accent

accent

1. The noun is stressed on the first syllable and the verb (meaning ‘to lay stress on, to emphasize’ in various senses) on the second.

2. In general use, an accent is ‘individual, local, or national mode of pronunciation’, as in a Scottish accent, a slight accent, etc.:

• She had…the accent of a good finishing school —John Braine, 1957

• ‘Crème de framboises,’ she read in her governessy accent —S. Hill, 1969

• She resembled Jackie Kennedy, but —surprisingly —had a strong Scottish accent —J. Bow, 1991.

It is also used to mean the position of the stress in a word, and a sign put on a word in writing to mark a feature of its pronunciation:

• You must pronounce this all as one word with the accent on the first syllable —C. S. Lewis, 1955.

There are other special meanings in art and music. The meaning relating to pronunciation is the earliest one, and has given rise to extended uses, in which accent means ‘a distinctive feature or emphasis’:

• After 1926 the accent was to lie on the development of technical education —R. Pethybridge, 1990

• The early autumn of 1992 produced no less than four major auctions with an accent on matters aeronautical —FlyPast, 1992.

This use is common in advertising and marketing:

• Accent is on comfort when you step in for a relaxing drink

—promotional material in British National Corpus, 1990s.

3. As a verb, accent means ‘to place an accent on (a word or syllable)’. In figurative meanings, accentuate is invariably used:

• I observed a severe grey skirt, the waist accentuated by a leather belt —William Golding, 1967

• Collingwood also has a rather learned look, accentuated by steel spectacles —R. Cobb, 1985

• Economic globalization can accentuate existing differences in societies —Baylis & Smith, 2001.