Part 2 — CHAPTER VIII WORD-ACCENT

§ 113. In discussing the English Word-accent and its relationship to rhythmic accent it is necessary to consider the Middle English and the Modern English periods separately, for two reasons. First, because the inflexional endings which play an important part in Middle English are almost entirely lost in Modern English, and secondly, because the word-accent of the Romanic element of the language differs considerably in the Middle English period from what it became in Modern English. In the treatment of each period it will be convenient to separate Germanic from Romanic words.

I. Word-accent in Middle English.

A. Germanic words. The general laws of Germanic accentuation of words, as existing in Old English, have been mentioned above (cf. §§ 18, 19). The same laws are binding also for Middle English and Modern English.

The main law for all accentual versification is this, that verse-accent must always coincide with word-accent. This holds good for all even-beat kinds of verse, as well as for the alliterative line.

The language in all works of the same date and dialect, in whatever kinds of verse they may be written, must obey the same laws of accentuation. For this reason the results derived from the relation in which the word-accent and the metrical value of syllables stand to the verse-accent, with regard to the general laws of accentuation, and especially those of inflexional syllables, must be the same for the language of all even-beat kinds of verse as for that of the contemporary alliterative line, or the verse of Layamon’s Brut and other works written in a similar form of verse and derived from the ancient native metre.

Now, when we wish to ascertain the state of accentuation of forms of words no longer spoken the evidence supplied by the even-beat rhythms is especially valuable. This is so, chiefly because it is much more difficult to make the word-accent agree with the verse-accent in this kind of rhythm, in which it is essential that accented and unaccented syllables should alternate continuously, than in the alliterative line, which allows greater freedom both in the relative position of accented and unaccented syllables and in the numerical proportion between the unaccented and the accented syllables.

In the alliterative line the position of the rhythmic accent depends on the accent of the words which make up the verse. In the even-beat metres on the other hand the regular succession of thesis and arsis is the ruling principle of the versification, on which the rhythmic accent depends, and it is the poet’s task to choose his words according to that requirement. The difficulties to be surmounted in order to bring the word-accent into conformity with the verse-accent will frequently drive the poet using this kind of rhythm to do violence to the accented and, more frequently still, to the unaccented syllables of the word. He will be induced either to contract the unaccented syllables with the accented ones, or to elide the former altogether, or to leave it to the reader to make the word-accent agree with the verse-accent by making use of level stress, or by slurring over syllables, or by admitting disyllabic or even polysyllabic theses in a verse. On the other hand, the poet who writes in the native alliterative long line or in any of its descendants is allowed as a rule to use the words required for his verse in their usual accentuation or syllabic value, or at least in a way approximating very closely to their ordinary treatment in prose. Hence those unaccented syllables which, in even-beat rhythms, are found to be subjected to the same treatment (i.e. to be equally liable to slurring, elision, syncopation, or apocopation, according to the requirements of the verse) must be presumed to have been at least approximately equal in degree of accentual force.

Now when we examine the relation between word-accent and verse-accent in certain poetical works of the first half of the thirteenth century, viz. the Ormulum (which on account of its regularity of rhythm is our best guide), the Pater Noster, the Moral Ode, the Passion, and other poems, we arrive at the following results:—

§ 114. The difference in degree of stress among inflexional endings containing an e (sometimes i or another vowel) which is alleged by some scholars—viz. that such endings (in disyllabic words) have secondary stress when the root-syllable is long, and are wholly unaccented when it is short—has no existence: in both cases the endings are to be regarded as alike unaccented. For we find that in even-beat measures(especially in the Ormulum) these endings, whether attached to a long or to a short root-syllable, are treated precisely alike in the following important respects:—

1. Those inflexional endings which normally occur in the thesis, and which are naturally suited for that position, are found in the arsis only in an extremely small number of instances, which must undoubtedly be imputed to lack of skill on the part of the poet, as e.g. in hallȝhé Orm. 70, nemmnéd ib. 75, whereas this is very frequent in those disyllabic compounds, the second part of which really has a secondary accent, as e.g. larspéll ib. 51, mannkínn ib. 277.

2. It is no less remarkable, however, that such syllables as those last mentioned, which undoubtedly bear a secondary accent, are never used by Orm to form the catalectic end of the septenary verse, evidently because they would in consequence of their specially strong accent annul or at least injure the regular unaccented feminine verse-ending. On the other hand, inflexional endings and unaccented terminations containing an e are generally used for that purpose, as on account of their lightness of sound they do not endanger in any way the feminine ending of the catalectic section of the verse. In any case, inflexional syllables following upon long root-syllables cannot have the same degree of stress, and cannot be used for the same rhythmic functions, as the end-syllables of disyllabic compounds, which undoubtedly bear a secondary accent.

The regular rhythmic employment of the two last-mentioned groups of syllables proves their characteristic difference of stress—the former being wholly unaccented, the latter bearing a secondary accent. Further inquiry into the irregular rhythmic employment of the two similar classes of inflexional endings, those following upon long root-syllables, and those following upon short ones, tends to prove no less precisely that they do not differ in degree of stress, and so that they are both unaccented. For it is easy to show that with regard to syncope, apocope, elision, and slurring they are treated quite in the same way.

Elision of the final -e before a vowel or an h takes place quite in the same way in those inflexional syllables following upon long root-syllables as it does in those less numerous syllables which follow upon short ones, e.g. Annd ȝétt ter tákenn marẹ inóh Orm. 37; Wiþþ állẹ swillc rímẹ alls hér iss sétt ib. 101; For áll þat ǽfrẹ onn érþẹ is néd ib. 121; a wíntrẹ and éc a lóre Moral Ode 1; Wel lóngẹ ic hábbe chíld ibíen ib. 3; Icc háfẹ itt dón forrþí þatt áll Orm. 115, &c. It is the same with apocopation: Forr gluternésse wácneþþ áll Galnésses láþe strénncþe, Annd állẹ þe flǽshess kággerleȝȝc Annd álle fúle lússtess Orm. 11653–6; cf. also: þatt hé wass hófenn úpp to kíng ib. 8450, and wass hófenn úpp to kínge ib. 8370; o fáderr hállf ib. 2269, and o fáderr hállfe 2028, &c.; similarly with syncopation, cf. ȝiff þú seȝȝst tátt ib. 5188, and annd séȝȝest swíllc ib. 1512; þet scúlen bén to déaþe idémd Moral Ode 106; for bétere is án elmésse bifóren ib. 26, &c.; and again with the slurring of syllables following upon long as well as upon short root-syllables, as the following examples occurring in the first acatalectic sections of septenary verse will show sufficiently: Ál þet bétste þét we héfden Moral Ode 51; Gódes wísdom ís wel míchel ib. 213, &c.

Now as a syllable bearing a secondary accent cannot become mute, as an unaccented syllable does, if required, it is evident that those inflexional syllables which follow upon long root-syllables and frequently do become silent cannot bear that secondary accent which has been ascribed to them by several scholars; on the contrary, all syllables subject in the same way to elision, apocope, syncope, and slurring must have the same degree of stress (i.e. they must be alike unaccented) whether preceded by short or by long root-syllables.

Other terminations of disyllabic words which, though not inflexional, consist, like the inflexional endings, of e + consonant, are treated in the same way, e.g. words like fader, moder, finger, heven, sadel, giver, &c. Only those inflexional and derivational endings which are of a somewhat fuller sound, as e.g., -ing, -ling, -ung, -and, -ish, and now and then even the comparative and superlative endings -er, -est, and the suffixes -lic, -lich, -ly, -y, may be looked upon as bearing a secondary accent, as they may be used at will either in the arsis of the verse or lowered to the state of unaccented syllables as the thesis.

§ 115. In a trisyllabic simple word the root-syllable, of course, has the primary accent, and of the two following syllables, that which has the fuller sound, has the secondary accent, as in áskedèst, wrítìnge, dággère, clénnèsse, híèste. If, however, the two last syllables are equally destitute of word-accent, as e.g. in clepede, lufede, they are both metrically unaccented; and, as mentioned before (cf. § 96), may be shortened either to lufde, clepte, or to lufed, cleped. If they are used, however, as trisyllables in the iambic rhythm they naturally admit of the metrical accent on the last syllable.

It is the same with compounds of nouns or adjectives. The first syllable takes the chief accent, and of the two others that has the secondary accent which is the root-syllable of the second part of the compound, as in fréendshìpe, shírrève, but wódecràft, bóldelỳ.

In verbal compounds the primary accent, in conformity with the Old English usage, generally rests on the root-syllable of the verb, while the first and last syllable are mostly unaccented, as e.g. alihten, bisechen, forgiven, ibidden, ofþunchen. In denominatives, which in Old English have the primary accent on the first syllable, as e.g. ándswarian, both kinds of accentuation are allowed: ánswere and answére.

In disyllabic and trisyllabic compounds of nouns with certain prefixes, partly accented in Old English, as e.g. al-, un-, for-, mis-, y-, a-, bi-, the primary accent does not rest on these syllables, but on the second syllable, this being the root-syllable of the word, e.g. almíhti, forgétful, unhéele, bihéeste; the first syllable in this case bears a secondary accent if it has a determinative signification, as e.g. al-, mis-, un-, but it is unaccented if it is indifferent to the meaning, as e.g. a-, y-, bi-

§ 116. A peculiar rhythmical position is held by those words which we may call parathetic compounds.[141] To these belong certain compound nouns formed by two words of almost the same weight from a syntactical and metrical point of view, as e.g. goodman, goodwyf, longswerd, and also by similar composite particles, as e.g. elleswhere, also, into, unto. Although the regular colloquial pronunciation was probably in the Middle English period, as it is in Modern English, with the accent on the first syllable, they may be pronounced with the accent on the second syllable, or at least with level stress, as e.g. goodmán, alsó, intó, &c. To this class also belong certain compounds of adverbs with prepositions, as e.g. herein, therefore, thereof, the only difference being that the usual accent rests here on the last syllable, but may be placed also on the first, as in hereín and hérein, thereóf and théreof, &c.

§ 117. These gradations of sound in the different words regulate their rhythmical treatment in the verse. In disyllabic words as a rule the syllable with the primary accent is placed in the arsis of the verse, the other syllable, whether it be an unaccented one, or have a secondary accent, is placed in the thesis. Such words as those described in the preceding section may much more easily be used with level stress than others. In that case the rhythmical accent rests on the syllable which has the secondary accent, while the syllable which in ordinary speech has the chief accent is used as a thesis.

The ordinary as well as the abnormal use of one and the same word will be illustrated by the following example:—

O mánnkinn swá þatt ítt mannkínn. Orm. 277.

With regard to the rhythmical treatment of trisyllables two classes of such words are to be distinguished, namely, (1) those in which the syllable bearing the primary accent is followed or (rarely) preceded by a syllable bearing a secondary accent, as e.g. gódspèlles, énglìshe, and (2) those in which the syllable bearing the primary accent is preceded or followed by a syllable wholly unaccented, as e.g. bigínnen, òvercóme, crístendòm, wéathercòck. In the latter case level stress is hardly ever met with, as the natural word-accent would be interfered with to an intolerable extent by accentuations like cristéndom, weathércock, ovércome, bíginnén, fórgottén, béhavióur, &c.

Words like these therefore can in regular iambic or trochaic verse be used only with their natural accentuation, and hence those syllables which either have the primary or the secondary accent are always placed in the arsis, and the unaccented ones in the thesis, e.g.: To wínnenn únnder Crísstenndóm Orm. Ded. 137; off þátt itt wáss bigúnnenn ib. 88; Though the séas thréaten, théy are mércifúl Shakesp. Temp. V. 178; Ónly compóund me wíth forgótten dúst id. 2 Hen. IV, IV. v. 116, &c. On the other hand, when primary and secondary accent occur in two adjacent syllables level stress is very common, in Middle English, especially between the first and the second syllable, as godspélles hállȝhe láre Orm. 14, more rarely between the second and the third syllable, as þa Góddspelléss neh álle ib. 30; it also occurs in Chaucer’s poems, as For thóusandés his hóndes máden dýe Troil. v. 1816; in the same way Modern English words are treated to fit the rhythm, as e.g. mídsùmmer, faíntheàrted, in Farewéll, fáint-héarted ánd degénerate kíng Shak. 3 Hen. VI. I. i. 138; And górgeous ás the sún at mídsummér 1 Hen. IV, IV. i. 102. With the more recent poets this latter kind of rhythmical accentuation becomes the more usual of the two, although the nature and the meaning of the compound word always play an important part in such cases.

With regard to their accentuation and metrical employment words of four syllables also fall into three classes: 1. Inflected forms of words belonging to the first group of trisyllables, like crístendómes, which can be used in the rhythm of the verse only with their natural accentuation; 2. words like fordémde (first and last syllable unaccented, the second syllable having the chief accent) with a determinative prefix, as e.g. únfordémde; these likewise are used in the rhythm of the verse according to their natural accentuation; 3. words of the third group with a prefix which either has the secondary accent, or is unaccented, as ùnwíslìce or iwítnèsse; the metrical usage of these is regulated according to the rules for the trisyllabic words. The same is to be observed with regard to words of five and six syllables like únderstándìnge, únimételiche, which, however, are only of rare occurrence.

§ 118. B. Romanic words. It was not till the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries that Romanic words passed in considerable numbers into the English language; and they were then accommodated to the general laws of accentuation of English. The transition, however, from Romanic to Germanic accentuation certainly did not take place at once, but gradually, and earlier in some districts and in some classes of society than in others; in educated circles undoubtedly later than amongst the common people. The accentuation of the newly introduced Romanic words thus being in a vacillating state, we easily see how the poets writing at that period in foreign even-beat rhythms, of whom Chaucer may serve as a representative, could use those words with whichever accentuation best suited their need at the moment, admitting the Romanic accentuation chiefly in rhymes, where it afforded them great facilities, and the usual Germanic accentuation mostly in the interior of the line. A few examples will suffice to illustrate this well-known fact. We arrange them in five classes according to the number of syllables in the words; the principles of metrical accentuation not being precisely identical in the several classes.

Disyllabic words. I. Words whose final syllable is accented in French. They are used in even-beat rhythms (1) with the original accentuation, e.g. prisóun: raunsóun Kn. T. 317–18; pítouslý : mercý ib. 91–2; pitóus: móus Prol. 143–4; (2) with the accent on the first syllable according to the accentuation which had already become prevalent in ordinary English speech, e.g. This prísoun cáusede me Kn. T. 237; With hérte pítous ib. 95; But wé beséken mércy ánd socóur ib. 60.

II. Words having in French the accent on the first syllable, the last syllable being unaccented. These words, partly substantives or adjectives, as people, nombre, propre, partly verbs, as praye, suffre, crie (in which case the accentuation of the sing. of the present tense prevails), are always used in verse with the original accentuation, the second unaccented syllable either (1) forming a full thesis of the verse, as in the péple préseth thíderward Kn. T. 1672; bý his própre gód Prol. 581, or (2) being elided or slurred and forming only part of the thesis, as in the nómbre and éek the cáuse ib. 716; and crýe as hé were wóod ib. 636.

As a rule also the original and usual accent is retained by disyllabic words containing an unaccented prefix, as in accord, abet, desyr, defence, &c. Only words composed with the prefix dis- occur with either accentuation, as díscreet and discréet.

§ 119. Trisyllabic words. I. Words, the last syllable of which in French has the chief accent, the first having a secondary accent. In these words the two accents are transposed in English, so that the first syllable bears the chief accent, the last the secondary accent, and both of them as a rule receive the rhythmical accent: émperóur, árgumént. But if two syllables of such a word form a disyllabic thesis, generally the last syllable which has the secondary accent is lowered to the unaccented grade: árgument, émperour.

II. Words which in French have the chief accent on the middle syllable, the last being unaccented. These are sometimes used with the original accentuation, mostly as feminine rhymes, e.g.: viságe: uságe Prol. 109–10; chére: manére ib. 139–40; penánce: pitánce ib. 233–4; poráille: vitáille ib. 247–8; prudénce: senténce ib. 305–6; offíce: áccomplíce Kn. T. 2005–6, &c.; more rarely in the interior of the verse, where the last syllable may either form a thesis as in Ál your plesánce férme and stáble I hólde Cl. T. 663, or part of it, being elided or slurred, as in The sáme lúst was híre plesánce alsó ib. 717. In other instances, mostly in the interior of the verse, they have the accent on the first syllable, the last being always elided or slurred: And sáugh his vísage was in anóther kýnde Kn. T. 543; He fél in óffice wíth a chámberléyn ib. 561.

Verbs ending in -ice (-isse), -ishe, -ie, as e.g. chérisse, púnishe, stúdie, cárrie, tárrie, nearly always have the accent on the first syllable, the last syllable being elided or apocopated, except where it is strengthened by a final consonant, as e.g. chérishëd, tárriëd. If the first syllable of a trisyllabic word be formed by an unaccented particle, the root-syllable of the word, in this case the middle one, likewise retains the accent, as e.g. in despíse, remaíne.

§ 120. Four-syllable words of French origin when they are substantives or adjectives frequently have disyllabic or trisyllabic suffixes such as: -age, -iage, -ian, -iant, -aunce, -iance, -iaunce, -ence, -ience, -ient, -ier, -ioun, -ious, -eous, -uous, -ial, -ual, -iat, -iour, -ure, -ie (-ye). As most of these words already have a trochaic or iambic rhythm, they are used without difficulty in even-beat disyllabic verses, chiefly in rhymes, and then always with their full syllabic value, as e.g.: pílgrimáge: coráge Prol. 11–12; hóstelrýe: cómpanýe ib. 23–4; resóun: condícióun ib. 37–8; chývalrýe: cúrtesýe ib. 45–6; chívachíe: Pícardíe ib. 185–6; cónsciénce: réverénce ib. 141–2; tóun: conféssióun ib. 217–18; curát: licénciát 219–20; góvernáunce : chévysáunce ib. 291–2, &c. In the interior of a verse also the words not ending in an unaccented e are always metrically treated according to their full syllabic value, e.g.: That héeld opínyóun that pléyn delýt Prol. 337; Of hís compléxióun he wás sangwýn ib. 333. In those words, on the other hand, which end in an unaccented e, this vowel is in the interior of the verse generally elided or apocopated: no vílanýe is ít ib. 740; ín that óstelríe alíght ib. 720; So móche of dáliáunce and fáir langáge ib. 211; And ál was cónsciénce and téndre hérte ib. 150.

Further shortenings, however, which transform an originally four-syllable word into a disyllabic one, as in the present pronunciation of the word conscience, do not take lace in Middle English before the transition to the Modern English period. In Lyndesay’s Monarchie we meet with accentuations of this kind, as e.g.:

The quhílk gaif sápience tó king Sálomóne. 249.

Be tháy contént, mak réverence tó the rést. 36.

In a similar way adjectives ending in -able and verbs ending in -ice, -ye adapt themselves to the disyllabic rhythm, and likewise verbs ending in -ine (Old French -iner); only it must be noticed that in the preterite and in the past participle verbs of the latter class tend to throw the accents on the antepenultimate and last syllables, e.g. enlúminéd, emprísonéd. Words of five syllables almost without exception have an iambic rhythm of themselves and are used accordingly in even-beat verses, as e.g. expériénce; the same is the case with words which have Germanic endings, like -ing, -inge, -nesse, e.g. discónfytýnge.

The rhythmic accentuation of foreign proper names both in disyllables and in polysyllables varies. Thus we may notice the accentuations Junó, Plató, Venús, and, on the other hand, Júno, Pláto, Vénus; Arcíte, Athénes, and Árcíte, Áthenes; Antónie and Ántoníe. Wherever in such cases level stress may help to smooth the rhythm it certainly is to be assumed in reading.

II. Word-accent in Modern English

§ 121. Modern English accentuation deviates little from that of the Old English and Middle English; the inflexional endings, however, play a much less important part; further, in many cases the Romanic accentuation of Middle English is still in existence, or at least has influence, in words of French or Latin origin. This is evident from many deviations in the rhythmic accentuation of such words from the modern accentuation which we here regard as normal, though it is to be noted that in the beginning of the Modern English epoch, i.e. in the sixteenth century, the actual accentuation in many cases was still in conformity with the earlier conditions.

Only these real and apparent anomalies are noticed here. We have first to consider the Romanic endings -ace, -age, -ail, -el, -ain, -al, -ance, -ence, -ant, -ent, -er, -ess (Old French -esse), -ice, -ile, -in, -on, -or, -our, -une, -ure, -y(e) (in disyllabic words). As the final e has become mute, all these endings are monosyllabic.

In the works of the earlier Modern English poets some words ending in these syllables are only exceptionally used with the accent on the last syllable according to the Old French or Middle English accentuation, the Modern English accentuation being the usual one; others are employed more frequently or even exclusively with the earlier accentuation, e.g. paláce Sur. 174, bondáge Wyatt 224, traváil Sur. 82, Wyatt 19, certáin ib. 179, mountáin Sur. 37, chieftáin ib. 112, cristál Wyatt 156, presénce ib. 81, grievánce ib. 55, penánce ib. 209, balánce ib. 173, pleasánt ib. 130, tormént (subst.) ib. 72, fevér, fervóur ib. 210, mistréss ib. 109, richés ib. 209, justíce ib. 229, servíce ib. 177, engíne Sur. 130, seasón ib. 149, honóur ib. 166, armóur 148, colóur: therefóre Wyatt 6, terrór: succóur ib. 210, &c., fortúne: tune ib. 152, Sur. 115, measúre Wyatt 125, natúre: unsúre ib. 144, glorý: mercý ib. 208.

In almost all these cases and in many other words with the same endings this accentuation seems to be due to the requirements of the rhythm, in which case level stress must be assumed.

§ 122. It is the same with many other disyllabic words, especially those both syllables of which are almost of equal sound-value and degree of stress, as in cases in which two different meanings of one and the same word are indicated by different accentuation, a distinction not unfrequently neglected in the metrical treatment of these words.

So the following adjectives and participles are used by Shakespeare and other poets with variable accentuation: complete, adverse, benign, contrived, corrupt, despised, dispersed, distinct, distract, diverse, eterne, exact, exhaled, exiled, expired, express, extreme, famous, insane, invised, misplaced, misprised, obscure, perfect, profane, profound, remiss, secure, severe, sincere, supreme, terrene; and so are also the many adjectives and participles compounded with the prefix un-, as e.g. unborn, unchaste, unkind, &c. (cf. Alexander Schmidt, Shakespeare-Lexicon).

Substantives and verbs are treated in a similar way, e.g. comfórt (subst.) Wyatt 14, recórd ib. 156, discórd Sur. 6, conflíct ib. 85, purcháse ib. 58, mischíef Wyatt 78, safeguárd ib. 212, Madáme ib. 149, proméss ib. 25. So also in Shakespeare (cf. Alexander Schmidt, l.c.): áccess, aspéct, commérce, consórt, contráct, compáct, edíct, instínct, outráge, precépts, cément, cónduct (vb.), cónfine, púrsue, rélapse (cf. Metrik, ii. § 62)

§ 123. Trisyllabic and polysyllabic words, too, of French or Latin origin are still used frequently in the beginning of the Modern English period with an accentuation contrary to present usage. Words e.g. which now have the chief accent on the second syllable, the first and third syllable being unaccented, are often used with the rhythmical accents on these two syllables, e.g.: cónfessór Meas. IV. iii. 133, cóntinúe Wyatt 189; départúre ib. 129; répentánce ib. 205, éndeavóur ib. 232; détestáble John III. iv. 29, rhéumatíc Ven. 135, &c. Likewise in words the first and third syllables of which are now accented and the second unaccented, the rhythmical accent is placed on this very syllable, e.g. charácter Lucr. 807, confíscate Cymb. V. v. 323, contráry Wyatt 8, impórtune Ant. IV. xv. 19, oppórtune Temp. IV. i. 26, perséver All’s Well IV. ii. 37, prescíence Troil. I. iii. 199, siníster Troil. IV. v. 128. Certain verbs also in -ise, -ize are used with fluctuating accentuation; Shakespeare e.g. always has advértise Meas. i. 142, authórise Sonn. 35, canónize Troil. II. ii. 202; sometimes also solémnize Temp. v. 309 (cf. Metrik, ii. §§ 64, 65).

Foreign proper names especially in many cases are subject, as in earlier times, to variable accentuation, as e.g.: Ajáx Sur.129, Cæsár Wyatt 191, Cató ib. 191, the more usual accentuation also occurring in the writings of the same poets; similarly Átridés Sur. 129 and Atríde ib. 116, Cárthages ib. 149 and Cartháge 175. Shakespeare has always the unclassical Andrónicus, Hypérion, Cleopátra, but for rhythmical reasons Nórthamptón Rich. III, II. iv. 1 instead of Northámpton, and so in several other cases (cf. Metrik, ii. § 67)

§ 124. Amongst the Germanic vocables the parathetic compounds chiefly call for notice, as their accentuation in common speech also approaches level stress, and for this reason they may be used with either accentuation. This group includes compounds like moonlight, welfare, farewell, and some conjunctions, prepositions, and pronouns, as therefore, wherefore, something, nothing, sometimes, into, unto, towards, without, as e.g.: thérefore Wyatt 24, &c., therefóre ib. 42, nóthing Rich. II, II. ii. 12, nothíng Rich. III, I. i. 236, únto Sur. 125, untó Sur. 117 (cf. Metrik, ii. § 58).

Greater arbitrariness in the treatment of word-accent, explained best by the influence of Middle English usage, is shown in the rhythmical accentuation of the final syllable -ing in words like endíng: thing Wyatt 27; and of the suffixes -ness, -ly, -y, -ow, e.g. goodnéss: excéss Wyatt 206, free: trulý 147; borrów: sorrów: overthrów ib. 227. Less admissible still are such accentuations with the endings -er, -est, used on the whole only by the earlier Modern English poets, e.g. earnést Wyatt 11, aftér ib. 207, and least of all with inflexional endings, e.g. scornéd Sur. 170, causéth Wyatt 33 (cf. Metrik, ii. §§ 59–61).

As a rule, however, such unnatural accentuations can be avoided by assuming the omission of a thesis at the beginning or in the interior of a line. With regard to trisyllabic and polysyllabic words the remarks on pp. 176–7 are to be compared.