accent regularly. Thus, in such a word as mod'ify', while the strongest accent is on the first syllable, the third syllable is stronger than the second."

4.

When a word contains two syllables each of which

९

is pronounced with the same degree of force, the word is said to have even' accent. Even, or nearly even, accent occurs in the numerals thirteen, fourteen, etc., when used alone or separated from the noun modified, as in He is thirteen'; but not in counting or when preceding an accented syllable, as in fourteen' days, in which cases the stronger accent falls on the first syllable. Even accent also sometimes occurs in compounds, as wellbe'ing, red'-hot', but the tendency is to make the accent somewhat stronger on one syllable or the other according to the rhythmic principle. Thus, a red-hot' stove; the stove is red'-hot', etc. The determination of accent in compound words offers many difficulties because such words are particularly liable to shifting accent according to the dominant idea in the mind of the speaker or according to the accentuation of following words, following the rhythmic principle. In general, however, it is governed by the logical principle that even accent keeps distinct the original ideas expressed by the members of the compound, while uneven accent combines them into a simple new idea. Thus when the compound is composed of two nouns, the first of which has the function of a simple attribute, even accent is common, as in ber'ry pie', steel' pen'. When the meanings of the two components become so intimately blended that the separate ideas are lost sight of in the single idea expressed by the compound we have combinative stress, as in rainbow', book' case'."

5. "Contrasting accent. When it is desired to contrast two or more words, they are often given an accentuation different from their more usual one, as agreeable and dis'agreeable, bear and for bear."

6. "Shifting, or variable, accent. Words in which the accent varies are said to have shifting accent. Shifting accent is common in English. In former periods of English the accentuation was often more variable than in present use. Thus in Shakespeare we have many such instances as adverse and adverse, misplaced and misplaced, profáne and prófane. Such variable accent was admissible in Shakespeare's time because then many words, especially from the French, were in a transition stage as regards their accentuation, and were accented in either of two ways. This was true not only of many adjectives but also of nouns, as confessor and con'fessor, revenue and revenue. Most such words have in present English become fixed in accentuation, as confessor, revenue."

Accent is often shifted to indicate different parts of speech. In the case of words of two syllables that are used as verbs and also as nouns or adjectives, the second syllable is usually accented in the verb form and the first syllable in the noun or adjective form. The following will illustrate variable accent as employed in words that are used as different parts of speech:

VERB converse'

present'

rebel'

retail'

NOUN OR ADJECTIVE

con'verse pres'ent

reb'el

re'tail

A great many words retain the same accent for different

The misplacing of accent is a very common source of mispronunciation. Next to the misuse of the vowel sounds, more mistakes of pronunciation are due to this than to any other cause. A great many common words that everyone should know how to pronounce correctly are mispronounced by improperly placed accent. The words "address'," "entire'," "defect'," " robust',"\" pretense'," for which no authority gives any pronunciation other than that with the accent on the final syllable, are mispronounced by a great many people by placing the accent on the first syllable. The speaker should be painstaking enough to be absolutely certain of the accent of at least all the common words that he employs. Yet a casual observer will note that many speakers are very careless in this respect. The mispronunciation of such common words as these is always indicative of carelessness. No educated person, and certainly no public speaker, can well afford to allow a laxness of this kind to persist and continue to be a source of criticism. The student of public speaking in particular should make an earnest effort to weed out of his vocabulary all such errors, which are bound to be a hindrance to his success.

A common error in the use of accent is to disregard the recessive principle of English accentuation by shifting the accent forward one or two syllables. There are a great many words, which all authorities are agreed should follow the recessive principle, that are quite commonly mispronounced by incorrectly placing the accent forward, as "ad'mirable" called "admir'able"; "a'lias," com'parable,' comparable"; blas'phedes'picable," " despic'able."

ali'as"; mous," "blasphem'ous

"

In some words the accent does not follow the recessive principle, but tends toward the final syllable. In words of this kind the mispronunciation is due to a shift of accent backward, as "ally'" called "al'ly"; "address"," ad'dress"; "oppo'nent,' "op'ponent"; "pretense'," " pre'tense"; ro'bust "; romance',"

"robust',"