The dependent vowel in the word _sit_ is short. If followed by a vowel it becomes unpronounceable, except as the _ea_ in _seat_ or the _i_ in _sight_. By a consonant, however, it may be followed, and still retain its dependent character and also its shortness. Such is the power it has in the word quoted, _sit_. Followed by a _second_ consonant, it still retains its shortness, _e.g._, _sits_. Whatever the comparative length of the _syllables_, _see_ and _seen_, _sit_ and _sits_, may be, the length of their respective _vowels_ is the same. Now, if we determine the character of the syllable by the character of the vowel, all syllables are short wherein there is a short vowel, and all are long wherein there is a long one. Measured by the quantity of the vowel the word _sits_ is short, and the syllable _see-_ in _seeing_ is long. But it is well known that this view is not the view commonly taken of the syllables _see_ (in _seeing_) and _sits_. It is well known, that, in the eyes of a classical scholar, the _see_ (in _seeing_) is short, and that in the word _sits_ the _i_ is long. The classic differs from the Englishman thus,--_He measures his {166} quantity, not by the length of the vowel but, by the length of the syllable taken altogether._ The perception of this distinction enables us to comprehend the following statements. I. That vowels long by nature may _appear_ to become short by position, and _vice vers[^a]_. II. That, by a laxity of language, the _vowel_ may be said to have changed its quantity, whilst it is the _syllable_ alone that has been altered. III. That, if one person measures his quantities by the vowels, and another by the syllables, what is short to the one, shall be long to the other, and _vice vers[^a]_. The same is the case with nations. IV. That one of the most essential differences between the English and the classical languages is that the quantities (as far as they go) of the first are measured by the vowel, those of the latter by the syllable. To a Roman the word _monument_ consists of two short syllables and one long one; to an Englishman it contains three short syllables. These remarks are appreciated when we consider the comparative characters of the classical and the English prosody. * * * * * {167} CHAPTER VII. ON ACCENT. s. 235. In the word _tyrant_ there is an emphasis, or stress, upon the first syllable. In the word _presume_ there is an emphasis, or stress, on the second syllable. This emphasis, or stress, is called _Accent_. The circumstance of a syllable bearing an accent is sometimes expressed by a mark ('); in which case the word is said to be accentuated, _i.e._, to have the accent signified in writing. Words accented on the last syllable--_Brig['a]de_, _pret['e]nce_, _harpo['o]n_, _reli['e]ve_, _det['e]r_, _ass['u]me_, _beso['u]ght_, _ber['e]ft_, _bef['o]re_, _abro['a]d_, _ab['o]de_, _abstr['u]se_, _interm['i]x_, _super['a]dd_, _cavali['e]r_.