‘For the Sake of a Distinction’?

Abstract

Chapter 9 considers three prominent manifestations of the idea that a word can have an unusual accent for the sake of making a distinction: the accent ascribed to the final syllable of the preposition and/or adverb pone, the one ascribed to the final syllable of ergo ‘for the sake of’, and the one ascribed to the final syllable of circum in Vergil’s maria omnia circum (Aeneid I. 32). Although slightly different conclusions emerge in each case, all three case studies reveal that to some extent a scholar or teacher might indeed pronounce an accent ‘for the sake of a distinction’. In no case, however, is an accent simply invented for the sole purpose of creating a distinction.