Accent


prominence of a syllable in terms of differential loudness, or of pitch, or length, or of a combination of these.
degree of prominence of a syllable within a word and sometimes of a word within a phrase:
primary accent; secondary accent.
a mark indicating stress (as (·, ·), or (ˈ, ˌ), or (′, ″)), vowel quality (as French grave `, acute ´, circumflex ^, ), form (as French la “the” versus là “there”), or pitch.
any similar mark.
Prosody.

regularly recurring stress.
a mark indicating stress or some other distinction in pronunciation or value.

a musical tone or pattern of pitch inherent in a particular language either as a feature essential to the identification of a vowel or a syllable or to the general acoustic character of the language.
Compare (def 7).
Often, accents.

the unique speech patterns, inflections, choice of words, etc., that identify a particular individual:
We recognized his accents immediately. She corrected me in her usual mild accents.
the distinctive style or tone characteristic of an author, composer, etc.:
the unmistakably Brahmsian accents of the sonata; She recognized the familiar accents of Robert Frost in the poem.

a mode of pronunciation, as pitch or tone, emphasis pattern, or intonation, characteristic of or peculiar to the speech of a particular person, group, or locality:
French accent; Southern accent.
Compare (def 5).
such a mode of pronunciation recognized as being of foreign origin:
He still speaks with an accent.
Music.

a stress or emphasis given to certain notes.
a mark noting this.
stress or emphasis regularly recurring as a feature of rhythm.

Mathematics.

a symbol used to distinguish similar quantities that differ in value, as in b ′, b ″, b ‴ (called b prime, b second or b double prime, b third or b triple prime, respectively).
a symbol used to indicate a particular unit of measure, as feet (′) or inches (″), minutes (′) or seconds (″).
a symbol used to indicate the order of a derivative of a function in calculus, as f′ (called f prime) is the first derivative of a function f.

words or tones expressive of some emotion.
accents, words; language; speech:
He spoke in accents bold.
distinctive character or tone:
an accent of whining complaint.
special attention, stress, or emphasis:
an accent on accuracy.
a detail that is emphasized by contrasting with its surroundings:
a room decorated in navy blue with two red vases as accents.
a distinctive but subordinate pattern, motif, color, flavor, or the like:
The salad dressing had an accent of garlic.
to pronounce with prominence (a syllable within a word or a word within a phrase): to accent the first syllable of “into”; to accent the first word of “White House.”.
Compare (def 12).
to mark with a written accent or accents.
to give emphasis or prominence to; .
Contemporary Examples

Now 53 years old, Russell has a pale, pudgy face and speaks softly, in a Southern accent.
Gay Prison Movie’s Real-Life Con Nicole LaPorte November 27, 2010

In person, Khoury is genial and a fine conversationalist, speaking English gilded with a pronounced Arabic accent.
Elias Khoury: Profile of the Essential Arab Novelist Today Jacob Silverman August 2, 2012

McKean looks so fragile and world-weary as he speaks in his Chicago accent, he seems to require rescue.
Broadway’s Sweet New Play Rachel Syme September 29, 2009

Basically, we shot all my stuff and I was talking in my English accent.
‘The Honorable Woman’ Is Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Best Performance Yet Kevin Fallon July 30, 2014

The sketch was really a vehicle for Cecily Strong’s hysterical, over-the-top Venezuelan accent.
Lena Dunham on ‘SNL’ Review: Very Funny, Very Dunham-y Kevin Fallon March 8, 2014

Historical Examples

It had absorbed the American accent, the American clip and drawl.
The Love Affairs of Pixie Mrs George de Horne Vaizey

How would the first accent of his iron tongue have startled his resurrectionists!
A Bell’s Biography Nathaniel Hawthorne

Not,’ with an accent of incredulous indignation, ‘Prue again?’
Doctor Cupid Rhoda Broughton

Like most educated Russians, he spoke English with barely an accent.
The Underdog F. Hopkinson Smith

He was a silent, precise man with a dour nature and a hard Aberdonian accent.
The Valley of Fear Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

noun (ˈæksənt)
the characteristic mode of pronunciation of a person or group, esp one that betrays social or geographical origin
the relative prominence of a spoken or sung syllable, esp with regard to stress or pitch Compare pitch1 (sense 28), stress (sense 3)
a mark (such as ˈ , ˌ , ´ or `) used in writing to indicate the stress or prominence of a syllable. Such a mark may also be used to indicate that a written syllable is to be pronounced, esp when such pronunciation is not usual, as in turnèd
any of various marks or symbols conventionally used in writing certain languages to indicate the quality of a vowel, or for some other purpose, such as differentiation of homographs See acute (sense 10), grave2 (sense 5), circumflex
(in some languages, such as Chinese) any of the tones that have phonemic value in distinguishing one word from another Compare tone (sense 7)
rhythmic stress in verse or prose
(music)

stress placed on certain notes in a piece of music, indicated by a symbol printed over the note concerned
the rhythmic pulse of a piece or passage, usually represented as the stress on the first beat of each bar See also syncopation

(maths) either of two superscript symbols indicating a specific unit, such as feet (′), inches (″), minutes of arc (′), or seconds of arc (″)
a distinctive characteristic of anything, such as taste, pattern, style, etc
particular attention or emphasis: an accent on learning
a strongly contrasting detail: a blue rug with red accents
verb (transitive) (ækˈsɛnt)
to mark with an accent in writing, speech, music, etc
to lay particular emphasis or stress on
n.

late 14c., “particular mode of pronunciation,” from Middle French accent, from Old French acent (13c.), from Latin accentus “song added to speech,” from ad- “to” (see ad-) + cantus “a singing,” past participle of canere “to sing” (see chant (v.)). Loan-translation of Greek prosoidia, from pros- “to” + oide “song,” which apparently described the pitch scheme in Greek verse. The decorating sense of “something that emphasizes or highlights” is from 1972.
v.

“to pronounce with accent or stress,” 1520s, from Middle French accenter, from Old French acenter, from accent (see accent (n.)). Related: Accented; accenting.
language
A very high level interpreted language from CaseWare, Inc. with strings and tables. It is strongly typed and has remote function calls.
(1994-11-08)

Read Also:

  • Accent mark

    a mark used to indicate an accent, stress, etc., as for pronunciation or in musical notation. Compare (def 1). Historical Examples They’ll stick a b next to a k and follow it up with a z and put an accent mark over the whole business and call it a word. Half Portions Edna Ferber It […]

  • Accented

    prominence of a syllable in terms of differential loudness, or of pitch, or length, or of a combination of these. degree of prominence of a syllable within a word and sometimes of a word within a phrase: primary accent; secondary accent. a mark indicating stress (as (·, ·), or (ˈ, ˌ), or (′, ″)), vowel […]

  • Accenting

    prominence of a syllable in terms of differential loudness, or of pitch, or length, or of a combination of these. degree of prominence of a syllable within a word and sometimes of a word within a phrase: primary accent; secondary accent. a mark indicating stress (as (·, ·), or (ˈ, ˌ), or (′, ″)), vowel […]

  • Accentor

    any oscine bird of the family Prunellidae, of Europe and Asia, resembling sparrows but having more finely pointed bills, as the hedge sparrow. Historical Examples Alpine Warbler (accentor alpīnus), a European bird of the same genus as the hedge-sparrow. The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 1 Various noun any small sparrow-like songbird of the […]

  • Accentual

    of or relating to or stress. Prosody. of or relating to poetry based on the number of stresses, as distinguished from poetry depending on the number of syllables or quantities. Contemporary Examples Sherwood Forest, for instance, is a killing field of accentual integrity. Stars Who Can’t Do Accents Richard Rushfield December 8, 2010 Historical Examples […]


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