In the Greek language a double accent is some times found on one word ; but only when the latter is superinduced by some short and subordinate word which hangs upon the other. Suds short words are called enclitics, and form a class by them selves in the language, as they cannot be known by their meaning or form. By way of example we may give, nit (a certain usurper), elM (I know thee). In these cases, we observe' that the two accents, if both are sharp, are found on alter nate syllables, as in English ; but whether one of them was secondary we do not know. If the former is a circumflex, the latter is on the following syl lable. Occasionally, two or more enclitics follow each other in succession, and produce a curious combination ; as, thrcir a-o6 aoc. These accents, however, are not vocabular, but oratorical.
The Hebrews have in many cases, secondary accents, called aforetone, because with them it always precedes the principal accent (or tone '), as, tarp katebzi ; the intermediate and unaccented vowel being in such cases exceedingly short and obscure, so that some grammarians refuse to count it at all. This foretone is described as a stress of the voice uttered in a lower note, and therefore may seem identical in sound with the flat accent of the Greeks. It differs, however, in being always accompanied with the sharp accent on the same word, and in being vocabular, not merely oratorical.
On the Place of the Accent.—A great difference exists between different languages as to the place of the accent. In Hebrew it is found solely on the last syllable and last but one, and is assumed syste matically by many grammatical terminations, as in Afelek (for ]Valk), a king, pl. IlfelOkr in. This is so entirely opposed to the analogies of English, that it has been alleged (Latham On the English Language) that Princess is the only word in which our accent falls on a final inflection. The radical contrast of all this to our own idiom leads to a perverse pronunciation of most Hebrew names : thus we say Isaiah, Nehemiah, Canaani, I'srael although with their true accent they are Isaiah, Nehemyah, Cana-an, Israel ; to say nothing of other peculiarities of the native sound. In Greek, the accent is found on any of the three last syl lables of a word ; the circumflex only on the two last. In the Latin language, it is very remarkable that (except in the case of monosyllables) the accent never fell on the last syllable, but was strictly con fined to the penultima and antepenultima. This peculiarity struck the Greek ear, it is said, more than anything else in the sound of Latin, as it gave to it a pompous air. It is the more difficult to
believe that any thoughtful Greek seriously im puted it to Roman pride, since we are told that the ./Eolic dialect of Greek itself agreed in this respect with the Latin (See Foster On Accent and Quantity, ch. iv.) The Latin accentuation is remarkable for having the place of the accent dictated solely by euphony, without reference to the formation or meaning of the word ; in which respect the Greek only partly agrees with it, chiefly when the accent falls on the penultima or ante penultima. The Latin accent, however, is guided by the quantity of the penultimate syllable; the Greek accent by the quantity of the ultimate vowel. The rules are these :— r. Greek : When the last vowel is long, the accent is on the penultima ; when the last vowel is short, the accent is on the antepenultima.' Oxylony are herein excepted. 2. Latin : ' When the pen ultimate syllable is long, the accent is upon it ; when short, the accent is on the antepenultima. Every dissyllable is accented on the penultima.' Accord ingly, the Greek accent, even on the cases of the very same noun, shifted in the following curious fashion : N. 6tvOpcoros, G. cipOpeorov, D. civOpthx-cp, Ac. and in Latin, rather differently, yet with an equal change, N. &Irmo, G. Sennonis, etc. It is beyond all question that the above rule in Greek is genuine and correct (though it does not apply to oxytons, that is, to words accented on the last syllable, and has other exceptions which the Greek grammars will tell) ; but there is a natural difficulty among Englishmen to believe it, since we have been taught to pronounce Greek with the accentuation of Latin; a curious and hurtful cor ruption, to which the influence of Erasmus is said to have principally contributed. It deserves to be noted that the modern Greeks, in pronouncing their ancient words, retain, with much accuracy on the whole, the ancient rules of accent ; but in words of recent invention or introduction they follow the rule, which seems natural to an Englishman, of keeping the accent on the same syllable through all cases of a noun. Thus, although they sound as of old, N. liy0pwros, G. yet in the word rolabyr), a lady, which is quite recent, we find (plural), N. a; xoxthvcr, G. r6)v KoKthvw, etc. Simi larly, 6 Kavridyos, the captain, G. roilnairirdyou, etc. This is only one out of many marks that the modern Greek has lost the nice appreciation of the quantity or time of vowel sounds, which charac terized the ancient.