[Grammar] the panting, labouring, broken accents

[jacob123]

Are "panting" and "labouring" adjectives that modifies " broken accents"?

There are few experiences more tensely painful than to strain one's ears and to hear in the darkness the panting, labouring, broken accents beside one, which might mean so much if one could but distinguish them.

"The History of Spiritualism," by Arthur Conan Doyle

 

[Tarheel]

Are "panting" and "labouring" adjectives that modify " broken accents"?

There are few experiences more tensely painful than to strain one's ears and to hear in the darkness the panting, labouring, broken accents beside one, which might mean so much if one could but distinguish them.

"The History of Spiritualism," by Arthur Conan Doyle

Yes. But all three adjectives modify accents.

 

[jacob123]

Yes. But all three adjectives modify accents.

Do they occur at the same time or should I read them separately. I mean, "painting accents, labouring accents, broken accents" or "accents {a manner of speech} that is painting, labouring and broken"?

Thanks

 

[Tarheel]

Do they occur at the same time or should I read them separately. I mean, "painting accents, labouring accents, broken accents" or "accents {a manner of speech} that is painting, labouring and broken"?

Well, yes, it all happens at the same time. However, the accents themselves don't do any panting or labouring. (Only people can do that.) What the writer means, of course, is that the sounds indicated that the people were out of breath. That is indicated by the panting, which indicates labouring. (The accents would, of course, be there regardless.)

 

[jutfrank]

I'm not sure how to understand this.

I don't think he means 'accents' in the sense of 'regional accents' but rather in the sense of the manner of stressing certain syllables. In this case, broken goes only with accents.

It's really not clear. This is a hard book for a non-native speaker to read.

 

[PeterCW]

I'm not sure how to understand this.

I don't think he means 'accents' in the sense of 'regional accents' but rather in the sense of the manner of stressing certain syllables. In this case, broken goes only with accents.

It's really not clear. This is a hard book for a non-native speaker to read.

Its a hard book for native speakers as well.

In this case Conan Doyle is attributing a double meaning to "accents" both as a mode of speech and as a synonym for speech itself.

 

[Tdol]

I think he's trying to describe a medium's voice when visited by a spirit. Accents may be the pronunciation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ6d_ZAkH6M