Dear Adam,
Welcome to the list, and to the wonderful world of Pali study!

Pali doesn't have accents the way some other languages do, but it has
a very precise metre which can create an illusion of accented
syllables when hearing it. Just learn the rules about pronouncing
long vowels and short vowels - and remember that a long vowel should
be pronounced for twice as long as a short vowel. Double consonants
need to be fully pronounced too. This is the biggest stumbling block
for English speakers in trying to pronounce Pali correctly. For
example, in English the word "butter" is pronounced as if it only had
one "t" in it, and sounds exactly like the 3rd and 4th words in this
phrase "it was BUT A dream". Similarly for words like "hotter; if we
pronounced the double-t in the correct Pali way, they would sound like
the t's in "hot tap". In Pali, a syllable will be long if it has a
long vowel, or a long consonant; said another way, the syllable will
only be short if the vowel is short AND the consonant following it is
single.

Hope this helps.

Metta,
John

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, "heyman_slowdown" <djdrpiece@...> wrote:
> i'm very new to pali study and am just getting down the
> pronounciation. i'm doing well with the pronounciation of the
> individual letters and syllables (i think), but i'm never sure where
> in the word to place the accent. I'd appreciate it if someone could
> clarify this for me.
>
> thanks,
> adam