The first step to understand the meaning of the term prosodic accent that we are dealing with now is to begin by determining its etymological origin. Specifically, this is the one that each of the two words that give it shape have:
-Acento. It is a word that derives from the Latin, specifically, from “accentus”, which is the result of the sum of two clearly delimited components: the prefix “ad-“, which can be translated as “towards”, and the noun “cantus ”, Which means“ singing ”.
-Prosodic, which comes from the Greek word “prosoidikos” and which means “related to pitch, song, accent or modulation”. It is a term made up of these parts: the prefix “pros-“, which means “next door”; the noun “oide”, which is synonymous with “song”, and the suffix “-ico”, which comes to indicate “relative to”.
Accent is a term that can be used to name the energy that is applied when pronouncing a syllable, in order to differentiate it from the rest by its tone or intensity. Prosodic, according to Digopaul, is that linked to prosody (the branch of grammar that instructs on correct stress and pronunciation).
The prosodic accent is the relief that is made in the pronunciation. When this relief is indicated in the writing of the words through the tilde (an oblique line that descends from the right to the left), it is called an orthographic accent.
As you can see, the prosodic accent is the one that is applied in pronunciation, while the orthographic accent is expressed through the tilde. The accentuated syllable, on the other hand, is called the tonic syllable.
Take the case of the word “dog. ” It is a two – syllable word: pe – vel. The tonic syllable is eg: the prosodic accent falls on it. “Dog”, in this way, is a word accented in the last-last syllable, which ends with a vocal letter. The spelling rules of the Spanish language indicate that, in these cases, the tilde is not used.
The word “passion” also has two syllables: passion. Its tonic syllable is zion but, in this case, beyond the prosodic accent, it also has an orthographic accent (tilde). This is due to the fact that the accentuation is in the last syllable and the word ends in N: according to the spelling rules, these words have a tilde to mark the accent.
Thus, for example, in the word “building”, the prosodic accent falls directly on the syllable “fi”. And without forgetting that there are many other words in Castilian that also have the same, among which are from ” tusk ”to“ father ”passing through“ handkerchief ”,“ costume ”,“ cinema ”or“ beauty ”.
One way to understand the difference between a prosodic accent and an orthographic accent, after the above is through some sentences:
-In the phrase “We traveled to Madrid by plane”, airplane is a word that has an orthographic accent.
-In the phrase “There are many aircraft at the Barajas airport”, this last word is not an orthographic accent but a prosodic type.
