accent

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈæk.sɛnt/; /ˈak.sənt/, /-sɛnt/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French accent, Old French acent,^[2][3][4] and directly borrowed from Latin accentus (“song added to speech; tone, intensity”),^[3][5][6] from ad (“to”) and cantus (“a singing”), from canere (“to sing”) (see chant).^[3][5] The Latin is a loan-translation of Greek προσῳδία (prosōidía, “a song sung to music; intonation”), which described the pitch scheme of Greek verse.^[3][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A particular mode of pronunciation, intonation: before 1398, in Trevisa;^[2] the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[3] Hoad says the word was rare before the 16th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Word Origins notes that the ancient Greeks distinguished syllables by musical pitch rather than stress.^[7] The prominence given to one syllable, in pitch or stress, is from the 1580s (1581).^[3][8] A mark used in writing to show accent is by the 1590s (1596).^[3][8] The mode of speech peculiar to a person, region or nation is from 1600.^[8] The way something is said, tone of voice, is from 1538.^[8] The verb, to pronounce with stress, is from the 1520s.^[3] The decorative-arts sense, something that highlights, is from 1972.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1398 – intonation.^[2]
• 1520s – to stress (verb).^[3]
• 1581 – stress on a syllable.^[8]
• 1596 – an accent mark.^[8]
• 1600 – a regional accent.^[8]
• 1972 – a decorative highlight.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A distinctive way of pronouncing a language, associated with a country, region or social class.
2. Emphasis given to a syllable or word by stress or pitch.
3. A mark on a letter showing pronunciation, such as an acute or grave accent.
4. Particular emphasis: an accent on quality.
5. (music) Emphasis on a particular note.

Verb

1. To emphasize; to accentuate.

Word family

• accentless
• accentor
• nonaccent
• reaccent
• accent mark
• acute accent
• primary accent
• secondary accent

Related words

• accentuate
• chant
• cantor
• prosody
• incantation

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press