ABSTRACT
The definition of the phonetic word is hardly less arbitrary, for we often have syllables, and even groups of syllables, which they do not know whether to group as independent words or to attach to neighbouring ones. Language itself has rhythmic peaks and depressions. These peaks have frequently a psychical value. The verbal image is two-faced, one side directed toward the depths of the mind and the other reflecting the mechanism of sound production. Considered in its material realization it translates itself by sounds, but in its psychic origin it is a product of a mental process. In our modern languages, with stress accent, certain groups of words are pronounced with a single vocal effort and with an acceleration of breath on one syllable only. On the other hand, we know of Sanskrit words with two accents, and in languages which employ stress there often arises a secondary in addition to the principal accent.
