Chapter 2

Laódamía, that at Jove's command--

nor Landor in

Artémidóra, gods invisible--

though I hope that they did.

* * * * *

It is not to be thought that these rules were in any way arbitrary. So little was this so that, I believe, they were never even formulated. If examples with the quantities marked were ever given, they must have been for the use of foreigners settling in England. English boys did not want rules, and their teachers could not really have given them. The teachers did not understand that each vowel represented not two sounds only, a long and a short, but many more. This fact was no more understood by John Walker, the actor and lexicographer, who in 1798 published a Key to the Classical Pronunciation of Greek and Latin proper names. His general rule was wrong as a general rule, and so far as it agreed with facts it was useless. He says that when a vowel ends a syllable it is long, and when it does not it is short. Apart from the confusion of cause and effect there is the error of identifying for instance the _e_ in _beatus_ and the _e_ in _habebat_. Moreover, Walker confounds the _u_ in 'curfew', really long, with the short and otherwise different _u_ in 'but'. The rule was useless as a guide, for it did not say whether _moneo_ for instance was to be read as _ino-neo_ or as _mon-eo_, and therefore whether the _o_ was to be long or short. Even Walker's list is no exact guide. He gives for instance _M[=o]-na_, which is right, and _M[=o]-næses_, which is not. Now without going into the difference between long vowels and ordinary vowels, of which latter some are long in scansion and some short, it is clear that there is no identity. In fact _Mona_, has the long _o_ of 'moan' and _Monæses_ the ordinary _o_ of 'monaster'. A boy at school was not troubled by these matters. He had only two things to learn, first the quantity of the penultimate unit, second the fact that a final vowel was pronounced. When he knew these two things he gave the Latin word the sounds which it would have if it were an English word imported from the Latin. Thus he finds the word _civilitate_. I am not sure that he could find it, but that does not matter. He would know 'civility', and he learns that the penultima of the Latin word is long. Therefore he says _c[)i]v[)i]l[)i]t[=a]t[)e]_. Again he knows '[)i]nf[)i]n[)i]t' (I must be allowed to spell the word as it is pronounced except in corrupt quires). He finds that the penultima of _infinitivus_ is long, and he therefore says _[)i]nf[)i]n[)i]t[=i]v[)u]s_. Again he knows 'irradiate', and finding that the penultima of _irradiabitur_ is short he says _[)i]rr[=a]d[)i][)a]b[)i]t[)u]r_. It is true that some of these verb forms under the influence of their congeners came to have an exceptional pronunciation. Thus _irradi[=a]bit_ led at last to _irradi[=a]bitur_, but I doubt whether this occurred before the nineteenth century. The word _dabitur_, almost naturalized by Luther's adage of _date et dabitur_, kept its short _a_ down to the time when it regained it, in a slightly different form, by its Roman right; and _am[)a]mini_ and _mon[)e]mini_ were unwavering in their use. Old people said _v[=a]ri[)a]bilis_ long after the true quantities had asserted themselves, and the word as the specific name of a plant may be heard even now. Its first syllable of course follows what I shall call the 'alias' rule. We may still see this rule in other instances. All men say 'hippopót[)a]mus', and even those who know that this _a_ is short in Greek can say nothing but 'Mesopot[=a]mia', unless indeed the word lose its blessed and comforting powers in a disyllabic abbreviation. When a country was named after Cecil Rhodes, where the _e_ in the surname is mute, we all called it 'Rhod[=e]sia'. Had it been named after a Newman, where the _a_ is short or rather obscure, we should all have called it 'Newm[=a]nia ', while, named after a Davis, it would certainly have been 'Dav[)i]sia'. The process of thought would in each case have been unconscious. A new example is 'aviation', whose first vowel has been instinctively lengthened.

Again, when the word 'telegram' was coined, some scholars objected to its formation and insisted upon 'telegrapheme', but the most obdurate Grecian did not propose to keep the long Greek vowel in the first syllable. When only the other day 'cinematograph' made its not wholly desirable appearance, it made no claim to a long vowel in either of its two first syllables. Not till it was reasonably shortened into 'c[)i]n[)e]ma' did a Judge from the Bench make a lawless decree for a long second vowel, and even he left the _i_ short though it is long in Greek.

Of course with the manner of speech the quantities had to be learnt separately. The task was not as difficult as some may think. To boys with a taste for making verses the thumbing of a Gradus (I hope that no one calls it a Gr[)a]dus) was always a delightful occupation, and a quantity once learnt was seldom forgotten. It must be admitted that, as boys were forced to do verses, whether they could or not, there were always some who could read and yet forget.

Although these usages did not precede but followed the pronunciation of words already borrowed from Latin, we may use them to classify the changes of quantity. We shall see that although there are some exceptions for which it is difficult to give a reason, yet most of the exceptions fall under two classes. When words came to us through French, the pronunciation was often affected by the French form of the word. Thus the adjective 'present' would, if it had come direct from Latin, have had a long vowel in the first syllable. To an English ear 'pr[)e]sent' seemed nearer than 'pr[=e]sent' to the French 'présent'. The _N.E.D._ says that 'gladiator' comes straight from the Latin 'gladiatorem'. Surely in that case it would have had its first vowel long, as in 'radiator' and 'mediator'. In any case its pronunciation must have been affected by 'gladiateur'. The other class of exceptions consists of words deliberately introduced by writers at a late period. Thus 'adorable' began as a penman's word. Following 'inéxorable' and the like it should have been 'ádorable'. Actually it was formed by adding _-able_ to 'adóre', like 'laughable'. It is now too stiff in the joints to think of a change, and must continue to figure with the other sins of the Restoration.

Before dealing with the words as classified by their formation, we may make short lists of typical words to show that for the pronunciation of English derivatives it is idle to refer to the classical quantities.

From _[=æ]_: [)e]difice, [)e]mulate, c[)e]rulean, qu[)e]stion.

From _[=oe]_: [)e]conomy, [)e]cumenical, conf[)e]derate.

From _[=a]_,: don[)a]tive, n[)a]tural, cl[)a]mour, [)a]verse.

From _[)a]_: [=a]lien, st[=a]tion, st[=a]ble, [=a]miable.

From _[=e]_: [)e]vident, Quadrag[)e]sima, pl[)e]nitude, s[)e]gregate.

From _[)e]_: s[=e]ries, s[=e]nile, g[=e]nus, g[=e]nius.

From _[=i]_: lasc[)i]vious, erad[)i]cate, d[)i]vidend, f[)i]lial, susp[)i]cion.

From _[)i]_: l[=i]bel, m[=i]tre, s[=i]lex.

From _[=o]_: [)o]rator, pr[)o]minent, pr[)o]montory, s[)o]litude.

From _[)o]_: b[=o]vine, l[=o]cal, f[=o]rum, coll[=o]quial.

From _[=u]_: fig[)u]rative, script[)u]ral, sol[)u]ble.

From _[)u]_: n[=u]merous, C[=u]pid, all[=u]vial, cer[=u]lean.

The _N.E.D._ prefers the spelling 'oecumenical'; but Newman wrote naturally 'ecumenical', and so does Dr. J.B. Bury. Dublin scholarship has in this matter been markedly correct.

_CLASSIFICATION OF WORDS ACCORDING TO THEIR LATIN STEMS._

In classification it seems simplest to take the words according to their Latin stems. We must, however, first deal with a class of adjectives borrowed bodily from the Latin nominative masculine with the insertion of a meaningless _o_ before the final _-us_.[1] These of course follow the rules given above. In words of more than two syllables the antepenultimate and stressed vowel is shortened, as '[)e]mulous' from _æmulus_ and in 'fr[)i]volous' from _fr[=i]volus_, except where by the 'alias' rule it is long, as in 'egr[=e]gious' from _egr[)e]gius_. Words coined on this analogy also follow the rules. Thus 'glabrous' and 'fibrous' have the vowels long, as in the traditional pronunciation of _glabrum_ and _fibrum_, where the vowels in classical Latin were short. The stressed _u_ being always long we have 'lug[=u]brious' and 'sal[=u]brious', the length being independent of the 'alias' rule. Some words ending in _-ous_ are not of this class. Thus 'odorous' and 'clamorous' appear in Italian as _odoroso_ and _clamoroso_. Milton has

Sonórous mettal blowing Martial sounds.

The Italian is _sonoro_, and our word was simply the Latin _sonorus_ borrowed bodily at a somewhat late period. Hence the stress remains on the penultima. Skeat thought that the word would at last become 'sónorous'. It maybe hoped that Milton's line will save it from the effect of a false analogy.

[Footnote 1: I regard this statement as inaccurate. The _-ous_ in these words does not come from the nominative ending _-us_, but is the ordinary _-ous_ from L. _-osus_ (through Fr.). It was added to many Latin adjective stems, because the need of a distinctly adjectival ending was felt. Similarly in early French _-eux_ was appended to adjectives when they were felt to require a termination, as in _pieux_ from _pi-us_. Compare the English _capacious_, _veracious_, _hilarious_, where _-ous_ is added to other stems than those in _o_. Other suffixes of Latin origin are used in the same way: e.g. _-al_ in _aerial_, _ethereal_.--H.B.]

In classifying by stems it will be well to add, where possible, words of Greek origin. Except in some late introductions Greek words, except when introduced bodily, have been treated as if they came through Latin, and some of the bodily introductions are in the same case. Thus 'anæsthetic' is spelt with the Latin diphthong and the Latin _c_. Even 'skeleton' had a _c_ to start with, while the modern and wholly abominable 'kaleidoscope' is unprincipled on the face of it.

STEMS ENDING IN -ANT AND -ENT. These are participles or words formed as such. Our words have shed a syllable, thus _regentem_ has become 'regent'. Disyllables follow the 'apex' rule and lengthen the first vowel, as 'agent', 'decent', 'potent'. Exceptions are 'clement' and 'present', perhaps under French influence. Words of more than two syllables with a single consonant before the termination throw the stress back and shorten a long penultima, as 'ignorant', 'president', 'confident', 'adjutant'. Where there are two heavy consonants, the stress remains on the penultima, as 'consultant', 'triumphant', even when one of the consonants is not pronounced, as 'reminiscent'. In some cases the Latinists seem to have deliberately altered the natural pronunciation. Thus Gower has 'ápparaúnt', but the word became 'appárent' before Shakespeare's time, and later introductions such as 'adherent' followed it. What right 'adjacent' has to its long vowel and penultimate stress I do not know, but it cannot be altered now.

STEMS ENDING IN -ATO AND -UTO. These are mostly past participles, but many of them are used in English as verbs. It must be admitted that the disyllabic words are not wholly constant to a principle. Those verbs that come from _-latum_ consistently stress the last vowel, as 'dilate', 'relate', 'collate'. So does 'create', because of one vowel following another. Of the rest all the words of any rank have the stress on the penultima, as 'vibrate', 'frustrate', 'mígrate', 'cástrate', 'púlsate', 'vácate'. Thus Pope has

The whisper, that to greatness still too near, Perhaps, yet vibrates on his Sov'reign's ear,

and Shelley

Music, when soft voices die, Vibrates in the memory.

There are, however, verbs of no literary account which in usage either vary in the stress or take it on the latter syllable. Such are 'locate', 'orate', 'negate', 'placate', and perhaps 'rotate'. With most of these we could well dispense. 'Equate' is mainly a technical word. Dictionaries seem to prefer the stress on the ultima, but some at least of the early Victorian mathematicians said 'équate', and the pronunciation is to be supported. Trisyllabic verbs throw the stress back and shorten the penultima, as 'dés[)o]late', 'súff[)o]cate', 'scínt[)i]llate'. Even words with heavy double consonants have adopted this habit. Thus where Browning has (like Milton and Cowper)

I the Trinity illústrate Drinking water'd orange pulp, In three sips the Arian frustrate. While he drains his at one gulp,

it is now usual to say 'íllustrate'.

Adjectives of this class take as early a stress as they can, as 'órnate', 'pínnate', 'délicate', 'fórtunate'. Nouns from all these words throw the accent back and shorten or obscure all but the penultimate vowel, as 'ignorance', 'evaporation'.

STEMS IN -IA. Here even disyllables shorten the penultima, as 'copy', 'province', while longer words throw the stress back as well as shorten the penultima, as 'injury', 'colony', while 'ignominy' almost lost its penultimate vowel, and therefore threw back the stress to the first syllable. Shakespeare frankly writes the word as a trisyllable,

Thy ignomy sleep with thee in the grave.

Milton restored the lost syllable, often eliding the final vowel, as in

Exile, or ignominy, or bonds, or pain.

Even with heavy consonants we have the early stress, as in 'industry'. Greek words follow the same rules, as 'agony', 'melody'. Some words of this class have under French influence been further abbreviated, as 'concord'.

Corresponding STEMS IN -IO keep the same rules. Perhaps the only disyllable is 'study'; the shortening of a stressed _u_ shows its immediate derivation from the old French _estudie_. Trisyllabic examples are 'colloquy', 'ministry', 'perjury'. Many words of this class have been further abbreviated in their passage through French. Such are 'benefice', 'divorce', 'office', 'presage', 'suffrage', 'vestige', 'adverb', 'homicide', 'proverb'. The stress in 'divórce' is due to the long vowel and the two consonants. A few of these words have been borrowed bodily from Latin, as 'odium', 'tedium', 'opprobrium'.

STEMS IN -DO AND -TO (-SO). These words lose the final Latin syllable and keep the stress on the vowel which bore it in Latin. The stressed vowel, except in _au_, _eu_, is short, even when, as in 'vivid', 'florid', it was long in classical Latin. This, of course, is in accord with the English pronunciation of Latin. Examples are 'acid', 'tepid', 'rigid', 'horrid', 'humid', 'lurid ', 'absurd', 'tacit', 'digit', 'deposit', 'compact', 'complex', 'revise', 'response', 'acute'. Those which have the suffix _-es_ prefixed throw the stress back, as 'honest', 'modest'. Those which have the suffix _-men_ prefixed also throw the stress back, as 'moment', 'pigment', 'torment', and to the antepenultima, if there be one, as 'argument', 'armament', 'emolument', the penultimate vowel becoming short or obscure. In 'temperament' the tendency of the second syllable to disappear has carried the stress still further back. We may compare 'Séptuagint', where _u_ becomes consonantal. An exception for which I cannot account is 'cemént', but Shakespeare has 'cément'.

STEMS IN -T[=A]T. These are nouns and have the stress on the antepenultima, which in Latin bore the secondary stress. They of course show the usual shortening of the vowels with the usual exceptions. Examples are 'charity', 'equity', 'liberty', 'ferocity', 'authority', and with long antepenultima 'immunity', 'security', 'university'. With no vowel before the penultima the long quality is, as usual, preserved, as in 'satiety'.

STEMS IN -OSO. These are adjectives and throw the stress back to the antepenultima, if there be one. In disyllables the penultimate vowel is long, as in 'famous', 'vinous'; in longer words the antepenultimate vowel is short, as 'criminous', 'generous'. Many, however, fall under the 'alias' rule, as 'ingenious', 'odious', while those which have _i_ in the penultimate run the two last syllables into one, as 'pernicious', 'religious', 'vicious'. A few late introductions, coming straight from the Latin, retained the Latin stress, as 'morose', 'verbose'.

STEMS IN -T[=O]RIO AND -S[=O]RIO. In these words the stress goes back to the fourth syllable from the end, this in Latin having the secondary stress, or, as in 'circulatory', 'ambulatory', even further. In fact the _o_, which of course is shortened, tends to disappear. Examples are 'declamatory', 'desultory', 'oratory', 'predatory', 'territory'. Three consonants running, as in 'perfunctory', keep the stress where it has to be in a trisyllable, such as 'victory'. So does a long vowel before _r_ and another consonant, as in 'precursory'. Otherwise two consonants have not this effect, as in 'prómontory', 'cónsistory'. In spite of Milton's

A gloomy Consistory, and them amidst With looks agast and sad he thus bespake,

the word is sometimes mispronounced.

STEMS IN -[=A]RIO. These follow the same rules, except that, as in 'ádversary', combinations like _ers_ are shortened and the stress goes back; and that words ending in _-entary_, such as 'elementary' and 'testamentary', stress the antepenultima. Examples are 'antiquary', 'honorary', 'voluntary', 'emissary'. It is difficult to see a reason for an irregular quantity in the antepenultima of some trisyllables. The general rule makes it short, as in 'granary', 'salary', but in 'library' and 'notary' it has been lengthened. The _N.E.D._ gives 'pl[=e]nary', but our grandfathers said 'pl[)e]nary'. Of course 'diary' gives a long quality to the _i_.

STEMS IN -[)I]LI. These seem originally to have retained the short _i_. Thus Milton's spelling is 'facil' and 'fertil' while other seventeenth-century writers give 'steril'. This pronunciation still obtains in America, but in England the words seem to have been usually assimilated to 'fragile', as Milton spells it, which perhaps always lengthened the vowel. The penultimate vowel is short.

STEMS IN -[=I]LI. Here the long _i_ is retained, and in disyllables the penultima is lengthened, as in 'anile', 'senile', 'virile'. There is no excuse for following the classical quantity in the former syllables of any of these words. As an English word 'sedilia' shortens the antepenultimate, like 'tibia' and the rest, the 'alias' rule not applying when the vowel is _i_.

STEMS IN -B[)I]LI. These mostly come through French and change the suffix into _-ble_. Disyllables lengthen the penultima, as 'able', 'stable', 'noble', while 'mobile', as in French, lengthens its latter vowel. Trisyllables shorten and stress the antepenultima, as 'placable', 'equable', but of course _u_ remains long, as in 'mutable'. Longer words throw the stress further back, except mere negatives, like 'implácable', and words with heavy consonants such as 'delectable'. Examples are 'miserable', 'admirable', 'intolerable', 'despicable'. The Poet Laureate holds that in these words Milton kept the long Italian _a_ of the penultimate or secondary stress.

Fall'n Cherube, to be weak is miserable.

In English we have naturalized _-able_ as a suffix and added it to almost any verb, as 'laughable', 'indescribable', 'desirable'. The last word may have been taken from French. The form 'des[)i]derable' occurs from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century. Originally 'acceptable' threw the stress back, as in Milton's

So fit, so acceptable, so Divine,

but the double mute has brought it into line with 'delectable'. Nowadays one sometimes hears 'dispútable', 'despícable', but these are intolerable vulgarisms.

SUFFIXES IN T[)I]LI AND S[)I]LI. These words mostly lengthen the _i_ and make the usual shortenings, as 'missile', 'sessile', 'textile', 'volatile', but of course 'futile'. Exceptions which I cannot explain are 'foss[)i]l' and 'fus[)i]le'.

SUFFIX IN [=A]LI. These adjectives shorten the _-a_ and, with the usual exceptions, the preceding vowels, as 'dóctrinal', 'fílial', 'líberal', 'márital', 'medícinal', but of course by the 'alias' rule 'arb[=o]real' (not a classical word in Latin) and 'g[=e]nial'. Words like 'national' and 'rational' were treated like trisyllables, which they now are. The stress is on the antepenultima except when heavy consonants bring it on to the penultima, as in 'sepulcral', 'parental', 'triumphal'.

Those who say 'doctrínal' on the ground that the second vowel is long in Latin commit themselves to 'medicínal', 'natúral', 'nutríment', 'instrúment', and, if their own principle be applied, they make false quantities by the dozen every day of their lives.

Three words mostly mispronounced are, from their rarity, perhaps not past rescue. They are 'décanal', 'ruridécanal', and 'prébendal'. There is no more reason for saying 'decánal' than for saying 'matrónal' or for saying 'prebéndal' than for saying 'caléndar'. Of course words like 'tremendous', being imported whole, keep the original stress. In our case the Latin words came into existence as _décanális_, _prébendális_, parallel with _náturális_, which gives us 'nátural'. That mostly wrong-headed man, Burgon of Chichester, was correct in speaking of his rights or at any rate his claims as 'décanal'.

STEMS IN -LO. Of these 'stimulus' and 'villa' have been borrowed whole, while _umbella_ is corrupted into 'umbrella'. Disyllables lengthen the penultima, as 'stable', 'title', 'pupil'. Under French influence 'disciple' follows their example. In longer words the usual shortenings are made, as in 'frivolous', 'ridiculous'. The older words in _-ulo_ change the suffix into _-le_, as 'uncle', 'maniple', 'tabernacle', 'conventicle', 'receptacle', 'panicle'. Later words retain the _u_, as 'vestibule', 'reticule', 'molecule'.

STEMS IN -NO. The many words of this class are a grief to the classifier, who seeks in vain for reasons. Thus 'german' and 'germane' have the same source and travelled, it seems, by the same road through France. The Latin _hyacinth[)i]nus_ and _adamant[)i]nus_ are parallel words, yet Milton has 'hyacinthin' for the one and 'adamantine' for the other. One classification goes a little way. Thus 'human' and 'urban' must have come through French, 'humane' and 'urbane' direct from Latin. On the other hand while 'meridian' and 'quartan' are French, 'publican', 'veteran', and 'oppidan' are Latin. Words with a long _i_, if they came early through France, shorten the vowel, as 'doctrine', 'discipline', 'medicine', and 'masculine', while 'genuine', though a later word, followed them, but 'anserine' and 'leonine' did not. Disyllables seem to prefer the stress on the ultima, as 'divine', 'supine', but even these are not consistent. Some critics would scan Cassio's words

The dívine Desdemona,

though Shakespeare nowhere else has this stress, while Shelley has. Shelley, too, has

She cannot know how well the súpine slaves Of blind authority read the truth of things.