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Sargeaunt, John

"Society for Pure English Tract 4 The Pronunciation of English Words Derived from the Latin"

Those which have the suffix _-es_ prefixed throw the stress
back, as 'honest', 'modest'. Those which have the suffix _-men_
prefixed also throw the stress back, as 'moment', 'pigment',
'torment', and to the antepenultima, if there be one, as 'argument',
'armament', 'emolument', the penultimate vowel becoming short or
obscure. In 'temperament' the tendency of the second syllable to
disappear has carried the stress still further back. We may compare
'S['e]ptuagint', where _u_ becomes consonantal. An exception for which
I cannot account is 'cem['e]nt', but Shakespeare has 'c['e]ment'.
STEMS IN -T[=A]T. These are nouns and have the stress on the
antepenultima, which in Latin bore the secondary stress. They
of course show the usual shortening of the vowels with the usual
exceptions. Examples are 'charity', 'equity', 'liberty', 'ferocity',
'authority', and with long antepenultima 'immunity', 'security',
'university'. With no vowel before the penultima the long quality is,
as usual, preserved, as in 'satiety'.
STEMS IN -OSO. These are adjectives and throw the stress back to the
antepenultima, if there be one. In disyllables the penultimate vowel
is long, as in 'famous', 'vinous'; in longer words the antepenultimate
vowel is short, as 'criminous', 'generous'. Many, however, fall
under the 'alias' rule, as 'ingenious', 'odious', while those which
have _i_ in the penultimate run the two last syllables into one, as
'pernicious', 'religious', 'vicious'.


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