Etymologically
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accent

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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
  • 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