On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
Latin rule , and never familiarized with the Greek , especially as the Latin is , in this respect , more agreeable to the English , should conceive that the
Greek accent is not properly conformed to the quantity . Thus in the instance before us , we may think that the lon # quantity of the second syllable of ^ & « ros can hard ly be preserved if the tone is elevated on the first . in
The ear is the only jud ^ e matter ; but as far as reason pfoes , it would be impossible to shew that this particular predicament of the second syllable is more ^ unfavourable to its quantity than any other . Moreover , as we have already shewn , that in words of this class the ancient Greeks
actually did accent the first syllable , and at the same time prolong the second , that fact alone is sufficient to shew that there can be nothing" in this usage contrary to natural euphony . But for the sake of argument I wilt wave these considerations , and illustrate the use of the Greek accents
simply by reference to our native language . For this purpose I have to observe that , in many English words , we may perceive , beside the principal accent , another tone on some other syllable , which , approaching in nature
to the first , may be called a secondary accent . For example , I should say there is a secondary accent ou the first syllable of the word universal , on the third of the word matrimony ¦ , and on the second of the word
schoolmaster . This , I think , gives the clue to the Greek pronunciation . In English we may observe that these secondary accents are capable of sustaining verse almost as well as the primary . Witness the line ,
Parent of good , Almighty , thine this universal frame . la this instance there is something of long quantity to help the accent , but in the following this secondary accent , even on a short syllable , is sufficient . Die of a rose in aromatic pain .
I allude to the first syllable of the word aromatic . Now , I presume that in Greek , the long syllables , especially those most essential to the rhythm , although not bearing the principal accent of the word , were yet a us tained
Untitled Article
by something like this secondary ae * cent of ours . And if this be just , it will follow , that the principles of rhythm in the two languages are not so widely different as they might otherwise appear . It will shew , also , how
foolish the question is that has been proposed , viz . whether the pronunciation of Greek is better conducted by accent or quantity ? " It is a question , " observes Foster , " of like kind
with the following , whether in walking a man had better use his right or his left leg singly . " This doctrine of the secondary tones I will now apply more particularly to the pronunciation of the several varieties of Greek
words , and trust , in this way , to shew th&t the genuine utterance of this noble language may easily be attained by any Englishman who will bestow common pains upon it . Take , for instance , the first line of Homer ' s Iliad :
Mvjvtv cce&e , Gsd , IlvjX ^ V ' a ^ f&j A % fX ^ . In the second word we encounter an accent on the first syllable , followed by a long penultima . If we pronounce this * word like the English , hones ty * Our ear will tell us that the just rhythm is lost . We must ,
therefore , seek for a model a similar English word , accented , indeed , on the first syllable , but carrying also a secondary accent on a long pen ultima .
Let us then pronounce the word duds somewhat as we do the English words , school-master 9 m&n-eater , and other compounds of this description . I do not say that these English words will serve as exact models for the Greek :
they fail in respect to quantity , as Eng lish pronunciation always does , but in relation to the accent , I think they are very fair examples . Again , such a word as < pi \ a , vO quit **; may be pronounced somewhat as our word eldn ^
grated , taking care to utter the third syllable distinctly and firmly , and to dwell on it a proper time . Such a word as % & \ w resembles our word headache , when well pronounced . Such a
word as icrooxog may be pronounced like our word , undone , or herein ; and such a one as Xa / AnraSos will not bo misrepresented by such as out-witted * hatoever . These will be sufficient to serve as examples of all others . Another mode in which an idea may b *
Untitled Article
448 Argument in favour of the Greek AccenU ,
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1823, page 448, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1787/page/16/
-