Learned, is, that they were invented about the Vlth Century, by the Jcwijh Doctors of the School of Tiberias, called the MaJJbretes. See Massoretes.
The learned Hetmin, affirms 'em to be of Arabic Inven- tion ; and to have been adopted and transfer'd thence into the Hebrew by the MaJJoraes : He adds, that they were firft brought to their degree of Perfection, by Rabbi Jtlda Sen David Chi l/g, a Native of Fez, in the Xlth Century. — 'Tis indeed poffible, the Jews might borrow their Points from the Arabs ; but how they fhould have their Accents from 'em is hard to conceive, the Arabic Language having no fuch thing as Accents, either in Profe or Verie.
The fame Hcnnin makes the Arab Alchahil Ebn Ahmed, who lived about the Time of Mahomet, the great Improver of the Arabic Accents. — The chief ground of the Opinion, is, that this Writer is faid to have been the firft who reduced Poetry into an Art ; marking the Meafures and Quantities of the Vcrfes, by the Latins call'd Tedes, and by us, Feet. — Add, that the Share Hcnnin gives Rabbi Jttda of Fez, in compleating the Hebrew Accents, is chiefly founded on the common Opinion, that this Rabbin was the firft Gram- marian among the Jews. But the Opinion is erroneous ; there having been a Hebrew Grammar compos'd by R. Saa- dias Gaon, many Years before R. Juda. In M. Simon's Critical Hiftory of the Old Teftament, we have a Catalogue of Hebrew Grammars ; at the Head of which is this of R. Saadias : M. Simon, on this Occafion, obferves, " That " after the Jews of Tiberias had added Points and Accents " to the Text of the Old Teftament, the Doftors of the tl other Schools began to do the like in their Copies, which " were afterwards imitated by the reft."
As to the Greek Accents, now fcen borh in the manufcript and printed Books, there has been no lefs Difpute about their Antiquity and Ufe, than about thofe of the Hebrews. — Ifiac Vojjitis, in an exprefs Treatife de Accentibus Grte- camas, endeavours to prove them of modern Invention ;
(17)
ACC
aucrting, that antiemly they had nothing of this Kino* but a few Notes in their Poetry, which were invented by Ariftophanes the Grammarian, 'about the Time of 'Ptole- my Tbllopiater ; and that thefe were of mufical, rather than grammatical Ufe, ferving as Aids in the ringing of their Poems ; and very different from thofe introduced af- terwards.
He adds, that Arijlarcbus, a Difdple of Ariftopbtinesj improved on his Matter's Art ; but that all they both did
only tended to facilitate Youth in the making of Vcrfes. •
The fame Vcjjius (hews from feveral antient Grammarians/ that the manner of writing the Greek Accents in thofe Days, was quite different from thofe ufed in our Books.
Hen. Chrift. Hennin, in a Differtation publifhed to fhew that the Greek Tongue ought not to be pronounced according to the Accents, efpoules the Opinion o(VoJfius,and even carries' the Matter ffill further.— He thinks that Accents were the Invention of the Arabians, about nine hundred Years ago ; and that they were only ufed in Poetry ; that they were' in- tended to afcertain the Pronunciation of the Greek, and to keep out that Barbarifm which was then breaking in upon them ; that the antient Accents of Ariftophanes were per- fbaiy agreeable ro the genuine Greek Pronunciation, but that the modern ones of the Arabs deftroy it.
Wetftein, Greek Profeffor at Safil, in a learned Differta- tion, endeavours to prove the Greek Accents of an older Sanding. — He owns that they were not always form'd in the fame manner by the Antients ; but thinks that Difference owing to the different Pronunciation which obtain'd in the feveral Farts of Greece.
He brings feveral Reafons a -priori for the Ufe of Accents, even in the earlicft Days ; as that they then wrote all in capital Letters, equidiflant from each other, without any Diltinction cither o( Words or Phrafes ; which without Ac- cents could fcarce be intelligible : and that Accents were ne- ceffary to diftinguifh ambiguous Words, and to point out their proper meaning ; which he confirms from a Difpute on a Paffage in Homer, mention'd by Ariftotle in his 'Poe- ticks, Chap. V. Accordingly, he obferves, that the Syri- ans, who have tonic, but no diftinctive Accents, have yet invented certain Points, placed either below or above the Words, to fhew their Mood, Tenfe, Petfon, or Senfe. See further in his Diffcrtatio Eiiflolica de Accestuma Grcecorum Antiquitate l£ Ufit. Bafii, i6%6.
Accent, in Mufick, is a Modulation of the Voice, to exprefs a Paffion. See Passion.
Every Bar or Meafure is divided into accented and unac- cented Parts. See Measure.
The Accented Parts are the Principal ; being thofe in- tended chiefly to move and affect : 'Tis on thefe the Spirit of the Mufick depends. See Bar, and Musick.
The Beginning and Middle ; or the beginning of the firft half of the Bafs, and the beginning of the latter half thereof, in common Time ; and the beginning, or firft of the three Notes in triple Time ; arc always the accented Parts of the Meafure. See Time.
In Common Time, the firft and third Crotchet of the Bar are on rhe accented Part of the Meafure.— In Triple Time, where the Notes always go by three and three, rhat which is in the middle of every three is always unaccented ; the firft and laft accented. But the Accent in the firft is fo much ftronger, that in many Cafes the laft is accounted as if it had no Accent. See Composition.
The Harmony is always to be full, and void of Difcords
in the accented Parts of the Meafure. See Harmony. .
In the unaccented Parts this is not fo neceffary ; Difcords here pafling without any great Offence to the Ear. SeeDiS- coro, Counterpoint, &c. ACCEPT. See Acceptance, and Acceptation. ACCEPTANCE, Acceptio, Acceptatio, in Matters of Law, in agreeing or confenting to fome Act already done j which, without fuch Content, might have been un- done, cr render 'd invalid.
The Acceptance of a Donation, is neceffary to its Validity 5 is a Solemnity eflential thereto. — Acceptance, fay the Civi- lians, is the Concurrence of the Will or Choice of the Do- nee, which renders the Act compleat ; and without which the Donor may revoke his Gift at pleafure. See Dona- tion, £S?c.
In Beneficiary Matters, the Canonifts hold, that the Ac- ceptance fhould be fignify'd at the fame time with the Re- fignation ; & non ex intervallo. See Resignation.
In Common Law, Acceptance is particularly ufed for a tacit kind of Agreement to what has been done by another, — If Baron and Feme, feiz'd of Land in Righr of the Feme, make a joint Leafe, or Feoffment by Deed 5 refervinp Rent : The Baron dying, and the Feme receiving the Rent ; fuch Receipt is deemed an Acceptance, and fhall make the Leafe good : So that fhe fhall be barr'd from bringing the Writ Cut ill Vita. See Cut in Vita.
