How to Learn the Basic Word List 259

the vowel was long, e g colores Otherwise it was on the last but two^ as
m dsmo (ass) On the whole Spaniards and Italians still place emphasis
where it used to be in Vulgar Latin times, as in the Spanish equivalents^
colores, asno Many Italian and even more Spanish words now have
stress on the final syllable because what came after t has disappeared,
e g Spanish ciuddd, Italian citta (Latin ciwtate) In Italian^ end stress
is indicated by a grave (*) accent, the only one in its script, as in tementd
(temerity) The giave accent also serves to distinguish a few mono-
syllables from words which look alike and sound al±e, e g e (is), e (and)^
or da (he gives)3 da (from., at) Spanish has more words with end stress,
and a trickier system of stress marks Rules of Spanish stress are as
follows

(1) Words ending HI a vowel, e g sahibre^ or in N, e g imagen^ or S9

e g martes5 and stressed on the last but one syllable, do without
the accent

(2) Words ending in a consonant other than N or S3 and stressed on

the last syllable, do without tne accent, e g esperar> propnedad

(3) Words which do not come under these two rules require the

acute Oa eg fut3 wnagmacion

(4) The acute accent also serves to distinguish between words of like

spelling but different meaning, e g mas (more), mas (but)3
el (the)—*/ (he)

With regard to stress French stands quite apart from her sisters
When^ as usual, the unstressed part of an original Latin word has disap-
peared, we should expect to find the stress on the final syllable, cf Latin
amicoy French ami In fact, a rule of this sort gives an exaggerated im-
pression Predominance of the final syllable is slight^ and a trifling
increase in stiess goes with rise of tone For purpose of emphasis or
contrast, stress may fall on a syllable other than the last

Since C and G are sources of trouble to the student of any Romance
language;, the following table may prove useful

C AND G BEFORE E AND I

LATIN
ITALIAN
SPANISH
PORTUGUESE
FRENCH

LETTER
SOUND
LETTER
SOUND
LETTER
SOUND
LETTER
SOUND
LETTER
SOUND

C

C

C

C

C

centum
= 100
cold
cento
c/nn
ciento
thin.
cento
cinder
cent
cinder

G

G

G

G,J

genero= brother-in-law
£lft
genero
£em
(y,h)
—
genro
measure
gendre
measure