Despite the difference in size and positioning of the signs – accent and 
hairpin – the musical context indicates that in both cases Chopin probably had a long accent in mind. The notation of such accents was not always precise even in autographs, and inaccuracies in their reproduction by engravers were very common – see e.g. Etude in A minor, Op. 10 No. 2, bars 12 or 25-26.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Editorial revisions
issues: Long accents
notation: Articulation, Accents, Hairpins