words ending in a consonant should be stressed on the last syllable.
But since nobody, however slightly acquainted with Spanish, is tempted
to pronounce such words as Velazquez (p. 79) or Gomez (p. 250)
incorrectly, no graphic accent is employed in such cases. Names ending
in _s_--such as Valbás--are accentuated, however, when the stress
falls on the last syllable: this prevents all possibility of
confusion with the pronunciation of ordinary plural forms.
Place-names--such as Béjar (p. 58) and Córdoba (p. 184)--are
accentuated; so are trisyllables and polysyllables such as Góngora (p.
209) and Zúñiga (p. 57 and elsewhere). It will be seen that, in this
matter, I have been guided by strictly utilitarian principles.
Inconsistencies are perhaps unavoidable under any system. The plan
followed here, while it tends to diminish the total number of accents,
probably involves no more inconsistencies than any other. It is based
on rational grounds, and is, it may be hoped, less offensive to the
eye than the current system. Quotations, I repeat, are reproduced
exactly as they stand in the sources from which they profess to be
taken.

With these words, I close what I have to say here on this subject and
commend these pages to the indulgent judgement of my readers.

The following works, or articles, may be usefully consulted by the
student of Spanish.


EDITIONS. LUIS DE LEON: _Obras_, ed. A. Merino, Madrid, 1804-5-6-16. 6
vols. [reprinted with a preface, by C. Muiños Sáenz, Madrid, 1885, 6
vols.]; _Biblioteca de Autores Españoles_, vols. XXXV, XXXVII, LIII,
LXI, and LXII; _De los nombres de Cristo_, ed. F. de Onís, Madrid,