viii INTRODUCTION 



do not have the accent indicated. Clements gives the following rule for accents: 

 "In words of two syllables or more the accent is on the penult [next to the last 

 syllable], when it is long; when the penult is short, the antepenult [third syllable 

 from the end] is accented." This is correct if rightly understood. Long syllables 

 are of two kinds, however; one with vowel length, the other with consonant length, 

 that is, when it ends in one or more consonant sounds. Unfortunately, in a 

 syllable with consonant length the vowel is usually called short, not only in 

 English, but in most modern languages. In many Latin lexicons the vowel in 

 such a syllable is marked as long (wrong according to modern notions), in a few 

 as short; others are noncommittal. In fact, the syllable is long (as shown in 

 verse) although the vowel is short. There are three kinds of syllables, two end- 

 ing in vowels, and one in a consonant. If there are one or more consonants 

 between two vowels, one of these is always counted to the second syllable and 

 the rest to the first, except that ch, ph, and th are regarded as one letter and a 

 mute followed by r is carried to the second syllable (hy-dra, as-tra). 



The grave accent (a) is here used to denote a long vowel* and the acute (a) 

 a short vowel syllable or a syllable with consonant length. The penult has the 

 accent when it ends in a consonant, but if it ends in a vowel it has the accent 

 only if this vowel is long. In hy-dro-phyl-lum (water-leaf) the penult ends in a 

 consonant and hence has the accent, and the vowel is marked short, as the syllable 

 has consonant length; in hy-dro-phi-la (water-lover) the penult ends in a vowel 

 and this is short; the accent is removed to the antepenult and, as the connecting 

 vowels ?' (in Latin) or o (in Greek) in compound words are short, the antepenult 

 has a short accent. Greek words follow practically the same rules, but un- 

 fortunately they do not always have the same quantity as the corresponding 

 Latin words. For instance, in Latin the y in stylus (in classical Latin better 

 stilus) is short, while in orrvAos the v is long. In brevistylis (Latin) the accent is 



on the antepenult, while in brachystylis (Greek) it is on the penult. A person 

 must not be influenced by the English pronunciation of words similar to or 

 derived from the Latin or Greek scientific terms, as it is very often corrupted. 

 The words Spermatophyta, Pteridophyta, etc., have the accent on the antepenult 

 and short o and y, while the English Spenndtophyte and Pteridophyte have the 

 accent on the antepenult with a long y in the last syllable. Just the reverse we 

 find in the Greek and Latin Anemone and the English Anemone. 



As stated before, when the penult ends in a consonant, i. e., when the vowel 

 is followed by two consonants or more, or a double consonant, it always has the 

 accent and this is short. If, however, the vowel is followed by one or no con- 

 sonant, one has to find out whether it is long or short. To determine this one 

 has very often to go to the lexicon. Most of the specific names are Latin or 

 Greek adjective, some are nouns in the genitive case, and a few are old generic 

 names or nouns of barbaric origin. For the last two categories no rules can be 

 given, but the following hints may help in pronouncing the adjectives and geni- 

 tives : 



The penult is long, as a rule, in the following adjective endings and hence 

 takes the long accent: -dlis,^ -anus, -dris, -dtus, -enus, -etus, -4nus,% -ttus, -wus, 

 oldes, -ovus, -osus, -iinus, -unes, -itrus, -usus, -utus. In classical Latin there 

 were very few compound adjectives, but in botanical Latin they are used freely. 

 A few in which the last term has a long vowel in the penult and hence accented, 

 may be mentioned: -fusus, -glumis, -physus, -florus. 



The penult has usually a short vowel in the following adjective endings, and 

 hence the accent is removed to the antepenult: -acus, -eus, -eris, -erus, -eger 



* This must not bdfcconfused with the so-called long English a, for in English nearly 

 all the sounds of a (except the short a as hi "hat") are long. The a in "hall" is long in 

 English, though not the so-called long sound. In Latin, a word with such a spelling 

 would have consonant length and be denoted with the short accent. In English the a 

 in the names Hall and Haller are pronpunced differently, as it is in mall and mallet, but 

 in Lathi the a is pronounced the same in Hdllii and Halleri. 



t Only the masculine form is given here, the feminine and neuter forms follow the 

 same rule; -alls and -anus stand for -alis, -alis, -ale, and -anus, -ana, -anum, etc. 



% Short in serotinus, gossipinus, cannabinus, and others. On the other hand salidnus 

 and cyperinus are usually indicated as long. The classical form of these words were, how- 

 ever, salignus and cyprinus. 



