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Literary notes about accent (AI summary)

In literature, the term "accent" serves a range of functions, from identifying regional or national speech patterns to emphasizing particular emotions or thematic nuances. Authors often use accent to reveal a character’s social background or emotional state, as seen when a character’s forceful Edinburgh accent signals their stark personality [1], or when a jocular accent subtly conveys sincere conviction [2]. At times, the word reaches into the realm of musicality and rhythm, describing not only vocal inflection but also the pattern of stresses in verse [3]. Meanwhile, discussions of correct pronunciation and stress highlight its role in grammar and pedagogy [4][5]. In dialogue and narrative, accent becomes a mark of identity as well as an instrument for tailoring speech to express irony, tenderness, or determination [6][7].
  1. He was the usual cut and dry apothecary, of no particular age and colour, with a strong Edinburgh accent and about as emotional as a bagpipe.
    — from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
  2. When he had looked at her for some time, Bernard Grandin replied with a jocular accent of sincere conviction: “You may well call her beautiful!”
    — from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant
  3. The metre of the poem proper is iambic, that is, with the accent on the even syllables, and octosyllabic, or eight syllables to the line.
    — from The Lady of the Lake by Walter Scott
  4. Accent , general rules of, 84-91 ; in gen. and voc.
    — from A Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges by George Martin Lane
  5. In classical Latin the place of the chief accent may be determined by the following rules.
    — from A Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges by George Martin Lane
  6. My voice had an accent of forced bravery in it and I was ashamed of my paltry stratagem.
    — from Dubliners by James Joyce
  7. “Stop it, it is all—” The voice of the chairman clove his speech with a cold accent.
    — from The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G. K. Chesterton

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