accented
accented — adjective
1. (of a person's speech) carrying clear traces of a foreign or regional way of pro
(of a person's speech) carrying clear traces of a foreign or regional way of pronouncing words, so listeners can tell where the speaker is from.
Maria's heavily accented English made the customers in the bakery smile.
heavily accented + [language]
The professor spoke softly accented French throughout the lecture in Lyon.
[adverb] + accented + [language]
Wren answered the phone in lightly accented Mandarin and asked for Mr. Chen.
The taxi driver gave directions in strongly accented Cantonese, pointing toward the harbour.
Her grandmother's accented voice on the recording brought tears to Bram's eyes.
- broken
stronger; suggests grammar errors plus accent, often less fluent
- foreign-sounding
more descriptive phrase, less formal than 'accented'
- thick
informal; often paired with 'accent' rather than with the speech itself
- unaccented
speaking with no detectable foreign or regional pronunciation
- native-sounding
phrase, suggests speech indistinguishable from a native speaker
文法句型
heavily/strongly accented
[adverb] + accented + [language/speech]
用法筆記
Almost always preceded by an adverb of degree (heavily, strongly, lightly, softly, slightly) plus the name of a language or region. Rarely used on its own without that adverb modifier.
常見錯誤
2. (of a syllable, beat, or note) said or played with extra force so that it stands
(of a syllable, beat, or note) said or played with extra force so that it stands out from the syllables, beats, or notes around it.
In the word 'banana', the middle syllable is the accented one.
the accented syllable in [word]
The piano teacher told Mei to play the accented notes a little louder.
accented notes + verb of playing
Drummers usually hit the accented beat at the start of each bar.
Poets often place strong, accented syllables on important words to create rhythm.
- stressed
the most common everyday term for syllables in linguistics
- emphasized
broader; works for ideas as well as sounds
- unstressed
the standard linguistic opposite for syllables
文法句型
the accented syllable
an accented note/beat
用法筆記
Typically appears before a noun like 'syllable', 'beat', or 'note'. Distinguish from sense 1 (which describes a person's speech as a whole) and sense 3 (which describes written marks on letters).
常見錯誤
3. (of a letter or vowel on the page) carrying a small written sign above or below
(of a letter or vowel on the page) carrying a small written sign above or below it, such as é, à, or ñ, that tells the reader how to say it.
French uses several accented letters, including é, è, and ê on the vowel e.
accented letters + examples
Hugo's keyboard could not type the accented n in his sister's name, Niña.
accented + [specific letter]
The Spanish teacher asked the class to copy each accented vowel into their notebooks.
Many Vietnamese words contain accented characters that change the tone completely.
- diacritical
more technical; used in linguistics and typography
- marked
very general; only clear from context that the marks are accents
- unaccented
a letter written without any diacritic mark
- plain
informal; describes letters with no extra symbols
文法句型
accented + [letter/character]
accented vowel/letter
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 2: this sense is about visible marks on paper or screen, while sense 2 is about how a syllable or note sounds when spoken or played. Often used when discussing typing, fonts, or learning a foreign script.