Society for Pure English Tract 4 | Page 9

'emolument', the penultimate vowel becoming
short or obscure. In 'temperament' the tendency of the second syllable
to disappear has carried the stress still further back. We may compare
'Séptuagint', where u becomes consonantal. An exception for which I
cannot account is 'cemént', but Shakespeare has 'cément'.
STEMS IN -T[=A]T. These are nouns and have the stress on the
antepenultima, which in Latin bore the secondary stress. They of course
show the usual shortening of the vowels with the usual exceptions.
Examples are 'charity', 'equity', 'liberty', 'ferocity', 'authority', and with
long antepenultima 'immunity', 'security', 'university'. With no vowel
before the penultima the long quality is, as usual, preserved, as in
'satiety'.
STEMS IN -OSO. These are adjectives and throw the stress back to the
antepenultima, if there be one. In disyllables the penultimate vowel is
long, as in 'famous', 'vinous'; in longer words the antepenultimate
vowel is short, as 'criminous', 'generous'. Many, however, fall under the
'alias' rule, as 'ingenious', 'odious', while those which have i in the
penultimate run the two last syllables into one, as 'pernicious',
'religious', 'vicious'. A few late introductions, coming straight from the
Latin, retained the Latin stress, as 'morose', 'verbose'.
STEMS IN -T[=O]RIO AND -S[=O]RIO. In these words the stress
goes back to the fourth syllable from the end, this in Latin having the
secondary stress, or, as in 'circulatory', 'ambulatory', even further. In
fact the _o_, which of course is shortened, tends to disappear.
Examples are 'declamatory', 'desultory', 'oratory', 'predatory', 'territory'.

Three consonants running, as in 'perfunctory', keep the stress where it
has to be in a trisyllable, such as 'victory'. So does a long vowel before
r and another consonant, as in 'precursory'. Otherwise two consonants
have not this effect, as in 'prómontory', 'cónsistory'. In spite of Milton's
A gloomy Consistory, and them amidst With looks agast and sad he
thus bespake,
the word is sometimes mispronounced.
STEMS IN -[=A]RIO. These follow the same rules, except that, as in
'ádversary', combinations like ers are shortened and the stress goes
back; and that words ending in _-entary_, such as 'elementary' and
'testamentary', stress the antepenultima. Examples are 'antiquary',
'honorary', 'voluntary', 'emissary'. It is difficult to see a reason for an
irregular quantity in the antepenultima of some trisyllables. The general
rule makes it short, as in 'granary', 'salary', but in 'library' and 'notary' it
has been lengthened. The _N.E.D._ gives 'pl[=e]nary', but our
grandfathers said 'pl[)e]nary'. Of course 'diary' gives a long quality to
the i.
STEMS IN -[)I]LI. These seem originally to have retained the short i.
Thus Milton's spelling is 'facil' and 'fertil' while other
seventeenth-century writers give 'steril'. This pronunciation still obtains
in America, but in England the words seem to have been usually
assimilated to 'fragile', as Milton spells it, which perhaps always
lengthened the vowel. The penultimate vowel is short.
STEMS IN -[=I]LI. Here the long i is retained, and in disyllables the
penultima is lengthened, as in 'anile', 'senile', 'virile'. There is no excuse
for following the classical quantity in the former syllables of any of
these words. As an English word 'sedilia' shortens the antepenultimate,
like 'tibia' and the rest, the 'alias' rule not applying when the vowel is i.
STEMS IN -B[)I]LI. These mostly come through French and change
the suffix into _-ble_. Disyllables lengthen the penultima, as 'able',
'stable', 'noble', while 'mobile', as in French, lengthens its latter vowel.
Trisyllables shorten and stress the antepenultima, as 'placable', 'equable',
but of course u remains long, as in 'mutable'. Longer words throw the
stress further back, except mere negatives, like 'implácable', and words
with heavy consonants such as 'delectable'. Examples are 'miserable',
'admirable', 'intolerable', 'despicable'. The Poet Laureate holds that in
these words Milton kept the long Italian a of the penultimate or

secondary stress.
Fall'n Cherube, to be weak is miserable.
In English we have naturalized _-able_ as a suffix and added it to
almost any verb, as 'laughable', 'indescribable', 'desirable'. The last
word may have been taken from French. The form 'des[)i]derable'
occurs from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century. Originally
'acceptable' threw the stress back, as in Milton's
So fit, so acceptable, so Divine,
but the double mute has brought it into line with 'delectable'. Nowadays
one sometimes hears 'dispútable', 'despícable', but these are intolerable
vulgarisms.
SUFFIXES IN T[)I]LI AND S[)I]LI. These words mostly lengthen the
i and make the usual shortenings, as 'missile', 'sessile', 'textile', 'volatile',
but of course 'futile'. Exceptions which I cannot explain are 'foss[)i]l'
and 'fus[)i]le'.
SUFFIX IN [=A]LI. These adjectives shorten the _-a_ and, with the
usual exceptions, the preceding vowels, as 'dóctrinal', 'fílial', 'líberal',
'márital', 'medícinal', but of course by the 'alias' rule 'arb[=o]real' (not a
classical word in Latin) and 'g[=e]nial'. Words like 'national' and
'rational' were treated like trisyllables, which they now are. The stress is
on the