Chapter V.
French and Latin Prosody.
French Prosody.
Prosody is the rhythmic pronunciation of syllables according to accent, respiration, and, above all, quantity.
In the Italian there are no two equal sounds; the quantity is never uniform. Italian is, therefore, the most musical of languages. Where we place one accent upon a vowel, the Italians place ten.
There is a euphonic law for every language; all idioms must have an accent. In every language there are intense sounds and subdued sounds; the Italians hold to this variety of alternate short and long sounds. Continuous beauty should be avoided. A beautiful tone must be introduced to relieve the others. Monotony in sounds as well as in pronunciation, must be guarded against. Harmony lies in opposition.
There is but one rule of quantity in French pronunciation. Here is the text of this law:
There are and can be only long initial or final vowels--whence we conclude:
1. Every final is long and every penultimate is final, since e mute is not pronounced.
2. The length of initial vowels depends upon the value of the initial consonants which they precede.
A word cannot contain two long vowels unless it begins with a vowel. In this case, the vowel of the preceding word is long, and prepares for the enunciation of the consonant according to its degree.