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Dreimorengesetz is a German term which translates to "three mora rule." This name is given to the rule for placing the accent in a Latin word.

With few exceptions, Latin words are stressed on the penult (second-to-last syllable) if it is "heavy" (ending with a long vowel or consonant), and on the antepenult (third-to-last syllable) if the penult is "light" (ending with a short vowel.)

Examples:

1. Condĭtum "founded" = co•n—di—tum (heavy, light, final) = cónditum
2. Condītum "seasoned" = co•n—di•i—tum (heavy, heavy, final) = condítum
3. Conductum "brought together = co•n—du•c—tum (heavy, heavy, final) =condúctum

( - marks a syllable boundary, • marks a mora boundary)

If one counts all "light" syllables as one mora and all "heavy" syllables as two morae, it becomes clear that the accent is essentially always placed three morae before the end of the word. Note, however, that for this analysis to work, one must always count the final syllable as one mora, regardless of its actual syllabic composition.

Examples:

1. In condĭtum the third mora from the end is the n of the first syllable, so the accent falls on cón-
2. In condītum the third mora from the end is the first part of the ī in the second syllable, so the accent falls on dí-
3. In conductum the third mora from the end is the du of the second syllable, so the accent falls on duc-

Many other languages have similar but not identical rules for the placement of the accent:

• Arabic dialects (and certain other Semitic languages) originally used a similar rule, but this has been complicated by the loss of most final vowels.
• Sanskrit (and certain other Indic languages) use a version of this rule that allowed for placement on the fourth-to-last syllable if the antepenult was light.
• Ancient Greek had a totally different rule, but it likewise restricted the accent to the last three syllables and could be seen as mora-based.

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