3. Dissyllables ending in a diphthong have gene rally the first syllable long; as sērio, fēriă, mūtuŏ. 4. Dissyllables ending in two vowels generally have the first syllable long; as não, vēõ, rio, mio. 5. Words ending in y always have the penultima long as rey, combōy.

:

6. Trisyllables and polysyllables ending in any of these diphthongs, ia, ie, io, ua, ue, uo, have generally the penultima long; as concordiă, împērio, děsāguo.

7. Words ending in ae, ao, au, ea, eo, ia, ie, io, oa, oe, oo, (these letters not being diphthongs,) have the penultima long; as decāĕ, băcălão, ărcăbuceo, filosofiă, děsăfio.

8. Words ending in a consonant have generally their last syllable long; as cărīdād, ălmăcēn, ălbăñl, borrådor. N.B. Among the exceptions to this rule may be noticed those days of the week which end in s, as they have the penultimate long; as Mārtĕs, Viernes; and all surnames in ez, which have also the penultima long; as Pērěz, Sanchez, Mărtiněz, Fernānděz.

9. Adverbs ending in mente have the same syllable long* that the adjectives, from which they are formed, have; as fācil, facilmentě, înūtil, inūtilměntě, săntisimă, săntisimămĕntě.*

10. Nouns in the plural have generally the same syllable long* that was long in their singular number; as arbõl, arboles, ălmăcēn, ălmăcēnes, ălbălā, ălbălāĕs, hēroě, heroes. Except căracter, which changes into cărăcterěs.

N.B. Most of the foregoing observations seem but a repetition of what was said when treating on the accent they will, notwithstanding, be found particularly useful; for by consulting what is said

* Reckoned from the first syllable of the word.

on prosody learners will discover on what syllable to lay the stress; and by referring then to accent, they will find whether the said syllable should be accented or not.

For the branch of Prosody which refers to versification see the Appendix.

Observations on the Long or Acute Syllable in Verbs.*

1. If the termination of a verb is an a, e, or o, either alone or followed by n or s, the last syllable in the root is long; as consider-ŏ, consider-ăs, consider-ĕn.

Except the first and third persons singular of the perfect indicative, which always have the accent on the termination; as considĕr-ē, consider-ō.

2. Verbs have the accent on the first vowel of the termination if it consists of more than one vowel; as considĕr-ăbă, considĕr-ābămos, considĕrārămös, consider-āsěmos, ăm-ārăn.

Except the future indicative, which always has the accent on the second vowel of the termination ; as considĕr-ărē, correspond-ĕrēmos, suprim-irēis, multiplic-ărăn, ămărān.

3. If the termination of a verb contains an i, either alone or immediately followed by an a or an s, the accent is on the i; as correspond-i, correspond-iăn, persevĕr-ărîămõs, ătorment-ărîãîs, sufr-īs; but if the i precede an e or an o, the accent falls on the following vowel; as correspond-i5, correspondrēsĕrs.

4. Terminations of verbs ending in d or r are

*These observations are applicable to all the regular verbs, to the irregulars of the first class, and to many belonging to the third class.

C

always long; as considĕr-ad, correspond-ed, suprimid, considĕr-ār, correspond-er, suprim-ir.

5. When one or more pronominal cases are affixed to a verb, the accent falls on the same syllable that it did before; as entrēgă, ĕntrēgălě, entregō, entregōmělo.

ETYMOLOGY.

ETYMOLOGY treats on words and their derivation; enumerates their different species; and shows their various modifications.

Words are distinct, articulate, significant sounds. Words are either primitive, or derivative. A primitive word is that which is formed from no other word in the same language; thus in Spanish, cielo, heaven; ciudad, city; viento, wind; are primitive words.

A derivative is derived from some other word; as celeste, heavenly; ciudadano, citizen; ventoso, windy.

The Spanish language is composed of ten different species of words, commonly called parts of speech namely, Noun, Article, Adjective, Pronoun, Verb, Participle, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, and Interjection.

A Noun expresses the name of an individual, as rey, king; hombre, man.

An Article is a word prefixed to a noun to determine the extent of its signification; as el rey, the king; el hombre, the man.

An Adjective is a word which is joined to nouns to describe their qualities; as rey sabio, wise king; hombre humilde, humble man.

A Pronoun is a word often substituted for a noun, as ví al rey, pero mi hermano no le vió, I saw the king, but my brother did not see him.

A Verb is that part of speech which serves to affirm something concerning the noun; as el rey viene, the king comes.

A Participle is a part of speech derived from the verb, and which resembles the adjective in some of its properties, as la reyna viene coronada, the queen comes crowned; la han coronado, they have crowned her.

An Adverb is a word, which, being joined to a verb, serves to qualify the affirmation; as el rey gobierna sabiamente, the king governs wisely.

A Preposition is a word generally prefixed to nouns, to denote their various relations; as la corona de la reyna, the crown of the

queen,

A Conjunction serves to connect words and sentences; as el rey y los vasallos, the king and the subjects; la reyna ó la princesa, the queen or the princess; yo iba y tu venias, I was going and thou wast coming.

Interjections are words which express some emotion; as ay! alas!

The parts of speech are divided into Declinable and Indeclinable.

Declinable are those parts which can vary the manner of their signification.

Indeclinable are those which admit no variation. Of the ten parts of speech, the following only are declinable: namely, noun, article, adjective, pronoun, verb, and participle. N. B. The declension of a verb is usually termed conjugation.

OF THE NOUN.

A Noun, or as it is commonly called a Substantive, is the name of any thing whatever that can be made the subject of discourse; as casa, ángel, honra, house, angel, honour.