Accent

The fallacy of accent is a fallacy that arises when stressing different words of the sentence lead to different interpretations of the meaning of the sentence. In Latin it can be referred to as the Accentus, and we categorise it as an Informal Fallacy, of the type Equivocation fallacies.

In written text, when it is unclear where the stress lies, the sentence can become extremely ambiguous. The reader may interpret it in a way that seems most common to him, while the writer may have intended something else entirely.

Let’s take a look at some examples to see how ambivalent some setences really are without a proper stress.

Example 1

I didn’t eat the gummybears today. (somebody else ate them)

I didn’t eat the gummybears today. ( I didn’t eat them)

I didn’t eat the gummybears today. (I did something else with them)

I didn’t eat the gummybears today. (I ate some other gummybears)

I didn’t eat the gummybears today. (I ate something else)

I didn’t eat the gummybears today. (I ate them another time)

When the sentence would not have contained any accents, most people would think the sentence simply means the second interpretation ( that he simply did not eat them). But they may be mislead, and the person uttering the sentence may have eaten all of them, just not today (for example).

Example 2

I want you to be happy. (but somebody else doesn’t want you to be happy)

I want you to be happy. (emphasizing that I want you to be happy)

I want you to be happy. (But I don’t want somebody else to be happy, perhaps even quite the opposite!)

I want you to be happy. (I want you to be happy, now or in the future)

I want you to be happy. (and not sad).

Example 3

I did not gamble all my money away. (but my wife did)

I did not gamble all my money away. (But I’m doing it now! Or I am going to do it!)

I did not gamble all my money away. ( I did not do it.)

I did not gamble all my money away. (But I spent it all, so I lost it regardless)

I did not gamble all my money away. (I just gambled part of my money away)

I did not gamble all my money away. (I gambled all of somebody else’s money away)

I did not gamble all my money away. (I gambled something else away, e.g. my house or my car)

I did not gamble all my money away. (I did gamble with all my money, but i did not lose it all)

Fallacy of Accent in Politics and Literature

While the fallacy could be used politically, for example when each individual voter can interpret a setence the way he best likes it, while it may not be the way the politician intended it; it can also lead to interesting literature.

In the Wheel of Time for example, Aes Sedai cannot lie, but the author insists that this doesn’t mean they can’t trick you. The fallacy of accent therefore would be a great tool for the Aes Sedai to use – the sentence uttered may be true in one sense, but not the sense in which the subject thinks it is.