CHAPTER VI.

ON QUANTITY.

s. 232. The dependent vowels, as the _a_ in _fat_, _i_ in _fit_, _u_ in _but_, _o_ in _not_, have this character; _viz._ they are all uttered with rapidity, and pass quickly in the enunciation, the voice not resting on them. This rapidity of utterance becomes more evident when we contrast with them the prolonged sounds of the _a_ in _fate_, _ee_ in _feet_, _oo_ in _book_, _o_ in _note_; wherein the utterance is retarded, and wherein the voice rests, delays, or is prolonged. The _f_ and _t_ of _fate_ are separated by a longer interval than the _f_ and _t_ of _fat_; and the same is the case with _fit_, _feet_, &c.

Let the _n_ and the _t_ of _not_ be each as 1, the _o_ also being as 1: then each letter, consonant or vowel, shall constitute 1/3 of the whole word.

Let, however, the _n_ and _t_ of _note_ be each as 1, the _o_ being as 2. Then, instead of each consonant constituting 1/3 of the whole word, it shall constitute but 1/4.

Upon the comparative extent to which the voice is prolonged, the division of vowels and syllables into _long_ and _short_ has been established: the _o_ in _note_ being long, the _o_ in _not_ being short. And the longness or shortness of a vowel or syllable is said to be its quantity.

s. 233. The division of _vowels_ into long and short coincides _nearly_ with the division of them into independent and dependent. Mark the word _vowels_, and mark the word _nearly_. In the length and shortness of vowels there are degrees. This is especially the case with the broad vowels. The _a_ in _father_ is capable of being pronounced either very quickly, or very slowly. It may be attend most rapidly and yet preserve its broad character, _i.e._, become neither the _a_ in _fat_, nor the _a_ in _fate_. {165}

In the independence and dependence of vowels there are no degrees.

Subject to the views laid down in the next section, the vowel _ee_ in _seeing_ is long, and it is certainly independent. Whether the _syllable see-_ be long is another question.

1. All long vowels are independent, but all independent vowels are not long.

2. All dependent vowels are short, but all short vowels are not dependent.

Clear notions upon these matters are necessary for determining the structure of the English and classical metres.

s. 234. The qualified manner in which it was stated that the _vowel_ in the word _seeing_ was long, and the attention directed to the word _vowels_ in the preceding section, arose from a distinction, that is now about to be drawn, between the length of _vowels_ and the length of _syllables_.

The independent vowel in the syllable _see-_ is long; and long it remains, whether it stand as it is, or be followed by a consonant, as in _seen_, or by a vowel, as in _see-ing_.

The dependent vowel in the word _sit_ is short. If followed by a vowel it becomes unpronounceable, except as the _ea_ in _seat_ or the _i_ in _sight_. By a consonant, however, it may be followed, and still retain its dependent character and also its shortness. Such is the power it has in the word quoted, _sit_. Followed by a _second_ consonant, it still retains its shortness, _e.g._, _sits_. Whatever the comparative length of the _syllables_, _see_ and _seen_, _sit_ and _sits_, may be, the length of their respective _vowels_ is the same.

Now, if we determine the character of the syllable by the character of the vowel, all syllables are short wherein there is a short vowel, and all are long wherein there is a long one. Measured by the quantity of the vowel the word _sits_ is short, and the syllable _see-_ in _seeing_ is long.

But it is well known that this view is not the view commonly taken of the syllables _see_ (in _seeing_) and _sits_. It is well known, that, in the eyes of a classical scholar, the _see_ (in _seeing_) is short, and that in the word _sits_ the _i_ is long. The classic differs from the Englishman thus,--_He measures his {166} quantity, not by the length of the vowel but, by the length of the syllable taken altogether._ The perception of this distinction enables us to comprehend the following statements.

I. That vowels long by nature may _appear_ to become short by position, and _vice vers[^a]_.

II. That, by a laxity of language, the _vowel_ may be said to have changed its quantity, whilst it is the _syllable_ alone that has been altered.

III. That, if one person measures his quantities by the vowels, and another by the syllables, what is short to the one, shall be long to the other, and _vice vers[^a]_. The same is the case with nations.

IV. That one of the most essential differences between the English and the classical languages is that the quantities (as far as they go) of the first are measured by the vowel, those of the latter by the syllable. To a Roman the word _monument_ consists of two short syllables and one long one; to an Englishman it contains three short syllables.

These remarks are appreciated when we consider the comparative characters of the classical and the English prosody.

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