“Q. What is the Meaning of the Word PROSODY? A. It is a Word borrowed from the Greek; which, in Latin, is rendered Accentus, and in English Accent. “Q. What do you mean by Accent? A. Accent originally signified a Modulation of the Voice, or chanting to a musical Instrument; but is now generally used to signify Due Pronunciatian, i.e. the pronouncing [of] a syllable according to its Quantity, (whether it be long or short,) with a stronger Force or Stress of Voice than the other Syllables in the same Word; as, a in able, o in above, &c. “Q. What is Quantity? A. Quantity is the different Measure of Time in pronouncing Syllables, from whence they are called long or short. “Q. What is the Proportion between a long and a short Syllable? A. Two to one; that is, a long Syllable is twice as long in pronouncing as a short one; as, Hate, Hat.  This mark (=) set over a Syllable, shows that it is long, and this (~) that it is short; as, r=ecord, r~ecord. “Q.  How do you know long and short Syllables? A.  A Syllable is long or short according to the Situation of the Vowel, i.e. it is generally long when it ends with a Vowel, and short when with a Consonant; as, F=a- in Favour, and M~an- in Manner.”—­Fisher’s Practical Gram., p. 34.

Now one grand mistake of this is, that it supposes syllabication to fix the quantity, and quantity to determine the accent; whereas it is plain, that accent controls quantity, so far at least that, in the construction of verse, a syllable fully accented cannot be reckoned short.  And this mistake is practical; for we see, that, in three of his examples, out of the four above, the author himself misstates the quantity, because he disregards the accent:  the verb re-cord’, being accented on the second syllable, is an iambus; and the nouns rec’-ord and man’-ner, being accented on the first, are trochees; and just as plainly so, as is the word f=av~our.  But a still greater blunder here observable is, that, as a “due pronunciation” necessarily includes the utterance of every syllable, the explanation above stolidly supposes all our syllables to be accented, each “according to its Quantity, (whether it be long or short,)” and each “with a stronger Force or Stress of Voice, than the other Syllables!” Absurdity akin to this, and still more worthy to be criticised, has since been propagated by Sheridan, by Walker, and by Lindley Murray, with a host of followers, as Alger, D. Blair, Comly, Cooper, Cutler, Davenport, Felton, Fowler, Frost, Guy, Jaudon, Parker and Fox, Picket, Pond, Putnam, Russell, Smith, and others.