TOPICS

Accent and Accent-Marking in Ancient Greek

Contonation and Mora

The Last 3 Syllables and the Accents
•acute
•circumflex
•grave
•ultima
•penult
•antepenult
•more examples

Proclitics

Enclitics

Multiple Clitics

Traditional Terminology

Persistent Accentuation
• a- and o-declension
• consonant declension

Recessive Accentuation

The Last Three Syllables and the Accents (1 of 9)	Previous | Next

Only the last three syllables of a word may be accented. These three syllables are traditionally referred to by terms derived from Latin:

• ultima = “the last syllable” (abbreviated here as U)
• penult = “almost last, second-to-last syllable” (abbreviated here as P)
• antepenult = “before the penult, third-to-last syllable” (abbreviated here as A)

In what follows, the phrase “long ultima” (“long penult,” etc.) will mean “ultima (penult, etc.) containing a long vowel or diphthong.”