LATIN GRAMMAR. ELEMENTARY PART. CHAPTER I. OF THE VOWELS AND CONSONANTS. [§ 1.] 1. THE Vowels of the Latin language are, A, a; E, e; I, i; O, o; U, u (Y, y): and the diphthongs, AE, ae; OE, oe; AU, au, and EU, eu. Their ancient pronunciation did not differ in any essential point from that of the modern Italian or German; but the modern pronunciation varies in the different countries of Europe, though the length and shortness of the vowels are and ought to be observed everywhere. The Latin language has no signs to distinguish a long from a short vowel, such as we find in the Greek language, at least in the case of two vowels. The names of the vowels are mere imitations of their sounds, and not specific words, like the Greek alpha, iota, &c. Note.-The vowel y (called y psilon) occurs only in words which were introduced into the Latin language from or through the Greek, at a time when it was already developed, such as, syllaba, pyramis, Pyrrhus, Cyrus ;* whereas other words, the Greek origin of which leads us back to more ancient times, or has been obscured by changes of sound, have lost their original y; such as mus (from the Greek uus,) silva (from 2ŋ), and lacrima (from dúkovov.)t The word stilus, too, is better written with i, since practice did not acknowledge its identity with the Greek oruhos. The diphthong eu, if we except Greek words, occurs only in heus, heu, and eheu, in ceu, seu, and neu, and in neuter and neutiquam. The diphthongs containing * [As the Romans already possessed in their the representative of the Greek letter, it may be asked how it was that they subsequently adopted the Y. It has been supposed, in answer to this, that the Greek character had changed its power from the original sound of oo, such as is still represented by the Italian u, to a sound probably like that of the French u, or even to a weak i. (Key on the Alphabet, p. iii.)]—Am. Ed. + [It would be more correct, perhaps, to say, that in many words rather connected with the Greek than derived from it, the v is represented by i, as in cliens, in-clitus (kλúw), clipeus (кρúπTW), silva (VλFn), &c., while in others the v has become e, as in socer (Ekvρós), remulco (pvμovλkéw), polenta (πаλvντý), &c, (Donaldson, Varronianus, p. 222. Compare Billroth, Lat. Gr., p, 3, not.)]-Àm. Ed. A an i, viz., ei, oi, and ui, have not been mentioned in our text as Latin diphthongs, because they occur only in a few interjections, such as hei, eia, oiei, and hui, and in cases where dein, proin, huic, or cui are contracted into one syllable, which is commonly done in poetry. The ancients, in pronouncing a diphthong, uttered the two vowels of B.Sac.16.67%, which it consists more distinctly than we do. The word neuter, in partic ular, was pronounced in such a manner that the two vowels in eu, though united, were yet distinctly heard.* In this manner we may reconcile the assertion of the grammarian Consentius, that it is a barbarism to pronounce neutrum as a word of two syllables, with those passages in Latin poetry which necessarily demand the diphthong. Neutiquam, in the comic poets, has its first syllable always short, as if it were nutiquam, from which we may infer that it was not so much the long diphthong as the two short vowels that were heard. In like manner the diphthongs ae and oe were pronounced, and hence we find that in the early times ai and oi were 4.56 pronounced and written in their stead, and that the Latins expressed the Greek at and or by ae and oe; for, if these diphthongs are pronounced in the manner above described, it will be perceived that the difference between the sounds of e and i is but slight. The Greek & must likewise have been pronounced in such a manner that the two vowels were distinctly heard; for the Latins, in whose language this diphthong does not occur, use in its place sometimes e, and sometimes i, or either of them indiscriminately. Before consonants we always find i, e. g., eclipsis, Nilus, Clitus, Heraclidae; and in Latin we must accordingly pronounce and write Polyclitus, and not Polycletus (see my remark on Cic., in Verr., iv., 3); Hilotes or Hilotae (Ilotae, for the Greek is Ewres or Eiλwrai), and not Helotes. Before vowels, on the other hand, the Greek & is sometimes changed into e, and sometimes into i; the e appears, for example, in Aeneas and Medea, and the i in Iphigenia and elegia, whereas Alexandrea and Alerandria, Thucydideus and Thucydidius are used indiscriminately. In Cicero, the forms Ariopagus and Ariopagitae are better established than Areopagus and Areopagitae, and the like, which we commonly find in our editions, whereas the form Dareus is much more authentic, according to the MSS. of Latin authors, than Darius. This fact is now generally * [On this pronunciation of the diphthongs by the ancients, both Greeks and Romans, compare the remarks of Liskovius (Ueber die Aussprache des Griechischen, &c., p. 14), who advocates the same in opposition to the Reuchlinian system of pronunciation. The passage of Choroboscus, however, in Bekker's Anecd. Græc., p. 1214, and his three modes of pronouncing diphthongs, would seem to militate against this view of the subject. Compare Theodos., Gramm., p. 34, ed. Goettl., and Moschopul. Op. Gram., ed. Titze, p. 24.]-Am. Ed. t [We must not suppose, however, that in the earlier Latinity ai was alone and exclusively used instead of ae. Examples of the latter likewise occur. Thus, on the Columna Rostrata, we have praeda and aes; in the S. C. de Bacchan., the form aedem occurs; and in one of the inscriptions from the tomb of the Scipios, we find aetate. Still, however, ai was much more commonly employed, as in aidilis, quaistor, quairatis, aiternus, aire, &c. (Gruter, Ind. Gramm., s. v. ai pro ae.) The same remark will apply to vi for oe, the former being the more common, but the latter occurring on the Col. Rostr., "claseis Poenicas," and elsewhere. In later Latinity, the form oi appears to have been retained only in the interjection oieï, or eoieï, of the comic writers. (Schneider, Elementarlehre, &c., vol. i., p. 81; Bentley, ad Ter. Eun., 4, 4, 47, &c.)]-Am. Ed. [The i sound here meant is the continental one, namely, that of the long English e in mete.]-Am. Ed. [This change of & into e or i appears to have arisen from a variety in dialectic pronunciation, some dialects sounding the s, and others the, more strongly. Compare Liskov., p. 13.]—Am, Ed. acknowledged, and does not require here to be supported by authori. ties.* [ 2.] It was, however, only by degrees that the pronunciation and orthography became fixed, and this was mainly the work of the grammarians during the first centuries after Christ. Previously, there existed many peculiarities in the pronunciation, which were also adopted in the written. language, and some of these are still retained in the texts of a few of the early writers, such as Plautus, Terence, and Sallust, for historical reasons, or, so to speak, from diplomatic fidelity. But such peculiarities should not be imitated by us, for they were gradually given up by the ancients themselves. With regard to pronunciation and orthography, we must necessarily adhere to the rules which were laid down by the ancient grammarians, who certainly did not derive them from the vulgar idiom of the people, but from the uncorrupt and pure language of the educated classes. In the earliest times, the broad pronunciation of the long i was commonly indicated by ei, but without its being pronounced as a diphthong ei, which is foreign to the Latin language: for example, heic for hic, queis for quis (quibus), eidus for idus, and in the accusative plural of the third declension when it terminates in is (see (68), such as omneis, arteis, for omnis and artis, which termination of the accusative was subsequently changed into ēs. A middle sound between the two short vowels u and i was preserved, in some words, down to a still later time; and many persons pronounced and wrote lubet, existumo, clupeus, inclutus, satura, for libet, existimo, clipeus, &c.; the adjective termination umus for imus, as finitumus for finitimus, and the superlatives optumus, maxumus, and pulcherrumus, for optimus, maximus, &c. Julius Cæsar declared himself in favor of i, which was afterward adopted generally, although the Emperor Claudius wanted to introduce a new letter for the indefinite vowel in those words. We must farther observe that in early times o was used instead of u, after the letter v, e. g., volt, volnus, avom, and even in the nominative avõs instead of avus: in some words o took the place of e; for example, vorto and its derivatives for verto, voster for vester. U instead of e occurs in the termination of the participle undus for endus, and was retained in some cases in later times also. (See § 167.) Lastly, we have to mention that the vulgar pronunciation of au was ō; e. g., Claudius was pronounced as Clodius, plaustrum as plostrum, and plaudo as plodo; but in some words this pronunciation, which in general was considered faulty, became established by custom, as in plostellum, a little carriage, a diminutive form of plaustrum. This was the case more especially when the common mode of pronouncing served to indicate a difference in meaning, as in lotus, washed, and lautus, splendid or elegant; and codex, a tablet for writing (or a book), and cauder, a block of wood. In the compounds of plaudo the form plodo thus became prevalent. [§ 3.] 2. The consonants are, B, b; C, c; D, d; F, f; G, g; H, h; (K, k); L, l; M, m; N, n; P, p; Q, q; R, r; S, s; T, t; X, x; (Z, z). With regard * [Still it may not be amiss to cite the following: Drakenb. ad Liv., xxxvi., 14, extr.; Interpp. ad Vel. Pat., 11, 69, 2: 11, 87, init.; Oudend. ad Sueton. Claud., 42.]—Am. Ed. + [The whole subject is fully discussed by Schneider, Element., p. 18, seqq.]-Am. Ed. [The employment of o in early Latin, where at a later day u was used, appears to have been much more common than is stated in the text. We find, for example, such forms as consol, primos, captom, exfociont, &c., for consul, primus, captum, effugiunt, &c. The employment, on the other hand, of u for o is much more rare. Priscian cites huminem, funtes, and frundes. Cassiodorus (p. 2259) has præstu.]—Am. Ed. to their classification, it is only necessary here to observe that l, m, n, r are called liquids (liquida), and the rest mutes (muta), with the exception of s, which, being a sibilant (littera sibilans), is of a peculiar nature. The mutes may again be classified, with reference to the organ by which they are pronounced, into labials (v, b, p,ƒ), palatals (g, c, k, qu), and linguals (d, t). X and z (called zeta) are double consonants, x being a combination of c and S, and z of d and s. Note. It will be observed that there are some letters in our own alphabet which do not occur in this list: j and v were expressed by the Latins by the same signs as the vowels i and u, viz., I and V; but in pronunciation they were distinguished; whence we hear of an i or v consonans; and, like ordinary consonants, they make position when preceded by another consonant, and do not form an hiatus when preceded by a vowel. It is only in consequence of poetical licenses which are rendered necessary by the metre (which, however, at the same time, show the kindred nature existing between the sounds of the vowel and consonant), that the v is at one time softened down into u; as, for example, when the words solvit and silva are made to form three syllables, (comp. § 184); and at others, the vowels i and u are hardened into the consonants j and v, which is very often the case with i; by this means the preceding short syllable is lengthened, as in the words abies, aries, consilium, fluvius, tenuis, and some others. Virgil, for example, uses fluvjorum rex Eridanus; Ovid, at the close of an hexameter verse, custos erat arjetis aurei, for ărietis; Lucretius, copia tenvis and neque tenvius extat, for tenuis, tenuius. In cases where the preceding syllable is already long, the poet may at least get rid of a syllable which does not suit the verse, as in Juvenal, comitata est Hippia Ludjum and nuper consule Junjo; and (iv., 37) Quum jam semjanimum laceraret Flavius orbem. We may therefore, in writing Latin, make use of the signs j and v, which are employed in modern languages, for the purpose of distinguishing the pronunciation before a vowel at the beginning of a syllable, and we need not retain the defective mode of writing of the Romans, since they viewed these letters just as we do, and would willingly have adopted so convenient a means of distinction if they had known it, or if their better knowledge had not been obliged to give way to habit. But this rule cannot be applied to Greek words, since and v with the Greeks had only the nature of vowels. We therefore read Iocaste, iambus, Iones, Laïus, Agaue, euoe; and the i at the beginning of these words is treated as a vowel in their connexion with prepositions, as in ab Iona, ex Ionia. Some Greek proper names, however, are justly written and pronounced in Latin with a j, as Grajus, Ajax, Maja, Troja, Achaja.* [ 4.] H is only an aspiration; it is not considered as a vowel, and therefore, when joined with a consonant, it does not lengthen the preceding syllable. The ancients themselves (see Quintil., i., 5, § 21) were in doubt, with regard to several words, as to which was the more correct, to pronounce it or not; for example, as to whether they should pronounce have [This is not correct. All these forms should be written with an i. If the author mean to give the j its German sound, which is that of our y before a vowel, this may do well enough to express the pronunciation of the words in question, but certainly not their orthography. Key thinks that the English sound of the j was not unknown to the ancient inhabitants of Italy. This, however, is very doubtful; and if known at all, it must have been a mere provincialism, and not adopted by the educated classes.]-Am. Ed. or ave, hedera or edera, harundo or arundo, halucinor or alucinor, herus or erus, vehemens or veemens (vemens), ahenum or aënum, mihi or mi, prehendo and deprehendo, or prendo and deprendo, and several other words, in which, however, the orthography now adopted is the more correct of the two. The letter G arose out of C, for in the early times the sounds of k (c) and g were not distinguished in writing, on account of their similarity: and although the Romans wrote, for example, leciones, yet they pronounced legiones. The fact of the prænomina Gaius and Gnaeus, when indicated only by the initials, being frequently written C. and Cn., is a remnant of the old orthography; and it is expressly attested by ancient grammarians (see, e. g., Quintil., i., 7, § 28), as well as by the Greek mode of writing those names (Táïos Fvaios), that they were never pronounced otherwise than Gaius and Gnaeus, which was at the same time the invariable mode of writing them when they were given at full length. Even when the initials only are given, we meet with G. and Gn. just as often as with C. and Cn.* [ 5.] K became a superfluous letter in Latin, as its place was supplied by c. In early times it was chiefly used in words beginning with ca, such as kaput, kalumnia, Karthago; but this is now done, according to the example of the ancients, in abbreviations only, such as K. for Kaeso, K. or Kal. for Kalenda.+ Qis, in reality, likewise a superfluous letter, not differing in value from c; but it has been more fortunate than k in maintaining its place, at least in those cases where the sound of c is followed by u, and the latter by another vowel, as in quam, quem, qui, quo, antiquus. The first of these words is to be pronounced cuam, as a monosyllable; and it remains doubtful as to whether the u is still a vowel, or assumes the nature of a consonant cvam. There are some few words in which the pronunciation and orthography hesitate between qu and c; e. g., in coquus and equuleus: in some others c is known to be the correct pronunciation, from the testimony of the ancients themselves, although we still write qu, partly for the sake of distinction, and partly for etymological reasons. Thus we * [The person who first brought in the G was Sp. Carvilius, a freed-man and namesake of the celebrated Sp. Carvilius Ruga, who, in A.U.C. 523 (B.C.231), furnished the first example of a divorce. From the position in the alphabet assigned to this new character, namely, the seventh place, corresponding to that of the Greek z, there is reason to believe that the Roman C still retained the hard g sound, while the new character represented the soft sibilant pronunciation of the English j and the Greek z, which is also expressed by the modern Italian gi. (Key, Alphab., p. 63; Donaldson, Varronianus, p. 197.)]—Am. Ed. † [Although the letter K is now superfluous, it was not so when the characters of an alphabet were syllabic in power. Thus the letter k appears to have denoted at one time the syllable ka, while another character represented ko, and so on. Hence, in the Greek and Hebrew alphabets, the former was called kappa, kaph; the latter, koppa, koph. This accounts for the fact that in Latin the letter k was never used except before the vowel a, precisely as q is found only before u, and the Greek koppa only before o. Even our own alphabet seems to imply such a limit in the use of this consonant, when it gives it the name of ka, not ke; though the latter name would better agree with be, ce, de, &c. (Key, Alphab., p. 72.)]—Am. Ed. [The letter Q, like K, furnishes evidence that the alphabetical characters were originally of syllabic power. Thus, the Hebrew koph, and the Greek koppa, as already remarked in a previous note, appear to have been used only in those words where the sound of o follows. Indeed, the name of the letter implies as much. Hence, Cos, Corinthus, Syracosii. The Greek alphabet probably stopped at one period, like the Hebrew, at 7, so as to have no u. On the other hand, the Etrurian alphabet had a u, but |