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].
- 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 - 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 - 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 - Accent , general rules of, 84-91 ; in gen. and voc.
— from A Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges by George Martin Lane - 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 - My voice had an accent of forced bravery in it and I was ashamed of my paltry stratagem.
— from Dubliners by James Joyce - “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