II. WORDS DISTINGUISHED BY ACCENT. ANY words, or parts of speech, having the same form, are distinguished by accent alone. Nouns and adjectives are often thus distinguished from verbs, and, in a few dissyllables, from each other. EXAMPLES. 1. Note the mark of ac'cent, and accent' the right syllable. 2. Perfume' the room with rich perfume. 3. My in'crease is taken to increase' your wealth. 4. Desert' us not in the des'ert. 5. If they reprimand' that officer, he will not regard their rep'rimand. 6. Buy some cem'ent and cement' the glass. 7. If that proj'ect fail, he will project' another. 8. If they rebel', and overthrow' the government, even the reb'els can not justify the o'verthrow. 9. In August, the august' writer entered into a com'pact to prepare a compact' discourse. 10. Within a minute I will find a minute' piece of gold. 11. Inʼstinct, not reason, rendered the herd instinct' with spirit. THE III. ACCENT CHANGED BY CONTRAST. HE ordinary accent of words is sometimes changed by a contrast in sense, or to express opposition of thought. EXAMPLES. 1. He did not say a new ad'dition, but a new e'dition. 2. He must in'crease, but I must decrease. 3. Consider well what is done, and what is left un'done. 4. I said that she will sus'pect the truth of the story, not that she will ex'pect it. 5. He that de'scended is also the same that as'cended. 6. This corruptible must put on in'corruption; and this mortal must put on imʼmortality. EXPRESSION. XPRESSION of Speech is the utterance of thought, feeling, or passion, with due significance or force. Its general divisions are EMPHASIS, INFLECTION, SLUR, MODULATION, MONOTONE. PERSONATION, and PAUSES. Emphasis Slur Expression Modulation Monotone Personation Pauses Orthoepy is the mechanical part of elocution, consisting in the discipline and use of the organs of speech and the voice for the production of the alphabetic elements and their combination into separate words. It is the basis-the subsoil, which, by the mere force of will and patient practice, may be broken and turned up to the sun, and from which spring the flowers of expression. Expression is the soul of elocution. By its ever-varying and delicate combinations, and its magic and irresistible power, it wills-and the listless ear stoops with expectation; the vacant eye burns with unwonted fire; the dormant passions are aroused, and all the tender and powerful sympathies of the soul are called into vigorous exercise. Orthoepy has to do with separate words-the production of their oral elements, the combination of these elements to form syllables, and the accentuation of the right syllables: expression, with words as found in sentences and extended discourse. E I. EMPHASIS. I. DEFINITIONS. MPHASIS is the peculiar force given to one or more words of a sentence. It is both absolute and antithetic. Emphasis Absolute Antithetic 2. Absolute Emphasis is that which is used when words are peculiarly significant, or important in meaning; as, To whom, and for what, was the ring given? Is an if to decide it? He is prompt and bold. 3. Antithetic Emphasis is that which is used when words contrast, or point out a difference; as, He selected the agèd for counsel, the young for war. I said the taller man, not the better. 4. To give a word emphasis, means to pronounce it in a loud' or forcible manner. No uncommon tone, how 1 Loudness.-The instructor will explain to the class the fact, that loudness has not, of necessity, refer ence to high pitch, but to volume of voice, used on the same key or pitch, when reading or speaking. ever, is necessary, as words may be made emphatic by prolonging the vowel sounds, by a pause, or even by a whisper. 5. Emphatic words are often printed in Italics; those more emphatic, in small CAPITALS; and those that receive the greatest force, in large CAPITALS. 6. By the proper use of emphasis, we are enabled to impart animation and interest to conversation and reading. Its importance can not be over-estimated, as the meaning of a sentence often depends upon the proper placing of the emphasis. If readers have a desire to produce an impression on hearers, and read what they understand and FEEL, they will generally place emphasis on the right words. Students, however, should be required to observe carefully the following rules, both with reference to kinds and degrees of emphasis. W II. RULES IN EMPHASIS. ORDS and phrases peculiarly significant, or important in meaning, are emphatic; as, Whence and what art thou, execrable shape? 2. Words and phrases that contrast, or point out a difference, are emphatic; as, I did not say a better soldier, but an elder. 3. The repetition of an emphatic word or phrase usually requires an increased force of utterance; as, You injured my child-You, sir! 4. A succession of important words or phrases usually requires a gradual increase of emphatic force, though emphasis sometimes falls on the last word of a series only; as, His disappointment, his ANGUISH, his DEATH, were caused by your carelessness. 43 These misfortunes are the same to the poor, the ignorant, and the weak, as to the rich, the wise, and the powerful. The students will tell which of the preceding rules are illustrated by the following exercises-both those that are marked and those that are unmarked. EXERCISES IN EMPHASIS. 1. Speak little and well, if you wish to be considered as pos sessing mĕrit. 2. He buys, ho sells—he STEALS, he KILLS for gold. 3. You were taught to love your brother, not to hate him. 4. It is not so easy to hide one's faults, as to mend them. 5. Study not so much to show knowledge, as to possess it. 6. The GOOD man is honored, but the EVIL man is despised. 7. But here I stand for right, for ROMAN right. 8. I shall know but one country. I was born an American; I live an American; I shall die an American. 9. A good man loves HIMSELF too well to lose an estate by gaming, and his NEIGHBOR too well to win one. 10. The young are slaves to novelty: the old, to custom: the middle-aged, to both: the dead, to neither. 11. Custom is the plague of wise men and the idol of fools. 12. My friends, our country must be FREE! The land is never lost, that has a son to right her, and here are troops of sons, and LOYAL ones! 13. Love comfortèth like sunshine after rain; Love's gentle spring doth always fresh remain; 14. If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop remained in my country, I NEVER would lay down my arms-never, NEVER, NEVER.' 15. It is pleasant to grow better, for that is to excel ourselves; ' In order to make the last never more forcible, the emphasis is produced by the falling slide, and a deep depression of the voice-almost to a deep aspirated whisper, drawn up from the very bottom of the chest. |