Those who say 'doctr['i]nal' on the ground that the second vowel
is long in Latin commit themselves to 'medic['i]nal', 'nat['u]ral',
'nutr['i]ment', 'instr['u]ment', and, if their own principle be
applied, they make false quantities by the dozen every day of their
lives.
Three words mostly mispronounced are, from their rarity, perhaps
not past rescue. They are 'd['e]canal', 'rurid['e]canal', and
'pr['e]bendal'. There is no more reason for saying 'dec['a]nal' than
for saying 'matr['o]nal' or for saying 'preb['e]ndal' than for saying
'cal['e]ndar'. Of course words like 'tremendous', being imported
whole, keep the original stress. In our case the Latin words came
into existence as _d['e]can['a]lis_, _pr['e]bend['a]lis_, parallel
with _n['a]tur['a]lis_, which gives us 'n['a]tural'. That mostly
wrong-headed man, Burgon of Chichester, was correct in speaking of his
rights or at any rate his claims as 'd['e]canal'.
STEMS IN -LO. Of these 'stimulus' and 'villa' have been borrowed
whole, while _umbella_ is corrupted into 'umbrella'. Disyllables
lengthen the penultima, as 'stable', 'title', 'pupil'. Under French
influence 'disciple' follows their example. In longer words the usual
shortenings are made, as in 'frivolous', 'ridiculous'. The older
words in _-ulo_ change the suffix into _-le_, as 'uncle', 'maniple',
'tabernacle', 'conventicle', 'receptacle', 'panicle'.
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