Part 3

49. The diphthongs which occur in classical Latin are #au#, #ae#, #oe#, and the rare #ui# and #eu#.

#au# sounded like _ou_ in _house_. #ae# had the sound of short Latin #a# rapidly combined with the sound of _e_ in English _men_. But it is the common practice now to give to #ae# the sound of _ay_ or _ai_ in _ay_, _aisle_, although the difference between Latin #ae# and the earlier #ai# from which it descended is thus obliterated. #oe# had the sound of short Latin #o# rapidly followed by the sound of _e_ in English _men_. But it is now customary not to distinguish between Latin #oe# and #oi#, and to give to both the sound of _oi_ in _boil_. #ui# is pronounced by combining Latin short #u# and #i# (40, 41) with the stress on the #i# like French _oui_; #eu# by combining Latin short #e# and #u# with stress on the #u#.

50. Besides these, the following diphthongs occur in the older inscriptions: #ai# pronounced as _ai_ in _aisle_; #ei# as _ei_ in _eight_; #oi# as _oi_ in _boil_; and #ou# which sounded very much like the final _o_ in _no_, _go_, which is really a diphthong (see 39).

CONSONANTS.

51. Consonants are formed by stopping the breath somewhere in the cavity of the mouth or by squeezing it through a narrow channel or aperture.

52. SEMIVOWELS. There is no sharp line of demarcation between consonants and vowels. Some vowels in unsyllabic function (82, 83) notably #i# (_i̭_) and #u# (_ṷ_) (corresponding to English _y_ and _w_), though usually classed as consonants, are so closely related to the vowels that they are termed semivowels (2504). To these may be added also the liquids #l# and #r#. Contact of the semivowels #i# and #u# with their corresponding vowels #i# and #u# is avoided in classical times. See for #-vu-# 107, _c_; for #-quu-# 157; and for #-i̭i-# 104, _c_ (on #obi̭iciō#); 458 (#Bōī# for #*Bōi̭ī#). See 153, 3.

[Erratum: 52 ... See for #-vu-# 107, _c_ 107 _c_]

PRONUNCIATION OF CONSONANTS.

53. Most of the consonants are pronounced as in English. The following points must be noticed:

54. #b# before #a# surd, as #s# or #t#, has the sound of #p#. The spelling #b# is here simply etymological: as, #abs#, pronounced _aps_ (the #b# retained in spelling because of #ab#); #urbs#, pronounced _urps_ (the #b# retained because of the oblique cases #urbis#, #urbī#, etc.); #obterō#, pronounced _opterō_ (Quint. 1, 7, 7), where the spelling of the preposition #ob# was kept (164).

55. #c# has always the sound of English _k_.

56. #d# before the surd #s# is pronounced #t#; the spelling #d# is preserved for etymological reasons only: as, #adsum#, pronounced _atsum_.

57. #g# always has the sound of English _g_ in _go_, never that of _g_ in _gentle_. #gu#, when it makes one syllable with the following vowel, is pronounced like English _gw_: as, #sanguine# like _sanguine_.

58. #h# has a weak sound as _h_ in British English (Southern), and by some was not counted as a consonant. Consequently the same uncertainty existed as to initial #h#. The omission of initial #h# is recognized in classical Latin for #ānser# (originally #*hānser#). Elsewhere the omission of initial #h# in spelling, as #ostia# for #hostia#, is rare until the third century A.D.

Very rarely #h# is written between two vowels to denote that each should be pronounced separately (like our diaeresis in _coëxtensive_): as, #ahēneus#, _bronze_, with #aē# separate (116 _a_); but #aes#, _bronze_, with diphthongal #ae#.

59. Unsyllabic (22) or consonant #i# has the sound of English _y_ in _year_.

60. There were two varieties of #l#. One was like the English _l_, guttural in character, because in its pronunciation not only the blade (front part) of the tongue touched the gums, but in addition to this the rear part of the tongue was elevated toward the soft palate. The other #l# was purely dental, and formed without such back elevation. This second variety appeared in the combination #ll#, or whenever #l# was followed by the front vowels (43) #e# or #i#, or when it was final. Elsewhere #l# was guttural.

61. From the earliest times final m in unaccented syllables had a faint sound or was even inaudible (Quint. 9, 4, 39). Consequently it is often omitted in writing in the older inscriptions both before an initial vowel or consonant: as, POCOLO for #pōcolom#; OINO for #oinom# (#ūnum#), and the grammarian Verrius Flaccus proposed to write only half an #M# for final #m# before a vowel. In prosody, therefore, final #m# did not prevent elision (2493). The same is seen in prose in cases like #animadvertō#, _I pay heed to_, from #anim^{um} advertō#, _I turn my mind toward_ (395); #vēnīre#, _to be sold_ for #vēn^{um} īre#, _to go to sale_ (1165). But in monosyllables where #m# closes the accented syllable, it did not vanish (2494, 2495), and this difference in the treatment of final #m# is reflected in the Romance languages.

62. #n# stands for two sounds. It represents the dental nasal, as _n_ in English _now_. But before the gutturals #k#, #c#, #g#, #q#, and the compound #x (= cs)#, it represents the guttural nasal which is written _ng_ in English _sing_, _wrong_. This second n is sometimes called #n adulterīnum# or ‘spurious #n#,’ thus: #nc# (in #avunculus#) as in _uncle_; #ng# (in #angulus#) as in _angle_; #ngu# (in #sanguine#) as in _sanguine_; #nqu# (in #inquit#) as _inkw_ in _inkwiper_; #nx# (in #pīnxit#) as in _lynx_.

63. Dental #n# before #s# had a reduced sound, and is therefore sometimes omitted in writing: as, CESOR for #cēnsor#; COSOL for #cōnsul#, in older inscriptions; and #fōrmōsus# by the side of #fōrmōnsus#; #vīcēsimus# by the side of #vīcēnsimus#, Cicero omitted the #n# in the adjective suffix #-ēnsis#: as, #forēsia#, _of the forum_; #hortēsia#, _garden plants_.

64. #q#, in classical Latin, appears only in the combination #qu#, sounded like English _qu_ or _kw_ (27). #r# was trilled.

65. #s#, in classical Latin was always unvoiced (surd, 75) like English _s_ in _so_, _sin_, never voiced (sonant, 75) as English _s_ in _ease_. #su#, when it makes one syllable with the following vowel, is like _sw_ in _sweet_ (27).

66. In old Latin, final #s# after a short vowel and before a consonant seems to have been reduced in sound or to have disappeared altogether. In the older inscriptions it is often omitted in the ending of the nominative singular #-us#, and in the pre-Ciceronian poets final #s# often does not make position (2468). But such omission was considered vulgar in Cicero’s time (Cic. _O._ 161; Quint. 9, 4, 38).

67. In the archaic period Latin #s# stood also for the voiced sibilant (English _s_ in _ease_, _z_ in _zeal_), as in ASA, _altar_ (154).

68. #t# is always sounded as in _time_, never as in _nation_. The pronunciation of #ci# and #ti# with the #c# and #t# as sibilants (as in English _cinder_, _nation_) is very late.

69. #v# is like the English _w_.

70. #x# is a compound consonant, standing for #cs#, and so sounded, never as English _gs_ or _gz_.

71. _z_, being a Greek sound, should have retained its Greek pronunciation. This differed in the different dialects; in the Attic of the fourth century B.C. it was approximately that of English _z_ in _zeal_, while its earlier value was _zd_. The Romans had great difficulty in pronouncing this sound (Quint. 12, 10, 27 f.), but the grammarian Velius Longus expressly states that it should not be pronounced as a compound sound (_zd_).

72. About 100 B.C. the combinations #ch#, #ph#, and #th# were introduced in Greek words to represent χ, φ, and θ; as #Philippus#, for the older PILIPVS. Somewhat later these combinations were in general use in some Latin words (19). #ch# is thought to have been pronounced like _kh_ in _blockhead_, #ph# as in _uphill_, and #th# as in _hothouse_. But in practice #ch# is usually sounded as in the German _machen_ or _ich_, #ph# as in _graphic_, and #th# as in _pathos_.

CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS.

73. EXPLOSIVES. Consonants which are formed by stopping the breath in the oral cavity and then suddenly removing the obstruction are called _explosives_. They cannot be prolonged in sound. They are: #c#, #k#, #q#, #g#; #t#, #d#; #p#, #b#. These are often called _mutes_.

74. CONTINUANTS. Consonants which may be prolonged in sound are called _continuants_. They are: unsyllabic (83) #i# (59) and #u# (66); #l# (60), #r#; #l#, #s#, #f#; #n# (62), #m#.

75. VOICED and UNVOICED. If during the emission of breath the vocal chords vibrate (32), the consonant is said to be _voiced_ or _sonant_: #g#; #d#; #b#; #n# (62), #m#; #l# (60), #r#; unsyllabic (83) #i# (59) and #u# (69); otherwise it is said to be _unvoiced_ or _surd_: #c#, #k#, #q#; #t#; #p#; #h#, #s#, #f#.

76. NASALS. In the majority of consonants, the breath escapes through the cavity of the mouth, and the cavity of the nose is closed in the rear by means of the raised soft palate. Those consonants in which the breath escapes through the nose, while the oral cavity is closed, are called _nasals_: as, #n#, #m#, #n adulterīnum# (see 62).

77. CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO PLACE OF FORMATION. Consonants are further divided according to the place where the breath is stopped or squeezed. (1.) If the breath is stopped by the lips, as in #p#, #b#, #m#, or squeezed through the lips, as in #v# (English _w_), we speak of _labials_. (2.) If the breath is forced through an opening between the upper teeth and the lower lip, as in #f#, we speak of a _labiodental_. (3.) Sounds which are produced by the point of the tongue touching the upper gums and teeth, as #t#, #d#, #n#, #r#, or by the formation of a narrow median channel in the same place, like #s#, or of a lateral channel, like #l# (60), are called _dentals_. (4.) _Palatals_ are formed by an elevation of the front part of the tongue against the forward section of the palate, like #i# consonant (English _y_). (5.) If the back of the tongue touches or approaches the rear part of the palate as in #k#, #q#, #c#, #g#, #n adulterīnum# (English _ng_ in _sing_), and #l# (60), we speak of _gutturals_ (_velars_); see 44.

78. SPIRANTS. Sounds which are produced by friction of the breath are called _spirants_: as, #s#, #f#, and #h#.

79. SIBILANTS. On account of its hissing sound, #s# is called a sibilant. English _s_, _z_, _th_ are sibilants.

80. DOUBLING OF CONSONANTS. In English, double consonants as the _tt_, _nn_, _pp_, _mm_ in _motto_, _Anna_, _tapping_, _grammar_, are sounded exactly like the corresponding single consonants in _cot_, _pan_, _tap_, _ram_. In Latin, on the other hand, double consonants (#geminātae#) were pronounced as they are in modern Italian. In the case of explosives (73), as in #mitto#, after the tongue had come in contact with the roof of the mouth (= first #t#) a short pause ensued before the explosion took place (= second #t#). In the case of continuants (74), as in #summus#, #Apollo#, the #mm# or #ll# was sounded appreciably longer than a single #m# or #l#, and at the beginning of the second half of the long continuant there was a slight increase of force.

81. Consonants were not doubled in writing till after 200 B.C.: as, FVISE for #fuisse#, _to have been_, and for more than a century afterward the usage is variable: as, in the same inscription, ESSENT, _they might be_, by the side of SVPERASES, _thou mayest have conquered_; but it must not be inferred that they were pronounced as single consonants.

[Errata: 77. CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO PLACE OF FORMATION. final . invisible 77 ... (5.) If the back of the tongue . invisible]

SYLLABIC AND UNSYLLABIC FUNCTION.

82. Whenever two or more sounds are combined in a syllable, one of them excels in acoustic prominence: as, _a_ in English _pat_; _n_ in the group _pnd_ in _opnd_ (_opened_); _l_ in the group _tld_ in _bottld_ (_bottled_); and _s_ in the group _pst_. This sound is said to have _syllabic function_ or to be _syllabic_; in the examples given, _a_, _n_, _l_, and _s_ are respectively syllabic. All the other members of each group are termed _unsyllabic_.

83. Vowels are almost always used in syllabic function. When, in rare cases, they are unsyllabic, this fact is usually indicated in phonetic works by an inverted half-circle, ̭, placed under the vowel; so in the case of diphthongs to indicate the subordinate member: as #ai̭#, #oḙ#, #ṷi# (49). Latin #omnia# and English _glorious_, when pronounced as words of two syllables, would be written #omni̭a# (2503), _glori̭ous_. When sounds other than vowels have, in rare cases, syllabic function, this fact is noted in phonetic works by a point, . , or circle, ˳ , under the letter: as, Latin #*agṛs#, #*agr̥s# (111, _b_), English _opṇd_, _opn̥d_.

ACCENT.

84. The relative force with which the different syllables of a word are uttered varies. Such variation in emphasis is called _stress accentuation_.

The degrees of stress are really infinite, but for practical purposes it is sufficient to distinguish between (1.) the strongest stress (chief accent); (2.) a weaker stress (secondary accent); and (3.) absence of stress (atonic syllable). In the English _contradict_, the last syllable has the chief accent, a secondary accent falls on the first, and the second syllable is unstressed.

85. It is not customary to indicate the place of accents in Latin by special signs. When, for special reasons, signs are used, ´ denotes the chief accent, ` the secondary accent, while the unstressed syllables are left unmarked.

THE CLASSICAL ACCENT.

86. In classical Latin the place of the chief accent may be determined by the following rules.

(1.) Words of two syllables have the accent on the penult (175): as,

#hómo#; #ā́cer#.

(2.) Words of more than two syllables have the accent on the penult when that syllable is long (177); otherwise on the antepenult: as,

#palū́ster#, #onústus# (177); #mulíebris#, #génetrīx# (178); #árborēs#, #árbutus#, #gladíolus#.

87. A short penult retains the accent in the genitive and vocative with a single #ī# from stems in #-io-# (456, 459): as, genitive, #cōnsílī#; #impérī#; genitive or vocative, #Vergílī#; #Valérī#; #Mercúrī#. For #calefácis#, &c., see 394.

88. In a few words which have lost a syllable the accent is retained on the last syllable; such are (1.) compounds of the imperatives #dīc# and #dūc# (113): as, #ēdū́c#; (2.) nominatives of proper names in #-ās# and #-īs# for #-ātis# and #-ītis#: as, #Arpīnā́s#, for #Arpīnā́tis#; #Laenā́s#; #Maecēnā́s#; #Quirī́s#; #Samnī́s#; also #nostrā́s#, #vostrā́s#; (3.) words compounded with the abbreviated (113) enclitics #-c# for #-ce# and #-n# for #-ne#: as, #illī́c#; #tantṓn#; #audīstī́n# (for the shortening of the final syllable: as, #vidén#, _dost see?_, see 129); (4.) #audī́t#, contracted from #audīvit# (154, 893). The Latin grammarians prescribe the circumflex (90) for all these long syllables.

EARLIER RECESSIVE ACCENT.

89. In the preliterary period of the Latin language, the accent tended to go as far from the end of the word as possible (_recessive accent_). Thus, while the classical accentuation is #inimī́cus#, the older period accented #ínimīcus#. In literary Latin this early recessive accent has survived, only in Plautus’s accentuation of words of the form ⏑ ⏑ ⏑ ⏓ (proceleusmatic or fourth paeon, see 2521), in which he stresses the first syllable: as, #fácilius# (classical #facílius#); #vóluerat# (classical #volúerat#). But in many instances the early recessive accent may be traced in literary Latin by the phonetic changes which it produced (102 ff.).

90. MUSICAL ELEMENT. The native Latin grammarians slight the stress accentuation and pay much attention instead to the variations in pitch. But they are so greatly dependent on their Greek models that they are unsafe guides in this matter. It is, however, probable that a stressed vowel was uttered on a higher key (acute) than an unstressed vowel (grave), and that in certain syllables the long, accented vowel showed a rise and fall (circumflex): as, #illîc# (88).

91. The force of the Latin stress accent must have varied at different periods and in different localities, as it now varies in the Romance countries. The early recessive accent seems to have been fairly emphatic; but the stress in classical Latin was probably weak and the difference between accented and unaccented syllables was much less marked than it is in English.

PROCLITICS AND ENCLITICS.

92. #Proclitics# are unaccented words which are pronounced as a part of the following word; they are: (1.) The relative and indefinite pronouns and their derivatives; (2.) Prepositions.

(_a._) Thus, #quō diē#, pronounced #quōdíē#; #quī vīxit#, #quīvī́xit#; #genus unde Latīnum#, #génus undeLatī́num#. Similarly #quamdíū#, _as long as_; #iamdíū#, _this long time_. A distinction is thus made between the interrogative #quālis# (1526), which is accented, and the relative #quālis# (1831) which is proclitic (Quint. 1, 5, 26); cf. the English _who_, which is accented when interrogative, and proclitic when relative. (_b._) #circum lītora#, pronounced #circumlī́tora#; #ab ōrīs#, pronounced #abōrīs# (Quint. 1, 5, 27); in inscriptions and manuscripts prepositions are often united in writing with the following word. Phrases like #extemplō#, _suddenly_, #invicem# (94), _in turn_, are commonly written and accented as one word. But the preposition is accented when it is followed by a monosyllabic unemphatic (and therefore enclitic) personal pronoun: as, #ín mē#; #ábs tē# (but #abs tḗ#, if #tē# is emphatic). All prepositions used as adverbs (1402) have an independent accent.

93. ENCLITICS are words which have no accent of their own, but are pronounced as a part of the word preceding. This increase of the number of syllables produced certain accentual changes, all the details of which are not clear. When the enclitic was monosyllabic the place of the accent seems to have been determined as in 86; thus #vídēs#, but #vidḗsne#; #Látiō#, but #Latiṓque#. Again, when by the addition of a monosyllabic enclitic the accent falls on the fourth syllable from the end, a secondary (84, 85) accent was probably placed on the penult: as, #perī́cula#, but #perī́culàque#. The Roman grammarians agree, however, in demanding that everywhere the syllable preceding the enclitics #-que#, #-ne#, #-ve#, and #-ce# should be accented. In #deinde# and #subinde# there is authority for placing the accent on the first syllable.

Enclitics are: (1.) Unemphatic personal and indefinite pronouns: as, #in mē#, pronounced, #ínmē#; #dā mihi#, #dā́mihi#; #sīc tibi#, #sī́ctibi#; #sī quis#, #sī́quis#; #nē quid#, #nḗquid#. (2.) Verbs when used as auxiliaries: as, #possum# for #pót(e) sum# (752); #quī́ libet# (2401); #vidḗlicet#, #īlicet#, #scīlicet# (712); #quámvīs# (1903); the forms of #esse# in compound tenses (719), so that #est# is frequently combined, even in writing, with the preceding past participle (747). (3.) The particles #-ne# (#-n#), #-ve#, and #-ce# (#-c#): as, #satísne# or shortened #satín#; #Hyrcānīsve Arabī́sve#; #istī́ce# or shortened #istîc# (90), #adhûc# (90). (4.) The copulative conjunction #-que#: as, #Latiṓque#, #līmináque#. (5.) The preposition #cum# when it follows (1435) its case. (6.) The particle #quidem#: as, #sī quidem#, #síquidem# (131). (7.) Other enclitics are: #-met# (650): as, #egómet#; #-dem#: as, #ibídem#; #-nam#: as, #ubínam#; #-dum# (1573): as, #agédum#; #-inde#: as, #déinde#, #próinde# (which are disyllabic in verse), and #súbinde#; #-tum#; as, #etiámtum#; #-per#: as, #parúmper#; the vocative when it was closely joined to the preceding word, e.g. an imperative: as, #dī́c puer# (106).

94. Two words expressing what is really one single idea are often bound together by _one_ accent, one of them acting the part of either a proclitic or enclitic.

Thus, with the earlier recessive accent (89), #Iū́piter# (133; 389; originally a vocative which came to be used as nominative; for the change of #pater# to #piter# see 104); #ínvicem#, _in turn_; #dḗnuō# for #dḗ nóvō# (106); with the later, classical accent, #lēgislā́tor#, #paterfamíliās#, #orbisterrā́rum#, #extémplō#, #imprī́mīs#. When unemphatic #ille# and #iste# preceded their noun and had practically the value of our definite article they formed a unit with the following noun and thus the accent might fall on their last syllable: as, #illé pater#, #isté canis#. This use is particularly common in vulgar and late Latin (see 112).

[Erratum: 92a ... and proclitic when relative. final . missing]

CHANGE OF SOUND.

(A.) VOWEL CHANGE.

CHANGE OF DIPHTHONGS IN ACCENTED SYLLABLES.

95. Of the six original diphthongs #au#, #ou#, #eu#, and #ai#, #oi#, #ei#, the only one which preserved its original sound in the classical period is #au#. Of the rest only #ae# (for older #ai#) and, in a few words, #oe# (for older #oi#) remained diphthongs; all the others had become monophthongs.

96. CHANGE OF #ai#. #ai# is common in inscriptions: as, AIDILIS, PRAITOR. Toward the end of the republic the two elements of the diphthong had been partially assimilated to #ae# (49): as, #aedīlis# (Quint. 1, 7, 18). This is its pronunciation in the classical period. Between 130 and 100 B.C. #ai# is displaced by #ae# in public documents; but the old-fashioned #ai# was often retained in private inscriptions. Still later the two elements completely converged to #ē#. In provincial Latin #ē# is found as early as 200 B.C.: as, CESVLA for CAESVLLA; in Rome itself the pronunciation ‘Cēcilius’ for #Caecilius#, and ‘#prētor#’ for #praetor# was derided as boorish; but by 71 A.D. #ae# was verging toward #ē# even in the court language: the coins of Vespasian have IVDEA as well as IVDAEA. In the 3d and 4th century A.D. #ē# became the prevalent sound.

97. CHANGE OF #au#. The diphthong #au#, which was preserved in educated speech, was changed to #ō# in rustic and colloquial pronunciation (see the anecdote related by Suetonius, _Vesp._ 22): as, #cōpō#, _innkeeper_, for #caupō#; #plōstrum# for #plaustrum# (_barge_), _cart_: #Clōdius# for #Claudius#. Some of these gained literary currency: as, #cōdex#, _book_, #caudex#, _block_; #fōcāle#, _neckcloth_, #faucēs#, _throat_. The form #sōdēs# (1572) for #si̭ audēs# = #sī audēs# (Cic. _O._ 154) is a colloquialism.

98. CHANGE OF #ei#. #ei# as a genuine diphthong is common in old inscriptions: as, SEI; SEIVE; ADEITVR; DEIXERVNT; FEIDA. In classical Latin it has passed into #ī#: thus, #sī#, _if_; #sīve#, _either_; #adītur#, _is approached_; #dīxērunt#, _they said_; fīda, _faithful_. An intermediate stage between the old diphthong #ei# and the classical #ī# was a very close (46) #ē#: as, PLOIRVME (465) for #plūrimī#; IOVRE (501, 507) for #iūrī#. For the orthographical use of #ei# as a spelling for the long #ī#-sound, see 29.

99. CHANGE OF #oi#. The development of #oi# was parallel to that of #ai#. It first passed into #oe#: as, COIRAVERVNT and COERAVERVNT, _they cared_; OITILE, _useful_, and OETI, _to use_; LOIDOS and LOEDOS, _play_,--all in old Latin. In classical Latin it has further been changed in accented syllables to #ū#: as, #cūrāvērunt#, #ūtile#, #ūtī#, #lūdus#. But #oe# was retained in classical Latin (1.) when a secondary diphthong (48), the result of contraction (120), and (2.) in a few words like #foedus#, _treaty_, perhaps as an archaizing, legal term; #foedus#, _ugly_; #poena#, _penalty_, perhaps through the influence of Greek ποινή (in the verb #pūnīre#, _to punish_, the regular #ū# appears); #proelium#, _skirmish_; #foetor#, _stench_; and #moenia#, _walls_, perhaps because there was a word #mūnia#, _services_. The connection of #nōn#, _not_, with #noenum# (455; 1444; 699) is difficult because of the unusual development of #oe# to #o#, for which the Praenestine form CORAVERONT is the only parallel.

100. CHANGE of #ou#. #ou#, found in inscriptions down to about 90 B.C., passed, in classical Latin, into #ū#: as, POVBLICOM, NOVNTIATA, IOVDEX; later #pūblicum#, _public_, #nūntiāta#, _notified_, #iūdex#, _judge_.