| 词组 | accent, accentuate |
| 释义 | accent, accentuate Accentuate is what Fowler 1926 would call a "long variant" of accent. In this case instead of condemnation, there is approval. Fowler notes that accentuate is being used for figurative senses and accent for literal and technical ones; this is differentiation (a favorite process of Fowler and other members of the Society for Pure English), and Fowler approves and encourages it. Fowler would be pleased to learn that in the years since his writing the differentiation has continued. Accent has more meanings, mainly technical, but accentuate has more usage. The Merriam-Webster files show that when accent is used in a nontechnical way, it may be used to mean "to give prominence or emphasis to": • ... skirts, pants, culottes and shorts that zero in on the fanny—and accent the belly —Women's Wear Daily, 27 Oct. 1975 • The problem of tying so far-flung a nation together ... is accented by the population's uneven distribution —J. Hervie Haufler, General Electric Investor, Winter 1972 • ...the cheapness and potency of tequila, which helped accent his paranoid and manic moods —Sy Kahn, Jour, of Modern Literature, 1970 Accentuate, however, is considerably more common in such use: • Intimacy breeds rivalry, accentuates the meaning of moods —Thomas J. Cottle, Change, January-February 1971 • Sleek, modern design accentuates shining simulated stone —Sears, Roebuck Catalogue, Fall and Winter 1955 • Grayish daylight seeping into the tunnel accentuated the rough texture of the walls —Joseph Wechsberg, New Yorker, 12 May 1956 • ... a slender, small-breasted girl, with an erect carriage, which she accentuated by throwing her body backward at the shoulders —F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, 1925 • The scolding of the New England woman, that had but accentuated his awkwardness and stupidity — Sherwood Anderson, Poor White, 1920 Accent may emphasize a setting off by contrast; accentuate is seldom used thus: • The corners of the towers are accented by brick quoins —American Guide Series: Maryland, 1940 • ... had traces of Castilian beauty which she accented with pendulous amethyst earrings —Ludwig Bemel-mans, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, 1943 • ... retain the 1952 basic body styling, but the lines have been accented with additional chrome —Newsweek, 20 Oct. 1952 • A Sauternes ... finished off the meal, agreeably accenting the dessert —Jane Nickerson, N. Y. Times Mag., 20 June 1954 • ... patch pockets accented with buttons — Women's Wear Daily, 3 June 1953 • ... a pasty complexion and a wide, even smile accented by a rather pointy nose —Jack Falla, Sports Illustrated, 23 Jan. 1984 Accent is also used when the writer wants to single out or stress some particular: • Gunther's account of his record at SHAPE accents the General's deep belief in working toward a European Federation —Charles J. Rolo, Atlantic, March 1952 • Although Dr.Heller in the past has made suggestions in this vein, he hardly accents them in his book — Leon H. Keyserling, New Republic, 25 Mar. 1967 • ... thirty regional dramas, the more recent ones accenting Texas —Richard L. Coe, Holiday, May/ June 1973 Accentuate is seldom used in this way, except in the phrase accentuate the positive, which has been reinforced by a popular song with that title. Accent is also sometimes used in the phrase: • An occasionally negative pronouncement tends to be mild and regretful; then it quickly accents the positive —Alfred Kazin, TV. Y. Times Book Rev., 29 Jan. 1984 • We would rather accentuate the positive —Gerard Onisa, Media & Methods, March 1969 • In the course of some missionary work ... Whitehead stoutly accentuated the positive —Russell Watson, Newsweek, 15 Jan. 1973 Accentuate has developed an additional meaning, approximately "to intensify or increase" that is not snared by accent: • ... the frail health she experienced as a result may have accentuated her natural tendency to meditate —Dictionary of American Biography, 1944 • ... the Bank's operations would tend to accentuate rather than to moderate the cycle —Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, January 1947 • ... needs which are accentuated or created by the culture —Abram Kardiner, The Individual and His Society, 1939 • The 1959 crisis in Tibet accentuated, though it by no means initiated, strains in relations —Times Literary Supp., 9 Apr. 1970 • ... they certainly accentuate rather than attenuate the divisiveness in the faculty —T. R. McConnell, AAUP Bulletin, September 1969 • Milwaukee's precipitous decline in the American League East was accentuated by a 10-game losing streak —Herrn Weiskopf, Sports Illustrated, 3 Oct. 1983 So the differentiation between accent and accentuate noticed and encouraged by Fowler 1926 has continued, although it cannot be called complete. Except for the two general uses mentioned above where accent still predominates, accentuate holds the field for most general and figurative uses, and has developed a use of its own not shared by accent. |
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