prominence of a syllable in terms of differential loudness, or of pitch, or length, or of a combination of these.
degree of prominence of a syllable within a word and sometimes of a word within a phrase: primary accent; secondary accent.
a mark indicating stress (as (ˈ, ˌ), or (′, ″)), vowel quality (as French grave `, acute ´, circumflex ^ ), form (as French la “the” versus là “there”), or pitch.
any similar mark.
Prosody.
regularly recurring stress.
a mark indicating stress or some other distinction in pronunciation or value.
a musical tone or pattern of pitch inherent in a particular language either as a feature essential to the identification of a vowel or a syllable or to the general acoustic character of the language.Compare tone (def. 7).
Often accents.
the unique speech patterns, inflections, choice of words, etc., that identify a particular individual: We recognized his accents immediately. She corrected me in her usual mild accents.
the distinctive style or tone characteristic of an author, composer, etc.: the unmistakably Brahmsian accents of the sonata; She recognized the familiar accents of Robert Frost in the poem.
a mode of pronunciation, as pitch or tone, emphasis pattern, or intonation, characteristic of or peculiar to the speech of a particular person, group, or locality: French accent; Southern accent.Compare tone (def. 5).
such a mode of pronunciation recognized as being of foreign origin: He still speaks with an accent.
Music.
a stress or emphasis given to certain notes.
a mark noting this.
stress or emphasis regularly recurring as a feature of rhythm.
Mathematics.
a symbol used to distinguish similar quantities that differ in value, as in b′, b″, b‴ (called b prime, b second or b double prime, b third or b triple prime, respectively).
a symbol used to indicate a particular unit of measure, as feet (′) or inches (″), minutes (′) or seconds (″).
a symbol used to indicate the order of a derivative of a function in calculus, as f′ (called f prime) is the first derivative of a function f.
words or tones expressive of some emotion.
accents,words; language; speech: He spoke in accents bold.
distinctive character or tone: an accent of whining complaint.
special attention, stress, or emphasis: an accent on accuracy.
a detail that is emphasized by contrasting with its surroundings: a room decorated in navy blue with two red vases as accents.
a distinctive but subordinate pattern, motif, color, flavor, or the like: The salad dressing had an accent of garlic.
verb (used with object)
to pronounce with prominence (a syllable within a word or a word within a phrase): to accent the first syllable of “into”; to accent the first word of “White House.”Compare stress (def. 12).
to mark with a written accent or accents.
to give emphasis or prominence to; accentuate.
VIDEO FOR ACCENT
WATCH NOW: What Is Accent Prestige Theory?
No accent is more correct than another. And, here’s the irony. None of us talk the same way all the time. So why do we think some accents sound better than others?
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Origin of accent
1520–30; <Latin accentus speaking tone, equivalent to ac-ac- + -centus, combining form of cantus song (see canto); translation of Greek prosōidíaprosody
It really felt like doing an accent even though we’re both Australian.
Inside ‘I Am Woman’: A new biopic tells the story of Helen Reddy and her famous song|radmarya|September 10, 2020|Fortune
These accents tend to be the standard form of the language, so, these are usually the pronunciations you hear from mass media, government, business, education … from the dominant social group.
What Is Accent Prestige Theory?|Rachel Leonard|July 31, 2020|Everything After Z
Its founder, Nosipho Maketo-van den Bragt, knew first-hand that there were women in high-flying corporate jobs who needed meticulously-tailored outfits that had colors and accents reflecting a beautiful heritage.
South African women are forging new fashion frontiers by embracing their heritage|Norma Young|July 9, 2020|Quartz
None of these companies have a definition of what “neutral accents” mean.
Is It the Way I Talk? Hiring discrimination based on an accent is illegal.|Truthbetold|January 25, 2020|TruthBeTold.news
According to one LinkedIn job-listing, a “neutral accent is a must” for the position of sales executive for a cloud services company in San Jose, California, known as Zymr.
Is It the Way I Talk? Hiring discrimination based on an accent is illegal.|Truthbetold|January 25, 2020|TruthBeTold.news
But the people from Valley Stream had such a thick New York accent that was all around me.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I struck up a conversation with a man in his fifties or sixties who had a Brooklyn accent.
I Ate Potato Pancakes Til I Plotzed|Emily Shire|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He seems miffed that Liv Ullmann would go off and do a musical when he was thinking of putting her, accent and all, in his movie.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“You can laugh out there,” he scolded his tormenters, his Boston accent becoming more pronounced.
Bill Bratton Scolds Giggling Audience at American Justice Summit|Lloyd Grove|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A third ISIS video shows another man with a Trinidadian accent, a child on his hip.
ISIS Has a Bigger Coalition Than We Do|Michael Daly|October 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There was his wife, a woman who greeted me cheerfully in the Scandinavian accent.
Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty|Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
With the greatest skill the writers of romance mimic the style and accent of their contemporaries.
American Sketches|Charles Whibley
He spoke in a gentle voice and with an accent not unlike that which we call American.
The New Gulliver and Other Stories|Barry Pain
The man noticed his accent, looked at him sharply a second, and turned back to the conversation, lowering his voice as he did so.
Three Soldiers|John Dos Passos
His French accent, as Sir William records it, was most satisfactory, and a conclusive proof of his bon-fides.
In the Name of the Bodleian and Other Essays|Augustine Birrell
British Dictionary definitions for accent
accent
noun (ˈæksənt)
the characteristic mode of pronunciation of a person or group, esp one that betrays social or geographical origin
the relative prominence of a spoken or sung syllable, esp with regard to stress or pitchCompare pitch 1 (def. 28), stress (def. 3)
a mark (such as ˈ, ˌ, ´ or `) used in writing to indicate the stress or prominence of a syllable. Such a mark may also be used to indicate that a written syllable is to be pronounced, esp when such pronunciation is not usual, as in turnèd
any of various marks or symbols conventionally used in writing certain languages to indicate the quality of a vowel, or for some other purpose, such as differentiation of homographsSee acute (def. 10), grave 2 (def. 5), circumflex
(in some languages, such as Chinese) any of the tones that have phonemic value in distinguishing one word from anotherCompare tone (def. 7)
rhythmic stress in verse or prose
music
stress placed on certain notes in a piece of music, indicated by a symbol printed over the note concerned
the rhythmic pulse of a piece or passage, usually represented as the stress on the first beat of each barSee also syncopation
mathseither of two superscript symbols indicating a specific unit, such as feet (′), inches (″), minutes of arc (′), or seconds of arc (″)
a distinctive characteristic of anything, such as taste, pattern, style, etc
particular attention or emphasisan accent on learning
a strongly contrasting detaila blue rug with red accents
verb (ækˈsɛnt) (tr)
to mark with an accent in writing, speech, music, etc
to lay particular emphasis or stress on
Word Origin for accent
C14: via Old French from Latin accentus, from ad- to + cantus chant, song. The Latin is a rendering of Greek prosōidia a song sung to music, the tone of a syllable
Accent Marks: Do We Really Need Them?Fancy? Fundamental? Or just plain frustrating to deal with? Accent marks draw a mixed reaction from people. So, do we really need them? Let’s take a look.
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What Is Accent Prestige Theory?No accent is more correct than another. And, here’s the irony. None of us talk the same way all the time. So why do we think some accents sound better than others?