PART III. PROSODY, OR QUANTITY AND METRE. CHAPTER I. QUANTITY. § 1. General rules of Quantity. 213 PROSODY, which, in its original meaning as a Greek word (poowdía), denotes accentuation, is used in Latin Grammar to signify that part of the subject which teaches the quantity of syllables and the laws of metre. 214 By quantity' we understand the condition of a syllable in regard to the time occupied by its pronunciation. We say that it is a short syllable (syllaba brevis, syllaba correpta) if it occupies only one mora or time, and a long syllable (syllaba longa, syllaba producta) if it occupies two such morae or times (below, 232). When a syllable is sometimes long and sometimes short it is called common or doubtful (syllaba anceps). A short syllable is marked with a semicircle open above, as in brevibus; a long syllable is marked by a horizontal line, as in cēlārūnt; and both marks are placed over a common or doubtful syllable, as in tenebrae. 215 The quantity of a syllable is supposed to reside in its vowel, which may be either long or short by nature; and in the latter case it may be lengthened by position. 216 A syllable is long by nature, when it is represented by a diphthong or two vowels pronounced as one, when its original form was a diphthong, and when it involves the absorption of one or more syllables or of a consonant. Thus the penultima or last syllable but one is long in Caesar, coēna, aūrum; similarly we have il-lido from laedo, punio from poena, explōdo from plaudo, obedio from audio, Samaria from Σαμαρεία, Ilithgia from Ειλείθυια, musēum from povσeîov, cōgo from co-igo (ago), ōtium from opitium, māvolo and mālo for măgis volo, junior for juvěnior, sūmo for su-imo (emo), tibicen for tibi-cen, bōbus for bovibus, suspitio for suspicitio, sētius for secitius, novitius for novi-itius, pōno for po-sino, and the like. Exceptions: (1) The diphthong ae is sometimes shortened before a vowel, especially in the preposition prae and in Greek words; as Ver praeit aestatem. Longior antiquis visa Maeōtis hiemps. Insulae Ionio in magno. But this quantity of ae is not always observed even in the same word, and we have Regna Thoas habuit Maeotide clarus in ora. (2) The Greek diphthong et is generally represented by i or ẽ (above, 3, (3), Obs. 5); but we have sometimes ĕ for this diphthong, as in platea, chorea by the side of platea, chorea. 217 A syllable is short by nature when it consists in a single vowel, which does not represent any absorption either of a consonant or of another vowel. And this may generally be inferred when the following syllable begins with a vowel or h, as in mě-us, pi-us, delici-ae, tu-us, cor-rŭet, rebõat, trăho, věho, prohibeo. The fact that a vowel is short by nature before a single consonant may be learned from experience guided by etymology. The exceptions to the general rule that a vowel before another vowel or h is short, are as follows: (1) The former vowel is long in the old genitives of the first declension, as aulai, pictai. Also in the genitives and datives in e from nouns in es, as diei, specia; but if a consonant precedes the e this vowel may be short, as in fiděi, rěi, spei, the two former of which, however, sometimes follow the general rule for the lengthening of the penultima. (2) The i is long in fio for fuio, unless -er- follows; thus we have frem, fiet, fiunt, but fierem, fieri, as in the line Omnia nunc fiunt, fieri quae posse negabam. (3) Genitives in -ius have the i long, but this is often shortened by the poets, who write e. g. both illius and illius; except in alīus, which being contracted from ali-ius is always long. In alterius the penultima is generally short, though it is occasionally lengthened by the poets. In ejus, hujus, the i is hardened into j, and the previous syllable lengthened accordingly. (4) We have a long before the termination -ius in Gaius; as Pervigil in pluma Gāžus, ecce, jacet. Also in the vocative Gai; as Quod debes, Gai, redde, inquit Phoebus. Similarly we have Pompēr from Pompeius; but the poets also write Pomper as a dissyllable; thus, Pompei meorum prime sodalium. (5) The interjection O! is common before a vowel; and the penultima of ohe may be either long or short. But e in eheu is always long. (6) In Greek words the e or i of the penultima generally represents the diphthong e, and is therefore long; as in panacea, elegia, Eneas, Alexandria, and āēr, ēos, hērōus, Menelāus, Brisēis, retain their Greek quantity. But in some Greek words the e or i or y is common; thus we have both Academia and Academia, both Diana and Diana, both Geryon and Geryon, both Orion and in later poets Orion. Obs. Some considerations, which belong rather to comparative philology than to Latin Grammar, may assist the student in determining whether a vowel is in its nature short or long. He will recognize an originally single or unaffected vowel of articulation, in the change from a to i and e, as in că-no, ce-ci-ni, con-centus, făcio, con-fi-cio, confec-tus (Varron. p. 309), also in the change from a or e or i to o, as pars, portio; fero, fors; mens, memini, moneo; disco (= dic-sco), di-dici, doceo; terra, extorris &c. (Ibid. p. 311). And with regard to o in particular he will notice that when this letter is secondary or derivative, it is generally short, even though the primitive form may give a long i or u; thus we have hodie for hidie (cf. pridie, postrīdie) homo by the side of humanus (where the comparison of other languages shows that u is the original letter), and probably modo for mi dato, 'give' or 'grant me.' Some such consideration as this justifies the later poets (e. g. Prudentius, Apotheos. 194; Cathem. 1. 33) in making the first syllable of socors and socordia short, although the original form of the prefix was sē; and we accept this quantity without any direct authority from poets of the classical age. 218 A vowel which is short by nature becomes long by position, when it stands before two or more consonants or before the double letters j=di, x=cs or gs, and z = ds; as in mēns, exēmplum, vult, major, lex, gāza. The following special cases require to be noticed: (1) When a word ends with a short vowel, and the next word begins with two consonants, this is not generally regarded as a position affecting the quantity of the final vowel; but the final vowel very rarely remains short before sc, sp, sq, st, x, z, at the beginning of the word following; thus we have Ferte citi ferrum, date tela, scandite muros. Occulta spolia, et plures de pace triumphos. But on the other hand we have Ponitě spem. Praemia scribae. Nemorosă Zacynthus. (2) The letter h is not counted as a consonant, and therefore makes no position; thus we have Serpit humi tutus. (3) The combination qu is regarded as a single letter, which does not affect the quantity of the preceding short vowel; thus we have Gratius ex ipso fonte bibuntur ăquae. (4) Compounds with jugum, e. g. bijugus, quadrijugus, leave a short vowel before j; as Quadrijugum currum. Hence we have the contraction bīgae, quadrigae. Obs. The comic poets neglect the rule of position. 219 When a short vowel stands before a mute and liquid, this combination of consonants does not necessarily constitute a position, and the vowel may remain short. In Latin, however, this exception to the rule of position is practically confined to those cases in which the consonant is followed by r, and to some few instances where it is followed by 1; as patris, tenebrae, mediocris, vēpres, volucris, poples, assecla. That the vowel in these cases may be either long or short appears from lines in which both quantities are exhibited by the same word; as Natum ante ora pătris, pātrem qui obtruncat ad aras. Et primo similis volucri, mox vera volūcris. In Greek words the Greek quantity is observed, and we may have a short vowel in Atlas, Procne, Cygnus, Tec messa, &c. The following remarks must be noticed: (1) The weak position created by the mute followed by a liquid does not affect the quantity of a vowel naturally long; thus we have only matris from māter, arātrum from arāre, and salūbris from salūs. (2) The position is not weak, when there are two liquids, as in ōmnes; or a liquid before a mute, as in pārtem; or when the mute and liquid belong to different syllables, as in āb-luo. 220 Derived words retain the quantity of their primitives; thus we have ămicus, ămicitia, inimicitiae, by the side of amo and ǎmor; we have scriba, conscribere from scribo; valetudo from valere; proficiscor from facio; invideo from video, &c. Obs. Some words, which seem to deviate from this rule, are either falsely derived from the assumed primitive, as molestus, which does not come from mōles but from mălus, and cóma, which has nothing to do with cōmo = co-imo (emo); or there has been strengthening of the root in one of the forms, which has lengthened the syllable naturally short; this must be the explanation of lex, legis, rex, regis by the side of lego, rego; pȧx, pācis by the side of păco; dux, ducis by the side of duco; voco from vox, vōcis; dico (-are) and dicax by the side of dico; lucerna by the side of luceo; labor (-oris) and labo (-are) by the side of labor (-i); notus by the side of nota; sopor by the side of sōpio; stătio, stabilis by the side of stāre and staturus, &c. Thus too fido, fidus, infidus, fiducia have a long i; but the i is short in fides, fidelis, perfidus, perfidia. 221 Compounds retain the quantity of the simple words which they involve; as caedo, oc-cido; cădo, occido (above, 216). But there are some few exceptions, as juro, pejero; nōtum, agnitum, cognitum; nūbo, pronŭbus; sõpitus, semisõpitus, sī, quandō, siquidem, quandoquidem. § 2. Quantity of the Middle Syllables. (a) Middle Syllables of Nouns and Pronouns. 222 (aa) A vowel is always long before the termination -rum of the gen. pl.; thus we have musārum, diērum, dominōrum, illārum, istōrum. (bb) If the vowel before -bus or -bis in the dat. abl. is a, e, or o, it is always long; thus we have duābus, deābus, diēbus, duōbus, nōbis, vōbis; if the vowel is i or u it is short; thus we have artibus, artubus, partibus, partubus; except in the case of būbus, bōbus for bovibus. (6) Middle Syllables of Verbs. 223 (aa) Dissyllabic perfects and supines have the penultima long, except when one vowel stands before another; thus we have vīdi, ēgi, ēmi; visum, actum, emptum, from video, aăgo, ěmo; but rũi, ruitum from ruo, are exceptions. (1) Seven dissyllabic perfects and eight dissyllabic supines have the penultima short; these are remembered by the following rhymes: |