Accent

Accent or Stress (language), in language, special stress emphasis or relative force or loudness given to one syllable of a word, thereby making that syllable more prominent than the others. The strongest accent is called primary stress; the next most prominent is called secondary stress. In some languages tertiary and weaker stresses are also recognized. In many dictionaries the accents are indicated by such symbols as ‘ for primary or main stress and “ for secondary stress. Almost every English word of two or more syllables has at least one stressed syllable. Frequently the secondary stress is placed on an early syllable of a word, as in rec” om mend' and res” to ra' tion; sometimes it falls on the last, as in down' pour” and drum' head”. By changing the accent, many nouns may be made verbs, as an ob' ject but to ob ject'. Stress accent is more complex in the English language than in many other languages. The meters of English poetry are determined entirely by accent, rather than by the quantities of vowels. See Versification.