ss of the
vowels_, either as they stand alone, or as they are differently combined
with the vowels or consonants." _Ib._, p. 62, _Princip._ 529. Here is
suggested a distinction which has not been so well observed by grammarians
and prosodists, or even by Walker himself, as it ought to have been. So
long as the practice continues of denominating certain mere _vowel sounds_
the _long_ and the _short_, it will be very necessary to notice that these
are not the same as the _syllabic quantities_, long and short, which
constitute English verse.

[494] (1.) In the Latin and Greek languages, this is not commonly supposed
to be the case; but, on the contrary, the quantity of syllables is
professedly adjusted by its own rules independently of what we call accent;
and, in our English pronunciation of these languages, the accentuation of
all long words is regulated by the quantity of the last syllable but one.
Walker, in the introduction to his Key, speaks of "The English
pronunciation of Greek and Latin [as] injurious to quantity." And no one
can deny, that we often accent what are called short syllables, and perhaps
oftener leave unaccented such as are called long; but, after all, were the
quantity of Latin and Greek syllables always judged of by their actual
time, and not with reference to the vowel sounds called long and short,
these our violations of the old quantities would be found much fewer than
some suppose they are.

(2.) Dr. Adam's view of the accents, acute and grave, appears to be
peculiar; and of a nature which may perhaps come nearer to an actual
identity with the quantities, long and short, than any other. He says,

"1. The _acute_ or _sharp_ accent raises the voice in pronunciation, and is
thus marked []; _profero, profer_. [The English word is written, not thus,
but with two Effs, _proffer_.--G. B.]

"2. The _grave_ or _base_ accent depresses the voice, or keeps it in its
natural tone; and is thus marked [`]; as, docte. [Fist] _This accent
properly belongs to all syllables which have no other_.

"The accents are hardly ever marked in English books, except in
dictionaries, grammars, spelling-books, or the like, where the acute accent
only is used. The accents are likewise seldom marked in Latin books, unless
for the sake of distinction; as in these adverbs, _aliquo, continuo, docte,
una_, &c."--_Adam's Latin and English Grammar_, p. 266.

(3.) As stress naturally lengthens the syllables on which it falls, if