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74 THE ART OF SPEAKING AND READING.
Weymouth, ford and Oxford, land and island. Notice also a change of accent in the same word used either as a substantive or a verb: accent, but to accent; accentuation too changes the meaning of a word, as August (the month) and an august presence. The accented syllable gives the meaning to the word and should be sounded with greater force; it is difficult to give any fixed rules for accentuation, as all the rules that can be made seem to be broken to suit the ease of spoken sounds. There are two kinds of accents, primary and secondary; the primary generally falls upon the root of the word. In English there is a decided tendency to make the accent fall upon the earlier syllables, words of two or three syllables are generally accented on the first, words of four syllables on the first and third.
99. Emphasis.—Emphasis by accentuating a particular word in a sentence makes that word more prominent. It can be done in different ways by making a change in the intensity, the pace, or the pitch of the voice; or by introducing a pause before and after the emphatic word. Voice emphasis is much more important than stress. Over-emphasis and improper emphasis obscure the meaning of a sentence; the emphasis of an intelligent reader enables the audience to fully appreciate the sense of the author.
100. Fitch.—The voice is a musical instrument which can be made to express any kind of sentiment; there is a register of the speaking as well as of the singing voice; by practice every note can be made flexible, so that great variety can be introduced. A good reader, called upon suddenly to read an extract from a book that he does not fully comprehend, will make use of what is called " level speaking," |
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