Part 4

101. CHANGE OF #eu#. Primitive (48) #eu# appears in classical Latin only in the interjections #eu#, #heu#, #ē̆heu#, #heus#. Every other original #eu# had, even in old Latin, passed into #ou# and developed like the latter: as, #*neumen# (Greek νεῦμα) became first #*noumen#, then (100) #nūmen#. With the exceptions noted above, the diphthong #eu#, as it appears in Latin, is always of secondary origin (48), the result of the two vowels #e# and #u# meeting in composition: as, #neu#, _neither_, from #nē-ve#; #neutiquam#, from #nē# and #utiquam# (124).

WEAKENING IN UNACCENTED SYLLABLES.

102. The vowel of an unstressed (atonic) syllable is often weakened, changing its quantity or quality or both. This is especially the case in syllables immediately preceded by the chief accent (_posttonic syllables_). The following changes took place at an early period when Latin still possessed the old, recessive accent (89).

WEAKENING OF SIMPLE VOWELS IN MEDIAL SYLLABLES.

103. (_a._) ATONIC MEDIAL #e# before a single consonant was weakened (with the exceptions given under _b._) to #i#: as, #cólligō#, _collect_, from #legō#; #óbsideō#, _besiege_, from #sedeō#; #cértāminis#, _of the contest_, from #certāmen# (224); #flāminis#, from #flāmen# (470). And so probably #hic# (664) arose from #*hec# or #*hoc# (105, _g_) when used as proclitic (92). Before the labials #p#, #b#, #f#, and #m# this weakened sound was intermediate between #i# and #u# (28), and both spellings occur: as, #quadripēs# and #quadrupēs#, _four-footed_; #alimentum#, _nourishment_; #monumentum#, _monument_. The choice of #i# or #u# was probably governed by the quality of the stressed vowel in the preceding syllable: viz., #u# after #o# and #u#, and #i# after #a#, #e#, and #i#. But such distinction is only imperfectly maintained in classical Latin.

(_b._) But before two consonants, before #r#, before vowels, and after #i#, atonic #e# does not change: as, #lévāmentum# (224), but #lévāminis#, _of consolation_; #óbsessus# (but #óbsideō#), _possessed_; #sócietās#, _society_, from the stem #socie-# (but #nóvitās# from the stem #nove-#); #géneris#, _of the kind_; #ádeunt#, _they approach_.

104. (_c._) Atonic medial #a#, except in the cases mentioned below under (_d._), (_e._), and (_f._), was first weakened to #e# and then underwent the same changes as atonic medial #e# (103): as (before single consonants), #cṓnficiō#, _accomplish_, from #faciō#; #ī́nsiliō#, _jump in_, from #saliō# (1019); #rédditus#, _restored_, from #datus#; #trícipitem#, _three-headed_, from #*trícapitem# (#caput#), Cic. _O._ 159; #occiput#, _back of the head_, and #sinciput#, _jole_ (478). In compounds of #iaciō# (940), #-iaciō# is weakened in early Latin to #-ieciō# (as, #conieciō#, 940), but later to #-iciō# (as, #subiciō#). This last form may be due to syncope (111, _a_) of the radical #a#. The spelling #-iiciō# (as, #subiiciō#) is late and faulty (52). It does not occur in republican inscriptions and owes its origin to a confusion of the two forms #conieciō# and #coniciō#. (On the quantity of the vowel of the prepositions in these compounds of #iaciō#, see 122 _e_); (before #p#, #b#, #f#, #m#) #áccipiō#, _accept_, and #óccupō#, _occupy_, from #capiō#; #cóntubernālis#, _room-mate_, from #taberna#; #ábripiō#, _to snatch away_, from #rapiō#; (before two consonants) #pépercī#, _I have spared_, from #parcō#; #áccentus#, _accent_, from #cantus#; (before #r#) #péperī#, _I brought forth_, from #pariō#.

(_d._) But an #a# in the preceding syllable may protect the atonic #a#: as, #ádagiō#, #ádagium#, _proverb_, but #prṓdigium#, _miracle_ (144).

(_e._) Atonic medial #a# before the guttural nasal (62) #n# followed by #g# changed to #i# (138): as, #áttingō#, _touch_, from #tangō#.

(_f._) Atonic medial #a# before #l# followed by any consonant save #l# changed to #u# (both #l# and #u# being guttural, 60, 44): as, #éxsultāre#, _to leap up_, from #saltāre#; but #féfellī#, _I deceived_, from #fallō#.

105. (_g._) ATONIC MEDIAL #o#, when followed by a single consonant, first changed to #e# and then underwent all further changes of medial atonic #e#: as, #hóminis#, from #*homon-is# (485); #ímāginis#, for #*imāgonis#, 226 (nominative #imāgō#, 485); #cúpīdinis#, for #*cupīdonis#, 225, (nominative #cupīdō#, 485); #vírginis#, for #*virgonis# (nominative #virgō#, 470); #ī́licō#, from #*in-slocō#, _on the spot_ (169, 4).

(_h._) Before two consonants or before guttural #l# (60) atonic medial #o# changed to #u#: as, #éuntis#, from #*éontis# (Greek ἴοντος); #sēdulō#, from #sē dolō# (1417). But a preceding #v# or #u# protects #o# (107, _c_).

(_i._) Before #r#, atonic medial #o# was retained: as, #témporis#, _of time_; except when #u# in the preceding syllable induced a change to #u#: as, #fúlguris#, _of lightning_ (for the #-r# in the nominative singular #fulgur# instead of #-s#, see 154).

106. (_k._) Medial #-av-#, #-ov-#, and #-iv-# in posttonic syllables were weakened to #u#: as, #dḗnuō# from #dḗnovō# (94); #ábluō# from #ablavō#. The form #puer#, _boy_, arose from the older POVER in enclitic vocatives (93, 7) and was thence transferred to the nominative like #piter# in #Iūpiter# (94).

[Erratum: 105g ... #ī́licō#, from #*in-slocō#, _on the spot_ (169, 4) (169, 6)]

WEAKENING OF SIMPLE VOWELS IN FINAL SYLLABLES.

107. (_a._) In final syllables unaccented original #e# before #s# and #t# was weakened to #i#: as, #salūtis#, _of safety_, from older #salūtes# (507).

(_b._) Final #i# became #e#: as, #ante# for #*anti# (Greek ἀντί and #anti-cipāre#); nominative singular #mare#, from the stem #mari-# (526).

(_c._) In final syllables #o# before consonants changed to #u# except when preceded by #u# or #v#: as, #fīlius#, _son_, for old Latin #fīlios# (452); #ferunt#, _they carry_, for older #feront#; #femur#, _thigh_, nomin. sg. from the stem #femor-# (489); #genus#, _kind_, for #*genos#, Greek γένος; but #vīvont#, _they live_; #salvom#, _safe_. Not long before the beginning of our era #o# here also changed to #u# and appears to have coalesced with the preceding #v# (Quint. 1, 7, 26): as, in inscriptions: INGENVS (nomin. sg.) for #ingenuos#; SERVM, _slave_ (acc. sg.), for #servom#; NOVM for #novom#, _something new_; so also #boum#, _oxen_ (gen. pl.), for #bovom# (494). But inasmuch as the majority of forms in the paradigms of these words retained their #v#, it was restored in most cases, by analogy, to the forms which had lost it: as, #servum# for #serum#, because of #servī#, #servō#, etc.; #vīvunt# for #vīunt#, because of #vīvō#, #vīvis#, #vīvit#, etc.

(_d._) When the stems #fac-# (#facere#, _do_), #cap-# (#capere#, _take_) appear as second members of compounds, their #a# changes in final syllables to #e#: as, #artifex#, _artisan_; #auceps#, _bird-catcher_. After the analogy of these words, compounds with #dīcere# and #īre# have #e# in the nom. sg.: as, #iūdex#, #iūdicis#, _judge_ (from #iūs# and #dīcere#); #comes#, _companion_ (from #com#, _with_, and #īre#); see 136, 2.

[Errata: 107 (_b._) Final #i# became #e# (_b_) 107c ... INGENVS (nomin. sg.) for #ingenuos# . after sg. invisible]

WEAKENING OF DIPHTHONGS IN UNACCENTED SYLLABLES.

108. Diphthongs, whether medial or final, are treated alike in atonic syllables.

(_a._) Atonic #ei#, #oi#, and #ai# (#ae#) became #ī#: as, #lupī#, _wolves_ (nom. pl.), for #*lupoi# (Gr. λύκοι); #bellī#, _in war_ (loc. sg., 460, 1338), for #*bellei# (Greek οἴκει) or #*belloi# (Greek οἴκοι); #éxīstimō#, _I consider_, from #aestimō#; #cóncīdō#, _I strike down_, from #caedō#; Cicero, _O._ 159, mentions #inīcum#, _unfair_, for #*ínaecum#, and #concīsum# for #*cóncaesum#; so also, probably, #hīc#, _this_, arose from #hoic# (662) when used as a proclitic (92).

(_b._) Atonic #ou# and #au# became #ū#: as, #ínclūdō#, _I include_, from #claudō#; #áccūsāre#, _to accuse_, from #causa#.

109. There are not a few cases in which the atonic vowel does not conform to the rules given above (102-108). These are usually compounds which show the vowel of the simple verb. Some of these were formed at a time when the early recessive accent was no longer in force and consequently there was no cause for weakening; in others the vowel of the simple verb was by analogy substituted for the weakened vowel of the compound: as, #appetō#, _I strive after_, from #petō#, which ought to have #i# like #colligō#, _collect_, from #legō#; #intermedius#, _intermediate_, but #dīmidius#, _half_; #dēfraudāre#, _to cheat_, by the side of #dēfrūdāre# from #fraudāre#; instead of the common #redarguō#, _I refute_, Scipio Africanus minor Pauli filius (185-129 B.C.) said #rederguō#, and #pertīsum# for #pertaesum#, but both Cicero (_O._ 159) and Lucilius discountenance #pertīsum# as the sign of a pedantic prig. In a few cases the reverse process took place, and the weakened vowel which arose in the compound was transferred to the simple verb: as, #clūdō#, _I close_ (958), for #claudō#, which owes its #ū# to compounds like #occlūdō#. For a case where the vowel of the preceding syllable acted as a stay to the expected change, see 104, _d_.

LOSS IN UNACCENTED SYLLABLES.

110. Only vowels which are short and atonic may be lost. The loss of a medial vowel is called _Syncope_; of an initial vowel, _Aphaeresis_; of a final vowel _Apocope_.

111. SYNCOPE. (_a._) Loss of a posttonic vowel, entailing the loss of a syllable, occurs in #ardus# (Lucil.; for #ă# see 128) for the common #āridus#, _dry_; #caldus# by the side of #calidus#, _warm_ (Quint. 1, 6, 19); #reppulī#, _I pushed back_, and #rettulī#, _I carried back_, stand for #*répepulī# and #*rétetulī# (861); #pergō#, _I proceed_, stands for #*perregō# from #regō# (cf. #cor-rigō#, #ē-rigō#, where the #e# is weakened, 103, and #porrigō#, #porgō#, where it is either weakened or lost), hence it forms its perfect #perrēxī# (953): #pōnō#, _I place_, is for #*posnō# (170, 2) from #*po-sinō# (112), hence it forms its past participle #positus# (972); for #iūrgō#, _I blame_. Plautus has #iūrigō#; #*ūsūripō# (from #ūsus# and #rapere#) yields #ūsurpō#, _I utilize_; #*gāvideō#, hence #gāvīsus# (801), gives #gaudeo#, _I rejoice_, converting #āṷ# to #aṷ# before the following #d# (128); in a similar way #auceps#, _bird-catcher_, is formed from #*aviceps# (#avis#, _bird_, and #capere#, _catch_); #claudere#, _lock_, from #*clāvidere# (#clāvis#, _key_); #aetās#, _age_, for #áevitās# (262); #praecō#, _herald_, for #*práevicō# (105, _g_) #prae-vocō# (211); also with change of #ou# to #ū# (100), #prūdēns#, _prudent_, for #*proudēns# from #providēns#, _foreseeing_; #nūper#, _lately_, from #*noviper#; #nūntius#, _messenger_, from #*noventius# (333); #iūcundus#, _joyful_, from #iuvicundus# (Cic. _Fin._ 2, 14). But forms like #pōclum#, _cup_, #saeclum#, _age_, do not belong here, as they are original and not derived by syncope from #pōculum#, #saeculum#; cf. 172.

(_b._) Where, through the loss of a vowel, #l# or #r# would come to stand between two consonants, or where they would be final and preceded by a consonant, #l# and #r# become syllabic (83) and the syllable is thus maintained. Syllabic #l# is represented by #ul#, syllabic #r# by #er# (172, 3). The development of such intercalary vowels as #u# before #l# and #e# before #r# is called _Anaptyxis_ (172). Thus, #*sacri-dōts# (cf. #sacri-legium#) became first #*sacr̥dōts# by syncope, then #sacerdōs#, _priest_, by anaptyxis; #*ācribus# (cf. #ācri-mōnia#, _pungency_) first became #*ācr̥bus# then #ācerbus#, _pungent_; #*agrilos# (267, cf. #agri-cola#, _farmer_) became first #*agr̥los#, then #*agerlos#, and finally, by assimilation of the #r# to #l# (166, 7), #agellus#, _small field_; from #*dis-ficilter# (adverb from #dis-# and #facilis#) arose #*difficl̥ter# and #difficulter#, _with difficulty_. The nominative sg. of the following words is to be explained thus. #ager# (451) was originally #*agros# (cf. Greek ἄγρος), which changed successively to #*agr̥s#, #*agers#, and #ager# (for the loss of #-s# see 171, 1 and 3). Similarly #*ācris#, passing through the stages of #*ācr̥s#, #*ācers#, became #ācer# (627), and #*famlos# by way of #*faml̥s#, #*famuls#, became #famul# (455), to which later the common ending of nouns of the #o-#declension was added, giving #famulus#.

112. APHAERESIS. Aphaeresis hardly occurs in literary Latin. In the pronoun #iste# the initial #i# is sometimes dropped (667); this loss implies an accented ultima (94). A trace of prehistoric aphaeresis is found in the prefix #po-# for #*apo# (Greek ἀπό) in #pōnō#, _I place_, for #po-s(i)nō# (111, _a_).

113. APOCOPE. Under the same conditions under which a medial vowel was syncopated, the final vowel of a word which stood in close union with the following word, as a preposition with its noun, was lost. In this way #*peri# (Greek περί) became #per#; #*apo# (Greek ἀπό) became #ap#, #ab# (164, 2); #*eti# (Greek ἔτι) became #et#. Similarly the final #-e# of the enclitics #-ce#, #-ne#, _not_, and #-ne# interrogative was lost: #*sī-ce# became #sīc#, _so_; #*quī-ne#, #quīn#, _why not_; #habēsne#, #haben#, _hast thou_; the imperatives #dīc#, _say_, #dūc#, _lead_, and #fac#, _do_, stand for earlier #dīce#, #dūce#, #face# (846); the shortened form #em# for #eme# (imperative of #emere#, _take_) has been turned into an interjection (1149). In the same way #nec# arose by the side of #neque#; #ac# by the side of #atque# (158). Final #-e# has also been dropped in the nominative sg. of a number of polysyllabic neuter stems in #-āli# and #-āri# (546): as, #animal#, _animal_, for #*animāle#, #exemplar#, _pattern_, for #*exemplāre#. See 536, 537. It must, however, be remembered that in most of the cases given the loss of a final vowel would also result from elision (119) before the initial vowel of the following word.

COMBINATION OF ADJACENT VOWELS.

114. HIATUS. A succession of two vowel sounds not making a diphthong is called _Hiatus_.

When in the formation of words by means of suffixes or prefixes or through the loss of an intervening consonant, two vowels come into contact within a word we speak of _internal hiatus_; the term _external hiatus_ comprises those cases where, in connected discourse, the final vowel of one word comes into contact with the initial vowel of the following word. For the latter kind, see 2474.

115. The treatment of vowels in internal hiatus is four-fold: (1.) The hiatus may remain; (2.) the two vowels may be fused into one (_Contraction_); (3.) one of the two vowels may be dropped (_Elision_); and (4.) the two vowels may be combined into a diphthong.

116. HIATUS is maintained (_a._) between two adjacent vowels the second of which is long and accented (according to the classical accentuation): as, #coḗgi#, _I forced_, and #coā́ctus#, _forced_ (937); but #cōgō# (118, 3). For #coepi#, instead of #coḗpī#, _I began_, see 120.

(_b._) In many prepositional compounds when the members were still felt to be independent: as, #praeesse# (the contracted form #praesse# is found in inscriptions); #dēerunt#, _they will be wanting_, by the side of #dērunt#; #coalēscō#, _grow together_ (the contracted form #cōlēscō# appears in Varro); #cooptāre#, _coöpt_, #cooperiō#, _I cover up_ (by the side of rare #cōptāre#, #cōperīre#); #coïtus#, _meeting_, by the side of #coetus# (120).

(_c._) A comparatively large number of vowel combinations remain unchanged: as #ea# and #eā# in #eam#, _her_, and #meā#, _by my_ (fem. sing.); #ia# and #iā# in #māria#, _seas_, #viātōris#, _of the traveller_; #ua# and #uā# in #bēlua#, _monster_, #suā#, _through her_ (fem. sg.); #iē# in #quiēs#, _quiet_; #uē# in #luēs#, _pestilence_; #eī# in #meī#, _of me_; #uī# in #tuī#, _of thee_; #eō# in #meō#, _by my_ (masc. sing.).

117. SYNIZESIS. In these combinations the first vowel is sometimes made unsyllabic (83). This is called _synizesis_ (2499) and is not rare in poets, being often the only means of adapting a word to the requirements of certain metres. Thus, #fortuītus# (- ⏑ - ⏓) must appear in a hexameter as #fortvītus# (#fortṷītus#). See 2499, 2503.

118. CONTRACTION. (1.) Two like vowels may unite in one long vowel; rapidity of utterance was favourable to such fusion. In compounds, the desire to keep the members distinct often prevented it. So always #nēmō#, _nobody_, for #*neemō# from #*ne-hemō#, _no man_ (for the loss of #h#, see 58, 150; for #e# in #*hemō#, see 144); and by the side of the open forms, #nīl# from #nihil#, _nothing_; #vēmēns# from #vehemēns#, _rapid_ (connected with the verb #vehō#); rarely #dērunt#, _they will be wanting_, and #dēsse#, _to be wanting_, for #dēerunt#, #dēesse#; #dēlēram#, _I had destroyed_, from #*dēlēeram# for #dēlēveram# (for the loss of #v#, see 153), see 890; #passūm#, _of paces_, for #passuum# (591).

(2.) A diphthong absorbs the following vowel: as, #praetor#, older #praitor#, _praetor_, from #*prai-itor#, _who goes before_; inscriptions show #praerunt# for #praeerunt#, _they will be before_; for #praebēre#, _to furnish_, the open form #praehibēre# occurs in Plautus (1004).

(3.) If two unlike vowels are contracted at all, they usually unite in the long sound of the first vowel. Thus, #o# and #a# yield #ō#: as, #cōgō#, _I force_, from #co-agō#; #cōgitō#, _I think_, from #co-agitō#. Similarly Varro has #cōlēscat#, _it may combine_, for #co-alēscat#. #o# and #e# yield #ō#: as, #prōmō#, _bring out_, #cōmō#, _put up_, for #pro-emō#, #co-emō# (953). #ē# and #a# yield #ē#: as, #dēgō#, _I pass away_, from #dē-agō# (937). #i# and #e# in the termination of the vocative of #-io-# stems probably contracted to #-ī#; as #fīlī# from #*fīlie#, 459. But in denominative (365) and other verbs of the first conjugation #ā# and #ō# contract into #ō#: as, #amō#, _I love_, from #*amā-ō# (cf. Greek τιμά·ω); and #ā# and #ē# into #ē#: as, #amēs#, _thou mayest love_, for #*amā-ēs#.

119. ELISION. Only rarely the first of two successive vowels is dropped: as, #nūllus#, _no_, for #*ne-ūllus#; likewise the final vowel of the first member of nominal compounds: as, #multangulus#, _with many corners_, for #*multi-angulus# (cf. #multi-cavus#, _with many holes_); #flexanimus#, _heart-rending_, for #*flexi-animus# (cf. #flexi-pēs#, _with bent feet_).

120. COMBINATION INTO DIPHTHONGS. The union of two successive vowels into a diphthong is equally rare: #o# and #i# are combined to #oi#, #oe#, in #coetus#, _meeting_, by the side of the open form #coïtus# (116, _b_); the perfect #coepī# (812), _I began_, owes its diphthong #oe# to forms in which the #e# was short and unaccented, such as the rare present forms #coepiō# for #có-ĕpiō# (813); for #coḗpi# (813, 863) would have remained unchanged (116, _a_). #neuter#, with the accent on the #e#, was pronounced as three syllables, later #eu# became diphthongal; #neutiquam# with synizesis (117) of #e#. #e# and #ī̆# sometimes contract to #e͡i# in #rēi# (601, 602) and in #de͡inde#, #dēin# in the classic poets.

LENGTHENING.

121. COMPENSATIVE LENGTHENING. When certain groups of consonants are simplified by the dropping of a consonant, its time is absorbed by a preceding short vowel, which thereby becomes long. This is called _Compensation_. In many cases compensative lengthening is due to the loss of a preliterary sonant #s# (170, 2): as,

#cānus#, _gray_, from #*casnus# (cf. #cas-cus#, _very old_). See for other cases of this lengthening, 170, 5, #quīnī#, for #*quincnī#; 170, 6, #īgnōscō#, for #*in-gnōscō#.

122. INDUCED LENGTHENING. Before certain groups of consonants short vowels have a tendency to become long: as,

(_a._) The prefixes #in-# and #con-# before #s# or #f# lengthened their vowels in classical Latin (Cic. _O._ 159): as, #īnsānus#, _mad_; #īnfēlīx#, _unhappy_; #cōnsuēvit#, _he grew used to_; #cōnfēcit#, _he accomplished_. Elsewhere also the vowel before #ns# and #nf# appears to have been lengthened: as, #fōns#, _fountain_; #pēnsus#, _weighty_ (Gell. 9, 6); #forēnsis#, _forensic_; #cēnsor#, _censor_; #mēnsa#, _table_; #mēnsis#, _mouth_; #Valēns#; #Clēmēns#; the #o# of #īnsons#, _guiltless_, however, is marked as short by the grammarian Probus.

(_b._) A similar lengthening of the vowel before #nc# followed by #t# or #s# appears: as, #ūnctus#, _anointed_, from #unguō# (Gell. 9, 6); #iūnctus#, _joined_, from #iungō# (954), #coniūnx#, _spouse_, genit. #coniugis# (472); #quīnctus#, _fifth_, whence #quīntus# (170, 4) and #quīnque#, _five_, derive their #ī#; #sānctus#, _hallowed_.

(_c._) Spellings like SIGNVM, _sign_ (well supported in inscriptions), and DIGNE, _worthily_ (less well supported) show that #i# was at times lengthened before #gn#. The grammarian Priscian demands this lengthening for all vowels preceding the ending #-gnus#, #-gna#, #-gnum#.

(_d._) A lengthened vowel before #r# followed by a consonant is also certain for some words like #ōrdō#, _order_; #fōrma#, _shape_.

(_e._) Some speakers appear to have lengthened the vowel of prepositions like #con-#, #sub-#, #ob-#, in the compounds of #iaciō# (104, _c_); as #ōbicit#. This practice, which is disapproved by Gellius (4, 17), probably arose from the transfer by analogy of the quantity of the first syllable in forms like #conieciant# (940) to that of the shortened form. In the same way the occasional spelling CÓNIV́NX, _spouse_, for #coniūnx#, may owe its long #ō# to the analogy of #cōiunx#, CÓIVGI (170, 6).

(_f._) Many verb stems ending in #-g# have a long vowel in the past participle before the suffix #-to-#: as, #tēctus#, _covered_, from #tego# (916); #tāctus#, _touched_, from #tangō# (925); #pāctus#, _fixed_, from #pangō# (925); #fīctus#, _moulded_, from #fingō# (954); #pīctus#, _painted_, from #pingō#. The evidence for #ā# in #maximus# is very scanty: one case of A with the apex (29, 3) in a faulty inscription.

(_g._) Of the induced lengthenings enumerated above, only those given in (_a._) (_b._) (_f._) seem to have been universal in classical Latin. The rest appear to have been local peculiarities, which, while making inroads upon the literary language, never gained full recognition.

123. (1.) ANALOGICAL LENGTHENING. In noun stems in #-o# the stem vowel is lengthened in the genitive plural #-ōrum# (449, 462), by analogy to the stems in #-ā# (435): as, #servōrum#, _of slaves_, like #mēnsārum#, _of tables_. For other cases see 122, _e_.

(2.) METRICAL LENGTHENING. On the lengthening of a vowel (or a syllable) under the influence of verse-ictus, see 2505.

SHORTENING.

124. A vowel originally long is regularly shortened in classical Latin before another vowel, even though an #h# intervene: as,

#taceō#, _I am silent_, from the stem #tacē-# (365); #seorsum#, _apart_, #deorsum#, _downward_, from #sē(v)orsum#, #dē(v)orsum# (153).

125. In simple words a diphthong occurs before a vowel only in one or two proper names: as, #Gnaeus#, #Annaeus#, in which it remains long, and in Greek words. But the diphthong #ae# of the prefix #prae# is sometimes shortened before a vowel: as, #pra͝eacūtus#; #pra͝eeunt#; #pra͝ehibeō#; hence #prehendō# for #*prae-hendō#. Sometimes it coalesces with a following vowel: as, #pra͡e͡optāvīstī#.

126. An increased tendency to shorten a long vowel before another vowel can be traced in the history of the language: thus, classical #fuī#, _I was_, for Plautus’s #fūī# (750); #clueō#, _I am called_, for Plautus’s #clūeō#; perfect #pluit#, _it rained_, for Varro’s #plūit# (cf. #plūvit#, 823, 947); #pius#, _pious_, for Ennius’s #pīus#; see also 765.

127. But even in classical Latin there are cases where a vowel before another vowel remains long: thus,

(1.) Regularly, the #ī# of #fīō#, _I am made_, except before #-er-#, as in #fierem# (788, 789).

(2.) In #dīus#, _godly_, for #dīvus# (153), and the old ablatives #dīū#, #dīō#, _open sky_ (used only in the expression #sub dīū#, #sub dīō#, i.e. #sub dīvō#).

(3.) In the ending #ēī# of the genitive and dative sg. of stems in #-ē-# (601) when an #i# precedes: as, #diēī#, _of a day_, #aciēī#, _of the battle line_, but #reī#, _of the thing_, for older #rēī#.