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Letters are divided into vowels and consonants. The
vowels are six: A, E, I, O, U, Y. From these are
formed nine diphthongs : M, AI, AU, EI, EU, (E, YI,
01, UI ; as in Prcemium, Maia, Aurum, Hei, Europa,
Pasna, Harpyia, Troia, Quis. Some of these, however^
are not, strictly speaking, proper diphthongs.
Consonants are divided into mutes and semivowels.
The mutes are eight: B, C, D,G, K,P, Q, T. The semi-
vowels are likewise eight : F, L, M, N, R, S, X, Z. Of
these semivowels, four, viz. L, M, N, R, are called liquids,
because they easily flow into, or, as it were, liquify with,
other letters! or sounds. F before the liquids L and R
has the force of a mute. Two of the semivowels are
also called double letters, X and Z : the X being equiva-
lent to CS, GS, or KS ; and Z having the force of DS or
SD. The letter H is not regarded in prosody as a letter
or consonant, but as a mere aspirate or breathing. The
letters I or J, and II or V placed before vowels, are
regarded as consonants : as, Janua, Jocus, Vita, Vultus.
* From two Greeks words irpo^ " according to," and wSrj, " song or mel-
ody. "
t With the mutes; for instance, when preceding them in the same syllable.
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? 2 ACCENT.
U generally loses its force after Q, and sometimes
after G and S ; as Aqua, Lingua, Suadeo : -- being, in
some measure, absorbed by, or liquified into, the letter
preceding. It sometimes, however, retains its force ; as,
Exiguus.
SECTION II.
OF ACCENT. *
Accents in Latin were little marks placed over words
to direct or distinguish the tone or inflection of the voice
in pronunciation. During the flourishing state of the
language, these tones or inflections were not marked in
books ; because the Romans, to whom usage and practice
had made them at once both natural and familiar, did not
require the aid of any such accentual guidance to the
proper enunciation of their native tongue :--Exempla
eorum tradi scripto non possunt -- says Quintilian. They
w r ere invented in after times to fix the pronunciation and
render its acquisition easy to foreigners.
Of these accents there were three; viz. , the acute,
marked thus ('), -- the grave, thus ( N ) -- and the circumflex,
thus ( A ) ; being the junction of the other two. The acute
w r as also called aqaig, because it elevates the syllable, as,
dominus ; the grave -- which is in reality the absence or
privation of accent -- is called &eoig, because it sinks or
depresses the syllable ; as docte ;t while the circumflex
both elevates and depresses it : as, amare.
These accents being invented solely to mark the tone,
elevation or depression of the voice, were not regarded
as signs of the quantity of syllables whether long or
short. In modern typography they have -- an occasional
* From accc7itum, wh. fr. ara. no, u I sing to. " or K in concert with. "
* The last syllable of Latin words (in dissyllables, &c. ,) never admits the
acute or circumflex, unless for the sake of distinction between words similar in
orthography but different in meaning : as ergo, " on account of. " to distinguish
it from ergo, " therefore ;" or pone, " behind," from pone, the imperative mood
of pdno. The grave is however supposed to be placed oyer the last syllable of
all words, dissyllables, &c, not thus excepted.
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? ACCENT.
use of the circumflex excepted-- been long generally-
omitted ; yet as the reading or the recitation of the Latin
language 'is, (or at least ought to be,) in some degree,
regulated by their influence whether marked or not, it
it has been considered necessary to give a few short rules
for their application.
MONOSYLLABLES :
1. If long by nature, are always supposed to have a
circumflex; as, flos, spes, 6s (oris), a, x: -- if short by-
nature or long by position, they are considered to have
an acute ? as, vir, 6s, (ossis,) fax, mens.
DISSYLLABLES *.
2. Having the first syllable long by nature and the
second short, have the circumflex on the first ; as, Roma,,
floris, luna : -- but if the first syllable is short by nature
or long by position, it takes the acute ; as, homo, parens,
insons.
POLYSYLLABLES :
3. With the penultimate long and the ultimate short,
require a circumflex on the former ; as, Romanus, Impe-
rator, Justinianus. If both penultimate and ultimate
be long, the penultimate takes the acute ; as, parentes,
amaverunt ; -- if the penultimate be short, then the
antepenultimate* has the acute; as, dominus, homines,
Virgilius.
Exception. \y"ords compounded with enclitics, such
* No mark or accent in Latin can be placed farther back than the antepenul-
timate ; because if three, four, or more syllables were to follow the accent, --
as, perficeremus, Constantinopolis -- they would come so huddled or confusedly
heaped on one another, as to be undistinguishable in cadence, by the ear : which,
as Cicero remarks, cannot well determine the accent unless by the last three
syllables of a word, in the same way as it determines the harmony of a period, by
the last three words in the sentence.
2
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? 4 QUANTITY.
as the particles, que, ne, ve, and some prepositions, as
cum, most commonly throw the accent on the last sylla-
ble preceding the adjunct particle or preposition ; as,
dmat, -- when followed by an enclitic -- becomes amdtque,
so also, lackrymdnsve, probetne ; nobis becomes nobiscum,
quibuscum, &c.
Observation. It may, nevertheless, admit of some
doubt, if this exception can hold good, unless where the
penultimate is long ; for instance in this line from Ovid --
Pronaque cum spectent animalia ccetera terram --
the accent must fall on the first, not on the last, syllable
of Prona, contrary to the commonly received opinion on
the power of the enclitics to attract the accent. Various
similar examples abound in the classics.
The foregoing are the only rules for accentuation, as
laid down by the old Roman grammarians, that have
reached our times, and which can, with any regard to
classical accuracy or elegance, be safely recommended
to the attention of the student. As to the barbarous
practice of attempting to anglicise the venerable and
majestic languages of Greece and Rome, by reading
them according to the laws and principles of modern
English accent, it is so absurd in the inception, so sub-
versive of all beauty, melody, and accuracy in recitation
of the classic authors, and so utterly destructive of all
distinction between accent and quantity, as to deserve
universal reprobation.
SECTION III.
OF THE QUANTITY OF SYLLABLES.
Quantity is distinct from accent though not inconsistent
with it. The former denotes the period of time occupied
in pronouncing a syllable ; the latter is used to signify a
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? QUANTITY. 5
peculiar tone, as above described, by which one syllable
in a word is distinguished from the rest. The one is
length or continuance, whether long or short, the other
is elevation or depression of sound, or both. *
The length or quantity of a syllable then is the dura-
tion of time occupied in pronouncing it. A syllable is
either short, long, or common. The length or quantity of
syllables is marked, as in the word amalb ; of which
the first syllable is sbort, the second long, and the third
common. A short syllable is pronounced rapidly; as,
concido, legere. A long syllable is pronounced slowly ; as,
concido, seddre. Hence, in the language of prosodians,
a short syllable is said to have one time and a long sylla-
ble, two times. A common or doubtful syllable is that
* In the great majority of the Classical Institutions throughout the United
States, it is to be regretted, that the practice of reading the ,aucient authors
according to accent alone -- not, however, the accent of the^ld Romans, but
modern English accent ! -- instead of by quantity, prevails to an extent likely to
prove injurious to the best interests of elegant literature. What, for instance,
can be more irreconcilable to classical purity of taste or correctness, than to find
in some of the most popular Latin grammars of the country, rules laid down in
which the pupil is gravely instructed to pronounce the i in parietes and muUeres
long ! because "it is accented and comes before another vowel! " -- and the i in
fides also long! because "it comes before a single consonant''! and this,
although he (the pupil) must then, or shortly know, that, in accordance with the
very first rule in Ins prosody, " A Vowel before a Vowel is short," and by another
rule that " Derivatives must follow the quantity of their Primitives ;" and that in
the entire Corpus Poetarum, he will not find a single instance in which the i in
any of these words is otherwise than short ? Is it then a matter of wonder to
find so few classical scholars in the United States taught in this preposterous
manner, who can read a page of Homer or Virgil prosodially ? Their incompe-
tence is the inevitable result of the perverted mode of teaching adopted ab limine :
inconsiderately endeavoring to reduce the laws of a dead language which have
been ascertained and fixed for centuries to those of a living and variable language
whose very accentuation and pronunciation are yet in a state of transition;
neither unchangeably fixed nor unalterably ascertained. Instead of rationally
teaching their pupils to read the exquisitely beautiful and wonderfully metrical
language of Greece or of Rome agreeably to its own laws and principles, as well
of quantity as of accent, most of our cisatlantic Professors endeavor with more
than Procrustean ingenuity (qu. cruelty ? ) to stretch or shorten it to the shifting
standard of their own immature and imperfect vernacular ! Would that these
gentlemen were more observant of the advice given by the great Roman orator : --
Atque ut Latine loquamur, non solum videndum est, ut et verba eiferamus ea
quee nemo jure reprehendat ; et ea sic et casibus, et temporibus, et genere, et
numero conservemus, ut nequid perturbatum ac discrepans aut praeposterum
sit ; sed etiam lingua, et spiritus, et vocis sonus est ipse moderandus. -- De Orat.
lib. iii.
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? 6 A VOWEL BEFORE A VOWEL.
which in poetry is sometimes long and sometimes short ;
as, italics or Italus, Papyrus or Papyrus, Vaticdnus or
Vaticd? ius, &c.
The quantity of syllables is determined either by es-
tablished rules or the authority of the poets. The last
syllable of a word is called the ultimate ; the last but
one, the penultimate ; the last but two, the antepenulti-
mate ; and the last but three, the prat-antepenultimate.
RULE I.
A Voivel before a Vowel.
Vocalem breviant, alia subeunte, Latini.
Produc, ni sequitur R,fio, et nomina quintae
Quae geminos casus, E longo, assumunt in -ei,
Verum E corripiunt^deique, speique, reique.
-lus commune est vati, tamen excipe alius,
Quod Crasisrtardat ; Pompei et caetera produc,
Et primae patrium cum sese solvit in -at ;
Protrahiturque eheu, sed w variatur et ohe.
Nomina Gragcorum certa sine lege vagantur :
Multa etenim longis, ceu Dlus, Dla, Thalia,
Quaedam autem brevibus, veluti Symphonia, gaudent ;
Quaedam etiam variant, veluti Diana, Diana.
A vowel before another vowel or a diphthong, is short ;
as. piier, patriot: or before h followed by a vowel; as,
nihil.
Exception 1. A vowel before a vowel is long in all
the tenses of Jio ; as, flebam; unless where the vowel
is followed by r, (or rather by er) ; &s,fierem*
Excep. 2. The genitives and datives singular of the
fifth declension make e long before i; as, diet: except
* Carey in his translation of the Latin rule says -- "when r follows, the i is
usually short ; -- and adduces five decisive examples where it is long: so that it
may, in some degree, be regarded a3 common. In no species of Dactylic verse
can it be ever found long.
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? A VOWEL BEFORE A VOWEL. 7
the e in spei, rei, fidli. In the last two words, it is
sometimes ong; as, rei, fidei.
Excep. 3. Genitives in ius have the i long in prose,
but common in poetry ; as, unius : the word alterius how-
ever has the i always short ; alius always long -- being
formed by Crasis* from aliius.
Excep. 4. Proper names, as, Caius, Pompeius, have
the vowel a or e long before i : the a is also long in the
old genitives and datives, aulai, terrai.
Excep. 5. In ohe and Diana, the vowel in the first
syllable is common : in eheu and lo [a proper name] it
is long; but to the interjection, follows the general rule.
Excep, 6. In many other words derived from the
Greek, a vowel though immediately followed by another,
is long ; as, Orion, air.
IE? 5 Foreign or barbarous words introduced into the
Latin language, are not subject to any invariable rule.
Prudentius lengthens the first a in Baal, while Sedulius
shortens it. Sidonius lengthens the penultimate vowel
in Abraham, while Arator shortens it. Christian poets
also make the a before e in Israel, Michael, Raphael, &c,
&c, sometimes long, and sometimes short.
EXAMPLES FOR PRACTICE BY SINGLE WORDS.
On Rule: -- Audii'sse, aurese, mihi : -- On Exceptions:
1. Hunt, fierent; 2. speciei, diei ; 3. totlus, nulHus ; 4,
Vultei'us, Grai'us, pictai; 5. ohe, eheu; 6. Clio, chorea. t
EXAMPLES IN COMPOSITION.
Rule -- Conscia mens recti fama mendacia ridet. Ovid.
Musa, mihi causas memora; quo numine Iceso. Virg.
Exc. T. Omnia jam fient, fieri quce posse negabam. Ovid.
2. Nunc adeo, melior quoniam pars acta diei. Virg.
* Derived from xpams (fr. vspdeo, or Kspiwvin), " a mingling,"-- in grammar--
* a blending of two letters into one. " t The e in chorea is common.
2*
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?
8 DIPHTHONGS AND CONTRACTED SYLLABLES.
Exc. 3. Navibus, infandum ! amissis, unites ob iram. Virg.
4. Aula'i in medio libabant pocula Bacchi. Id.
5. Exercet Diana ckoros, quam mille secutce. Id.
6. Parspedibusplaudunt choreas et carmina dicunt Id.
RULE IT.
Of Diphthongs and Contracted Syllables.
Omnis diphthongus, contractaque syllaba longa est.
Pra brevis est, si compositum vocalibus anteit.
Every diphthong and syllable formed by contraction
are long; as, durum, cogo [from co-ago].
Excep. Prai immediately before a vowel in a com-
pound word, is generally short; as, pra>, aeutus.
EXAMPLES FOR PRACTICE, BY SINGLE WORDS.
On Ride : -- iEneas, caelum, nemo [from nehemo] : --
On Excep. Prse-ustus, pne-eunt.
Promiscuous Examples on this and the preceding Rule.
JEneas [2, 1 Gr. ], vitse [2], meridiei [1, 1], f lemus [1],
aonides [Gr. 1. ], prsella [2, 1], fiiit [1], pne-eo [2],
spei [1], junior -- from juenior, wh. fr. juvenior -- [2. ]
EXAMPLES IN COMPOSITION.
Rule. En Priamus ! sunt hie etiam sua prlbmia laudi. Vir.
Bis gravidos cogunt foetus, duo tempora messis. Id.
Ex. Jamquenovi pr&eunt fasces, nova purjjur a fidget. Clau.
RULE III.
Of Position.
Vocalis longa est, si consona bina sequatur,
Aut duplex, aut / vocalibus interjectum.
A vowel before two consonants in the same word or
syllable, is long by position ;* as, terra. The same effect
* That is, by being so situated; although naturally short.
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? POSITION. 9
is produced by two consonants in different words ; as, per
me : also when the vowel comes before a double conso-
nant ; [x or z;] as, judex, gaza : or before the letter^';
as, major, hiijus. *
Excep. 1. The compounds of jugum have the i short
before j ; as bijugus, quadr'ijugus-
Excep. 2. A short vowel at the end of a word, pre-
ceding another word beginning with x or 2, remains
short; as, litord Xerxes; nemorosa Zacynthos.
Excep. 3. A short vowel at the end of a word, pre-
ceding another vowel" beginning with sc, sm, sp, sq, st,
scr, &c, sometimes remains short, but is generally made
long ; as, unde sciat ; libera sponte ; scepe stylum -- nefaria
scripta ; compter e spatium ; gelida stabula.
Observation. The letter h not being regarded in
prosody as a letter, has no influence, either in the begin-
ning, middle or end of a word, on the preceding short
vowel ; as, adhuc : -- nor at the beginning of a word, does
it like a consonant, preserve the final vowel of the pre-
ceding word from elision ; as, Icare haberes -- where the
final e of Icare is elided.
EXAMPLES FOR PRACTICE, BY SINGLE WORDS.
On Rule : -- Mors, raptum, tendens, at pius ; pax, hori-
zon-- On Excep. Bijugis, jura Zaleucus, Agile studium.
Promiscuous Examples. -- Instaiirat [3, 2], intonuit [3,
1], hujus [3], posuisse [1, 3], Thalia [Gr. lL_faciei [1],
erat mihi [3, 1], fieri [1], perfidia [3, 1], gaudia [2, 1],
expertum [3, 3].
* Not because,;' is a double consonant, or indeed in this situation any consonant
at all, but because joined with the preceding vowel, it constitutes a diphthong, both
in pronunciation and quantity. Moreover, many words of this formation, which
were originally written ami pronounced in three syllables, as hu-i-us, coalescing
into dissyllables, the first syllable became a diphthong. J in any other situation
is regardel as a consonant, and appears to have been pronounced by the Komana
like y in English.
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? 10 MUTE AND LIQUID.
EXAMPLES IN COMPOSITION.
Rule-- L Sacra subsque tibi cbmmenddt Trbja penates. Virg.
Sub jugajdm Seres, jam bdrbarus tsset Ar axes. Luc.
Exc. 1. Centum quadrijugos o gitabo ad jluminacurrus. Vir.
2. Jam medio apparet fluctu nemorosd Zacynthos. Id.
3. Sapest. ylumvertas,iterumquadignalegisint. Hor.
Ferte cifi ferrum ; date tela ; scandite muros. Vir.
Obser. Oro, siquis adhuc precibus locus, exue rnentem. Id.
Partem opere in tanto, sineret dolor Icare* haberes. Id.
RULE IV.
Of the Mute and Liquid, or Weak Position. ^
Si mutam liquidamque simul brevis una praeivet,
Contrahit orator, variant in carmine vates.
A short vowel preceding a mute and a liquid -- both in
the following syllable -- is common in poetry, but short
in prose; as, dgris and dgris ; pdtrem and pdtrem;
volucris and volucris.
Observ. -- This rule requires the concurrence of three
circumstances; viz. , 1st, the vowel must be naturally
short ; thus because the a in pater is short by nature,
the a in p'ltris is common ,t in accordance with the rule ;
but the a in mdtris, acris, is always long, being long
by nature in mater and deer; -- 2d, the mute must pre-
cede the liquid ; as, pharetra ; because if the liquid
stand before the mute, the vowel preceding though natu-
rally short, is always long; as, fert, fertis ; -- 3d, both
* E in Icare is elided.
t Debllis Positio, as the position formed by a mute and a liquid, is called by
Prosodians.
t The lengthening of the vowel in poetry may be rendered more familiar to the
youthful student, by causing him to pronounce the words in separate syllables ;
thus pat-ris, integ-ra, pharet-ram ; so that the halt of the voice oroduced by
throwing the consonants' into different syllables, must be counted into the time
of the preceding syllable and will consequently render it long.
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? DERIVATIVE WORDS. 11
mute and liquid must belong to the same syllable ; as,
medio-cris, mulie-bris : because if the mute and liquid
belong to different syllables, the preceding short vowel
necessarily becomes long, by position ; as, db-luo,
quambb-rem.
EXAMPLES FOR PRACTICE, BY SINGLE WORDS.
On Rule -- Tenebrse, locuples, tonitrua ; -- in poetry.
On Observation -- matres, fertis, art is.
Promiscuous Examples -- Sed dixit [3, 3], respublica [3,
3], virginese [3, 1, 2], majo? [3], eheu [1, 2], Calliopea [3,
1, Gr. ] pitris [4], Proteu [2,] malo -- fir. magis volo -- [2J,
aureum [2, 1], Araxes [3], ohe [1], praoptat [2, 3].
Note. A short vowel at the end of a word frequently
remains short, although the next word should begin with
two or three consonants ; as, fastidire : Strabonem.
EXAMPLES IN COMPOSITION.
Rule -- Et primo similis volucri, mox vera volucris. Ovid.
Natum ante orapdtris, patrem qui obtruncat ad aras. Vir.
Obser. Pars leves humero pharetras, et pectore summo. Id.
Dixit, et in sylvam pennis ablata refugit. Id.
Note. Linquimus, insani ridentes prcemid scribe. Hor.
RULE V.
Of Derivative Words.
Derivata, patris naturam, verba sequuntur.
Mobilis etfomes, Interna ac regula, sides,
Quanquam orta'e brevibus, gaudent producere primam :
Corripiuntur arista, vddum, sopor atque lucerna,
Nata licet longis. Usus te plura docebit.
Words derived from others usually follow the nature
or quantity of the words, whence they are formed ; as,
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? 12
DERIVATIVE WORDS.
dnimosus from animus, [but dnlmatusix. dnimd*] fdcun-
dus from fdri, xrdcundus, from the obsolete verb iro, Irdre.
Excep. 1. Mobilis, fbmes, laterna, regula, and sides
have their first syllable long, although derived from words
which have the same syllable short; viz. , mo veo,foveo,
Idteo, rego, and sedeo.
Excep. 2. Crista, vddum, sopor and lucerna have their
first syllable short although derived from areo, vddo, sopio,
and litceo in which the first syllable is long. Familiarity
with the classic writers will furnish more numerous ex-
amples of these apparent anornalies. t
Note. The entire class of verbs in urio called De-
sideratives, have the u short, although derived from the
future participle in urus, of which ihe penultima is inva-
riably long ; as, esurit, camatiirit, scripturit : but indeed
the derivative and compound words, that deviate from the
quantity of their primitives, are too many to be enumerated
and too unconnected to be reduced into classes.
EXAMPLES BY SINGLE WORDS.
On Rule -- Libido [fr. libet], licentia [fr. licet], lege-
bam [fr. lego], legeram, legissem [fr. legi] : -- On Excep.
1. Mobilis [fr. moveo], sedes [fr. sedeo] : -- Excep. 2.
Vadum [fr. vado], lucerna [fr. luceo] : -- On Note. Par-
turio [urus].
Promiscuous Examples. -- Finitimus -- fr. finis -- [5],
molestus -- fr. moles -- [5, 3] salubris -- fr. salus, salutis
[5, 4], genetrix [4, 3], iEaeEe [2], Eubcea [2], litania [5,
* The distinction between animus and anima, although both derived from
the same Greek origin, should be kept in view by the learner. Sapimus animo;
fruimur anima ; sine animo, anima est debilis.
t Many of these are, however, only apparent anomalies ; perhaps it might be
gaid so of all, were we better acquainted with the early state of the Latin lan-
guage and the forgotten dialects on which it was founded. Thus, instead of
saying, that fdmes comes from f&veo, we should derive it from the supinefotu m ;
formed by contraction and syncope from fovttum ; -- so also, mobilis should be
derived not from moveo but from motum ; formed in like manner from mbvlturn :
and so of others
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