In
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
, a paroxytone (, ') is a word with stress on the
penultimate syllable, that is, the second-to-last syllable,
such as the
English word ''potáto''.
In English, most words ending in ''-ic'' are paroxytones: ''músic'', ''frántic'', and ''phonétic'' but not ''rhétoric'', ''aríthmetic'' (noun), and ''
Árabic''.
In
Italian and
Portuguese as well as
Spanish, most words are paroxytones. In
Polish, almost all multisyllabic words are paroxytones except for certain verb conjugations and a few words of foreign origin.
In medieval Latin lyric poetry, a ''paroxytonic'' line or half-line is one in which the penultimate syllable is stressed, as in the second half of the verse "Estuans intrinsecus , , ira vehementi."
Related concepts are
proparoxytone
In linguistics, a proparoxytone (, ) is a word with stress on the antepenultimate (third to last) syllable, such as the English language, English words "cinema" and "operational". Related concepts are paroxytone (stress on the penultimate syllable) ...
(stress on the antepenultimate or third-to-last syllable) and
oxytone (stress on the ultimate or last syllable).
See also
*
Barytone
*
Oxytone
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Penult
*
Perispomenon
*
Proparoxytone
In linguistics, a proparoxytone (, ) is a word with stress on the antepenultimate (third to last) syllable, such as the English language, English words "cinema" and "operational". Related concepts are paroxytone (stress on the penultimate syllable) ...
*
Properispomenon
*
Stress (linguistics)
In linguistics, and particularly phonology, stress or accent is the relative emphasis or prominence given to a certain syllable in a word or to a certain word in a phrase or Sentence (linguistics), sentence. That emphasis is typically caused ...
References
Phonology
Stress (linguistics)
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