Part 2

Character Name pronounced #A# a _ah_ #B# be _bay_ #C# ce _kay_ #D# de _day_ #E# e _eh_ #F# ef _ef_ #G# ge _gay_ #H# ha _hah_ #I# i _ee_ #K# ka _kah_ #L# el _el_ #M# em _em_ #N# en _en_ #O# o _o_ #P# pe _pay_ #Q# qu _koo_ #R# er _air_ #S# es _ess_ #T# te _tay_ #V# u _oo_ #X# ix _eex_

The names given above are those employed by Roman grammarians. The sound indicated by _-ay_ is only approximate; the true sound is that of the French _ê_ in _fête_; see 39. The names of the letters are indeclinable; for their gender, see 412.

17. Two other letters were also in use to represent Greek sounds in Greek words; these were always called by their Greek names, and were placed at the end of the alphabet; they are #Y#, named _ü_ (42), and #Z#, named #zēta# (71).

18. ORIGIN OF THE ALPHABET. The Latin alphabet, which originally consisted of capitals only, was adapted from the alphabet of Chalcidian colonies in Italy.

19. SPELLING. The signs for the Greek sounds denoted by φ and χ, and perhaps also that for θ, these three sounds being unknown in Latin, were used as numerals (2407). In words borrowed from the Greek the Romans at first represented θ by #t#, φ by #p#, and χ by #c#: as, #tūs#, _incense_, for θύος; #Poenī#, _Punians_, for Φοίνικες; #calx#, _chalk_, for χάλιξ. Occasionally also the Latin mute was doubled: as, #struppus#, _strap_, for στρόφος. Later, about the middle of the second century B.C., #th#, #ph#, and #ch# begin to be used: as, #cothurnus#, _boot_, for κόθορνος; #amphora#, _jar_, for ἀμφόρα; #Achaea# for Ἀχαιά. In some instances these aspirates were next introduced even into words purely Latin: as, #chommodus#, _affable_, for #commodus#, an affectation ridiculed by Catullus (Cat. 84) and disapproved by Quintilian (1, 5, 20). But #pulcher#, _pretty_, is the usual spelling for #pulcer# (formed by the suffix #-cro-# from the stem of the verb #poliō#, _I polish_). Even Cicero (_O._ 160) aspirated the #c# in this word as a concession to popular usage, as he did the #t# in #Cethēgus#, #Karthāgō#, and the #p# in #triumphus#, while he retained the unaspirated explosive in the proper names #Orcīvius#, _name of a ‘gens,’_ #Matō#, #Otō#, #Caepiō#, and in #sepulcrum#, _tomb_; #corōna#, _crown_; and #lacrima#, _tear_. In a similar manner Greek ρ was at first transcribed by #r#: as, #rumpia#, _a kind of weapon_, for ῥομφαία; but later by #rh#: as, #rhētor#, _rhetorician_, for ῥητωρ.

20. The letters #C# (first written #<#) and #K# were at an early period used promiscuously, and #C# stood for both unvoiced #k# and voiced #g#: as, VIRCO, #virgō#, _virgin_. Afterwards #K# dropped out of general use except in the abbreviations #K.# or #Kal.# for #kalendae#, _first of the month_, and #K.# for the proper name #Kaesō# (Quint. 1, 7, 10). About 300 B.C. the sign #<# or #C# was used for the unvoiced _k_ alone, while a separate sign, which became #G#, was set apart for the voiced _g_. But #C# continued to be used for _g_ in the abbreviations #C# for #Gāius#, #Ↄ# for #Gāia#, and #Cn.# for #Gnaeus#. Occasionally #q# is written for #c#, almost always before the vowels #o# and #u#: as, #qum# for #cum#, _with_; #qolunt# for #colunt#, _they cultivate_; #peqūnia#, _money_. But ordinarily #q# is found before unsyllabic (consonantal) #u# (#v#) only (22).

21. Before the introduction of #Y# and #Z# (17), #u# was used for the Greek υ: as, #Burrus#, later #Pyrrhus# (Cic. _O._ 160); and #s#, or, as a medial, #ss#, for ζ: as, #sōna#, _belt_, later #zōna#; #massa#, _lump_, for μᾶζα; #malacissō#, _I soften_, for μαλακίζω. By a blunder, #y# was occasionally introduced in words of Latin origin: as, #lacryma#, _tear_, for #lacrima#, which was wrongly supposed to be derived from Greek δάκρυ.

22. The characters #I# and #V# represent not only the two vowels #i# and #u#, but also their cognate semivowels (52) #i̭# and #ṷ# (83), called commonly _consonant_ #i# and #u#, but with less ambiguity _unsyllabic_ #i# and #u# (82; 83). They are equivalent to the English _y_ and _w_ respectively.

23. In words like #maior#, simple #i# was commonly written for the sound of #i̭i̭# (153, 2; 82; 83). But Cicero in such cases wrote #ii#: as, #aiiō#, _I say_, #Maiia#, #Troiia# (Quint. 1, 4, 11). In the same way Lucretius spelled #Graiiugenārum#, _of Greek-born men_, and EIIVS, _of him_, CVIIVS, _whose_, occur in inscriptions. Sometimes the same sound is represented by a taller letter, ‘_i longa_,’ especially in the imperial age: as, MAIOR, _greater_. There are also cases in which the two designations were confounded, a double #i# being written, and one or the other letter made taller: as, EIIVS or EIIVS, _of him_.

24. The tall #i#, #I longa#, was used not only to represent unsyllabic #i# (22), but, beginning with Sulla’s time, also for long vowel #i# (29, 2, _b_): as, SIGNA, _signs_; QVINQVE, _five_. It also represents sometimes double #i#: as, VIS for VIĪS, _in the roads_. At the beginning of words it occurs without reference to quantity for both short and long #i#, and, by mistake, #I# is elsewhere found for short #i#.

25. The emperor Claudius (A.D. 41-54) introduced a separate sign for unsyllabic #u# (22), restricting the sign #v# to the vowel #u# (Quint. 1, 7, 26; Ta. 11, 14); but it did not become current.

26. In schoolbooks and most texts of the authors, the vowel #u# is printed #U#, #u#, and the consonant #V#, #v#. A character, #J#, #j#, was introduced in the 17th century, to indicate the consonant #i#. But this character is no longer usual in editions of the authors or in schoolbooks.

27. The distinction between #u# and #v# is not always made very consistently: #q# has regularly, and #g# and #s# have sometimes, an aftersound of _w_, best represented by #v#; but the usual practice is to write #u#, as in the following disyllables: #quōrum#, _of whom_; #anguis#, _snake_; #suāvis#, _sweet_. #qu# is always counted as a single sound (177). See also 2504.

28. For the intermediate sound (103) between #i# and #u#, as in the first syllable of #lubet#, #libet#, _it pleases_, and in the second syllable of #optimus#, #optumus#, _best_ (Quint. 1, 4, 8; 7, 21), the emperor Claudius invented a separate character. It failed of acceptance, as did also the sign which he attempted to introduce for #ps#.

29. The same characters were ordinarily used to denote both long and short vowels. But at different periods long vowels were sometimes indicated in inscriptions thus:

(1.) Long #a#, #e#, or #u# was sometimes doubled: as, AARA, _altar_; PAASTORES, _shepherds_; LEEGE, _by law_; IVVS, _right_. This doubling, which was never frequent, seems to have been introduced into Latin from the Oscan by the poet Accius. It occurs most frequently in inscriptions about the year 150 B.C., but sporadically much later: as, CONVENTVVS, _of the assembly_; ARBITRATVV, _by the decree_; and in other stems in #-u-# (593).

(2.) Long #i# was often denoted (_a._) By the spelling #ei# (after the pronunciation of this diphthong had been changed to #ī#, 98): as, DAREI, _be given_; REDIEIT, _hath come back_; INTERIEISTI, _hast died_. Some Roman grammarians prescribed this spelling for every long #i#; others tried to regulate the use of #ei# for #ī# by special rules. At the end of the republic, the spelling EI had given way to uniform I. (_b._) Since the time of Sulla, by a taller letter (‘_i longa_’): as, FIXA, _fastened_ (23, 24).

(3.) A mark called an _apex_ ([illustration]) was often put over a long vowel: as, FE͆CIT, _made_; HORTE͆NSIVS; DVV͆MVIRATVS, _duumvirate_. The apex was written ´ in the imperial age; the form -, which occurs in an inscription, was adopted by the grammarians, and is still in use to mark the long vowels. It may be mentioned that inscriptions which employ the apex are by no means consistent in its use, and that late inscriptions have it over short and long vowels, apparently for decorative purposes. Quintilian 1, 7, 2 prescribes it only for cases which otherwise might be ambiguous: as, MÁLVS (#mālus#), _mast_, to distinguish it from MALVS (#malus#), _bad_.

30. In schoolbooks, a long vowel is indicated by a horizontal line over it: as, #āra#, _altar_; #mēnsis#, _month_; #ōrdō#, _series_. A short vowel is sometimes indicated by a curved mark: as, #pĕr#, _through_; #dŭx#, _leader_; but this mark is unnecessary if long vowels are systematically marked. Usually the quantity of the vowels in each word is definitely fixed; but in a few cases the same vowel may be now short, now long, as in English the _ee_ of _been_ is pronounced long by some (_bean_), short by others (_bin_). Thus (2446) #mihi#, #ibi# were sometimes pyrrhics (⏑, 2522), sometimes iambi (⏑ -, 2521). See for other cases 134, 2443, 2452, 2453. Such vowels of variable quantity are termed _common_ and marked ⏓ or ⏒: as #mihī̆#, _to me_ (2514).

PRONUNCIATION.

31. The pronunciation of Latin sounds may be approximately determined: (_a_) from the description of the native grammarians and incidental allusions in other Latin authors; (_b_) from variations in spelling; (_c_) from the Greek transliteration of Latin words; (_d_) from the Latin transliteration of foreign words; (_e_) from the development of the sounds in languages derived from the Latin.

VOWELS.

32. Vowels are sounds which are produced by the vibrations of the vocal chords (this may be easily felt by placing a finger on the throat at the Adam’s apple) and without any audible friction or any obstruction anywhere in the passage above the vocal chords. The difference in the sound of the vowels is due to the different shape which the position of the tongue and the lips gives in each case to the cavity of the mouth. During the pronunciation of pure vowels no air escapes through the nose.

33. The simple vowels, #a#, #e#, #i#, #o#, #u# (#y#), are either _long_ or _short_. The sound of a long vowel is considered to be twice the length of that of a short.

34. That a long vowel is equal to two shorts is a rule of metrical theory (see 2515). In actual pronunciation, there were undoubtedly various degrees of length, as in English: e.g., _sea_, _seize_ (long), _cease_ (half-long).

QUANTITY OF VOWELS.

The quantity of vowels must in general be learned by observation; but some convenient helps for the memory may be found in 2429; and the quantity of many vowels may be ascertained by the general principles given in 35 and 36. Except in the case of _Hidden Quantity_ (2459), the quantity of vowels is in general ascertained from verse. But some information may also be gleaned from such rhetorical prose as exhibits well defined habits in the rhythmical endings selected for sentences (#clausulae#, Cic. _O._ 191-226).

(A.) SHORT VOWELS.

35. A vowel is short:

(1.) Before another vowel or #h# (124): as, #eōs#, #ēvehō#; compare #taceō# with #tacēre#. For exceptions in classical Latin, see 127; for exceptions in early Latin see 126.

(2.) Before #nt# and #nd# (128) if not the result of contraction: as, #calendae#, #centum#; compare #amant#, #amandus#, with #amāre#.

(3.) Before final #t# and #m#, and, in words of more than one syllable, before final #r# and #l# (132): compare #amat#, #amem#, with #amās# and #amēs#.

(B.) LONG VOWELS.

36. All vowels are long which are:

(1) Weakened from a diphthong (96-101; 108), or which are the result of contraction (118): as, #concīdō# from #caedō#; #cōgō# from #co-agō#.

(2) Lengthened by compensation (121): as, #quīnī# for #*quincnī#.

(3) Before #nf#, #ns#, often before #nc# followed by a consonant, and, in some cases, before #gn# (122).

PRONUNCIATION OF VOWELS.

37. The following English sounds come nearest to the Latin pronunciation of the vowels:

38. LONG VOWELS. #ā# had the sound of _a_ in _father_; #ē# that of _a_ in _fate_ (but see 39); #ī# that of _i_ in _machine_; #ō# that of _o_ in _tone_; #ū# that of _u_ in _rule_.

39. It must be noted, however, that all English long vowels, save _a_ as in _father_, are more or less diphthongal, that is, they become gradually closer (46); _a_ in _fate_ ends in a vanishing sound of _ee_ (not heard in the _ê_ of French _fête_), and _o_ in _no_ ends in the sound of _oo_. Similarly the long _e_ sound in _he_ becomes closer and ends in a sound similar to the _y_ in _year_. In Latin all long vowels had one sustained sound.

40. SHORT VOWELS. #a# sounded approximately like the English _a_ in the first syllable of _aha_; #e#, #i#, #o#, and #u# sounded like _e_ in _step_, _i_ in _pit_, _o_ in _obey_, and _u_ in _pull_ respectively.

41. Latin short #a# did not differ, except in quantity, from long #ā#; it never had the ‘flat’ sound of English _a_ in _pat_. In the case of the other vowels, #i#, #e#, #o#, and #u#, the long vowels were closer (46) than the short ones. This is the same difference which the English shows in _keen_ (long and close) and _kin_ (short and open); _pool_ (long and close) and _pull_ (short and open). For this reason, open #i# is sometimes represented by #e# in inscriptions: as, ANEMA for #anima#, _soul_; and #vea# was the rustic pronunciation for #via#, _road_ (Varro, _R. R._ 1, 2, 14).

42. #Y#, which was a sound borrowed from the Greek (17), sounded like German _ü_. The sound, which is missing in English, is formed with the tongue in position for _i_ (in _kin_) and the lips rounded as for _oo_ (in _moon_).

CLASSIFICATION OF VOWELS.

43. Vowels are divided according to the position of the tongue. Latin #i# and #e# are called _front vowels_, because the front part of the tongue is elevated. This elevation is greater for #i# than for #e#. Latin #o# and #u# are called _back vowels_, because they require an elevation of the rear part of the tongue. This elevation is greater for #u# than for #o#. Latin #a# holds an intermediate position, no part of the tongue being raised, while the front part is depressed.

44. In the formation of #i# and #e#, the tongue approaches the hard palate; hence these two vowels are also called _palatal vowels_. Similarly, #o# and #u# are called _velar_ or _guttural vowels_, because in their formation the tongue approaches the soft palate (#vēlum palātī#).

45. #o# and #u# require a rounding of the lips (#labia#); hence they are called _labial vowels_. The same is true for #y#.

46. Comparing the vowels in English _keen_ and _kin_, it will be noted that the passage between the tongue and the hard palate is narrower in the former than in the latter case. The _ee_ in _keen_ is therefore said to be a _narrow_ or _close_ vowel, while the _i_ in _kin_ is _wide_ or _open_. See 41.

DIPHTHONGS.

47. Two unlike (43-46) vowels pronounced under one stress and as one syllable form a _Diphthong_. All diphthongs are long.

In all diphthongs the transition from one vowel to the other is gradual. A diphthong is, therefore, not formed simply by pronouncing two vowels in succession, but the vocal organs pass through all the intermediate positions and consequently the sound is constantly changing.

48. In their origin diphthongs are of two kinds: (_a._) primitive diphthongs: as in #foedus#, _treaty_; #aurum#, _gold_; or (_b._) secondary diphthongs, the result of vowels meeting in formation, composition, or inflection: see 120.

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_.