A C C 



»a, a, a, a, to which they have added a fifth, thus s ■■, 

 They maki- a kind of modulation, fo tliat by prolonging the 

 duration of the found of the vowel, they vary tlio tone, 

 raifing or falling it by a certain pitch of voice :_ and 

 their t-ilkin i ii a fort of mufic or fniging. The fame lound 

 J I, according to the accent affixed to it, fi^nifies GoiJ, a 

 Will/, fXidlint, JIup'ulily and a s^ooji-. If they deviate ever 

 fo little from the accent, ilicy fay quite a conti-ary thing to 

 what WIS intended. Thus, meaning to compliment the 

 pcrfon with whom you are converfing with the title of Sir, 

 you call him a bcall with tlie fame word, by merely a flight 

 vaiiation of the tone. Spizel. de Re. Liter. Sineiif. p. 106. 

 BuUTing. Dili", de Litt. Sinenf. p. 308. Le Compte, Nouv. 

 Mem. fur la Chiiic, torn. i. p. 270. 



The Siamefc are alio obfcr\ed to fing rather than talk. 

 Their alphabet begins with fix charadei-s, all only equivalent 

 to K, but differently accented. For though in tiie pro- 

 nunciiilion the accents are naturally on the vowels, yet they 

 have fome to diverfify fuch of their confonants as are in 

 other refpecls the faine. De la Loubiere du Royaume de 

 Siain. tom. ii. ^ 8. 



As minutely as the accents of words have been ftudied, 

 thofe of fcntences fcem to have been utterly overlooked ; 

 yet it may be obferved, that all mankind lower the voice at 

 the end of a period, and elevate it in interrogations, and 

 the like. See Bacon de Augm. Scien.J. vi. c. I. Elem. 

 Crit. vol. ii. 



Accent is applied, not veiy properly, to the charafters 

 which mark the quantities of iyllables, or the time during 

 which the voice is to dvytll upon them. The fpurious ac- 

 cents anfwer to the characters of time in mufic, as crotchets, 

 quavers, &c. The genuine accents rather anfwer to the 

 mufical notes, fol, fa, &c. Such are the long accent, 

 which fliews that the voice is to flop on the vowel, and is 

 exprelTed thus, {' ) : and the (hort accent, which (hews that 

 the time of pronunciation ought to be (liorter, and is mark- 

 ed thus ( ' ). Some even rank the hyphen, diallole and 

 apoftrophc, among accents. 



Accent alfo denotes a certain inflexion of the voice; 

 or a peculiar tone, and manner of pronunciation, contrafted 

 from the country, or province, where a perfon was bred. 

 In this fenfe, we fay, the Welfh tone or accent, the 

 Northern acceiK, the Gafcoign accent, Norman accent, &c. 

 See Pronunciation. 



Accent is alio a tone or modulation of the voice, fre- 

 quently ufed as a mark of the intention of the fpeaker, and 

 giving a good or evil fignification to his words. One may 

 give offence with the fofteft and moft foothing words imagin- 

 able, by a proper management of the accent and manner of 

 j)ronouncing them. The accent frequently gives a contrary 

 fenfe to that which the words themfelves naturally im- 

 ported. 



Accent, in Muf.c. In the mechanifm of melody, or 

 meafured mufical tones, muficians have long agreed to 

 regard \.\iifirfi and third notes of a bar, in common time, 

 whether vocal or inftrumental, as accented, and iheficoml 

 and fourlh notes as unaccented. In triple time, divided 

 into three portions, the Jtijl note and lajl are accented, the 

 feond unaccented. But thcfe accents are varioufly modi- 

 fied ; often to produce fome comic effefl, as wantonly 

 limping to ridicule lamenefs. If the third note in triple 

 time is accented in ferious mufic, it is always !efs forcibly 

 marked than the firft. In the fpeech or elocution of the 

 natives of every country, and almoft in every province of a 

 country, there is a peculiar tone or tune, by which nice ob- 

 fervers difcover the rcfidence of the fpeaker. A native of 

 Scotland, e. g. however carefully educated, and accurate his 



A C C 



pronunciation, has a cantilena, a tone of voice, by which an 

 Englidimaa difcoveis his country. The language that ii 

 the moft forcibly and frequently accented, is indifputably 

 the bed fitted to receive mufical tones. When it was faid 

 in a converfatlon with Mctaftafio on the fubjecl of languages, 

 that the Italian was the beft calculated for mufic of any 

 dialeti in Europe, he cried out " e imijicajlipa," it is mufii 

 itfelf. Another Italian (Eximeno) obf,.i-ved, that the con- 

 verfation of a Roman matron, vol uri arln, is equal to an air. 

 In letting fong«, the llrufture of the vei'fe regulates the 

 mufical accents ; and inftrumental mufic is but a fucceda- 

 neum to vocil. It may be faid, therefore, that no mufic, 

 even for inftruments, is fo generally pleafing as that which 

 can be lung. The geniuo of inftruments, and abilities of per- 

 formers, require more notes to difplay their powers, than a 

 human voice can, witli propriety, attempt to execute. la 

 very rapid divifions, afcending or defcending the fcale ia 

 notes of equal length, no regard is had to accents ; and, 

 though the execution may be neat and articulate, an Italian, 

 fond of fiinpKcity, would fay of it, as of a fhake mifappii :d ; 

 non dice nitmc, it lays nothing. Without accent there is 

 no more melody in fong, than in the humming of a bee ; 

 and without the regular ari-aiigement of long and fliort fyl- 

 lables, there can be no verfification. There are as many 

 different accents in mufic as in fpeech, or m.odesof enforcing 

 or enfeebUng the meaning of word.?. There is a yes that 

 fays no, and a no that fays_)'cj-. There are accents of fpirit 

 and accents of violence, of tendjrnefs and of friendlhip. 

 The voice of a feeling finger can modulate all thefe fliades, 

 or affeft the hearer on the fide of intelleft as well as of 

 fenfe. Dionyfius Halicarn. regards accent as the fource of 

 all mufic. Accents is a poetical name for verfe itfelf. 



" Wings on your wings to heav'n her accents bear 

 Such words as heav'n alone is fit to hear." 



Paffions and affeftions are the food of vocal mufic. Dry- 

 den's Virgil, paft. iii. 



" Give to the mufician (fays Rouffeau) as many images 

 and fentiments to exprefs as poffible ; for the paJTiona fing, 

 the underftanding only fpeaks." 



" Accent, according to Holder (Elements of Speech), 

 as in the Greek names and ufage, feems to have regarded 

 the tune of the voice ; the acute accent raifing it in fome 

 certain fyllables to a higher, i. e. more acute pitch, or tone, 

 and the grave depreffing it lower, and both having fome 

 emphafis, i.e. more vigorous pronunciation." See Accunt 

 in Grammar. 



The variety of inftrumental expreffion produced by the 

 different manner of ufing the fame pafTage or groupe of • 

 notes on the violin and violoncello, on the flute by the 

 coup deUangue, on the hautboy by the prefiure of tlie lip, 

 is beyond calculaiion, ArticiUation, emphafis, pointed 

 bowing, flun-ing, tonguing, &c. are all technical terms, \vhich 

 will be feverally explained, as connefted with accent. 



Accent, in Poetry, See Rest and Versification. 



ACCEPTANCE, the adl of receiving or admitting. 



Acceptance, among Civilians, is the concurrence of the 

 will, or choice of the donee, which renders the aft com- 

 plete ; and without which the donor may revoke his gift at 

 pleafure. ^ 



In beneficiai-y matters, the canonifts hold, that the ac- 

 ceptance ftiould be figned at the fame time with the refigna- 

 tion, not ex inter'uallo. 



Acceptance, in Common La'-j.^, denotes a tacit agree- 

 ment to a preceding aft, which might have been defeated 

 and avoided were it not for fuch acceptance. — If a man 

 and^ his wife, feifed of land in the right of the wife, make 

 a joint kafe, or feoffment by deed, referving rent ; the man 



dying, 



