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Page 9
STEMS IN -[=A]RIO. These follow the same rules, except that, as in
'�dversary', 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 'impl�cable', 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 'disp�table', 'desp�cable', 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 'd�ctrinal', 'f�lial',
'l�beral', 'm�rital', 'med�cinal', 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 antepenultima except when
heavy consonants bring it on to the penultima, as in 'sepulcral',
'parental', 'triumphal'.
Those who say 'doctr�nal' on the ground that the second vowel is long
in Latin commit themselves to 'medic�nal', 'nat�ral', 'nutr�ment',
'instr�ment', and, if their own principle be applied, they make false
quantities by the dozen every day of their lives.
Three words mostly mispronounced are, from their rarity, perhaps not
past rescue. They are 'd�canal', 'rurid�canal', and 'pr�bendal'. There
is no more reason for saying 'dec�nal' than for saying 'matr�nal' or
for saying 'preb�ndal' than for saying 'cal�ndar'. Of course words
like 'tremendous', being imported whole, keep the original stress.
In our case the Latin words came into existence as _d�can�lis_,
_pr�bend�lis_, parallel with _n�tur�lis_, which gives us 'n�tural'.
That mostly wrong-headed man, Burgon of Chichester, was correct in
speaking of his rights or at any rate his claims as 'd�canal'.
STEMS IN -LO. Of these 'stimulus' and 'villa' have been borrowed
whole, while _umbella_ is corrupted into 'umbrella'. Disyllables
lengthen the penultima, as 'stable', 'title', 'pupil'. Under French
influence 'disciple' follows their example. In longer words the usual
shortenings are made, as in 'frivolous', 'ridiculous'. The older
words in _-ulo_ change the suffix into _-le_, as 'uncle', 'maniple',
'tabernacle', 'conventicle', 'receptacle', 'panicle'. Later words
retain the _u_, as 'vestibule', 'reticule', 'molecule'.
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