PLACE AND POWER OF ACCENT IN LANGUAGE. 275 



accent the penult of all diminutives, contrary to their usual practice in words, 

 with a short final syllable, as in natSiov, 7rcuSicr/<:os, k.t.K. 



Under this head I am sorry to record my dissent from a German writer of 

 acknowledged excellence on this subject — Dr Karl Gottling.* This learned 

 writer lays down the maxim in the first place, that in the Greek language the 

 accent falls on the syllable containing the principal idea of the word ; and, 

 accordingly, he says that in Xeyco and other verbs not pure it falls on the penult, 

 because this syllable is the root, and the root, as containing the principal idea of 

 the word, is naturally emphasized. Now, looking back to the first framers of a 

 language, I cannot see in this case any reason why the root syllable should have 

 received the accent rather than the termination, which, for the sake of distinc- 

 tion and contrast, is added to the root. If we say aKapiros, because we wish to 

 call attention to the negative particle, why should we not say Xeyw calling 

 attention to the personal pronoun ; as, in fact, we do say in English, quoth T, 

 quoth he ? And in the same way with regard to nouns, as the terminations of 

 the cases were originally expressions of relation, attached to the noun for the 

 sake of emphasis and contrast, I do not see why the schoolboy fashion of declining 

 dominus-i-o '-um — should not have been the original one. And so in the case 

 of the German brauerii and the Scotch brewer^ as contrasted with the English 

 breivery ; for though no doubt it may be said, that as the root brew contains the 

 principal idea, the accent should naturally be there, and this is what Goettling 

 says, yet it may with more right be said, that what is intended to be emphasized 

 here is not mere brewing, but a place for brewing, and that the syllable denoting 

 the place receives the accent as appropriately as the terminations r)piov, elov, 

 and oiv, when used for the same purpose in Greek. Only so much truth, 

 therefore, can I perceive to lie in Goettling's principle, as to admit that, so soon 

 as the original signification of terminations is lost, and people commence to 

 supply their place by prepositions, pronouns, and other separate words, whose 

 significance is felt — then, and not till then, can the accent on the root syllable be 

 regarded as natural and normal in language. Thus, when the German says 

 Hdbe, laying the stress on the first syllable of the first person singular present 

 indicative of the verb to have, it is natural and normal, because the termina- 

 tion e has no significance to him, and could receive an accent only from 

 a senseless fashion, not from a natural propriety. On the other hand, in 

 A'bgdbe, Hingdbe, Zugabe, and similar compounds, the accent is properly placed 

 on the contrasting element of the compound, of which the significance is strongly 

 felt. 



The next element we have to take into consideration in measuring the value 

 of different accentual systems is Euphony. The simple mention of this word 

 will suffice to show how very one-sided a notion it was in Goettling, that the 



* Elements of Greek Accentuation, from the German. London : Whitaker. 1831. 



