Part 4

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#.

(4.) It may be mentioned here that #rēī# is said to occur in verse 6 times (Plaut. G. 2, Lucr. G. 2, D. 2); #reī# 9 times (Plaut. G. 2, Ter. G. 4, D. 1, Juv. G. 1, Sulp. Apoll. G. 1); #re͞i# 27 times (Plaut. G. 2, D. 3, Enn. D. 1, Ter. G. 9, D. 8, Lucil. G. 1, D. 1, Lucr. G. 2). #fidēī# G. 3 times (Plaut., Enn., Lucr.); #fideī# 11 times (Enn. D. 1, Man. G. 2, D. 1, Sil. G. 4, D. 1, Juv. G. 2); #fidēi# 5 times (Ter. G. 1, D. 3, Hor. 1). #ēī# 35 times (Plaut. 18, Ter. 8, Lucr. 9); #eī# some 17 times (Plaut. 12, Ter. 2, German. 1, Ter. Maur. 2); #ēi# 23 times (Plaut. 11, Ter. 8, Lucil. 3, Cat. 1).

(5.) #Gāius# retains its #ā# before the vowel #i#: thus, #Gāius# (trisyllabic).

(6.) In the pronominal genitives in #-ī̆us# (618), the quantity of #i# varied. The older dramatists use #ī#; later, #ī# was shortened, but variations in its quantity seem to have continued until long after the end of the republic; Cicero, _DO._ 3, 183, measures #illius#; Quintilian 1, 5, 18 #ūnīus#; the grammarian Priscian prescribes #-īus# for all except #alterius#, which should always have #i#, and #utrius#, in which the #i# is common (30). In verse the #i# is often short, except in #neutrīus#; #utriusque# has always short #i#.

(7.) The penult is long in the endings #-āī#, #-āīs#, #-ōī#, #-ōīs#, and #-ēī#, #-ēīs#, from stems in #-āio-#, #-ōio-#, and #-ēio-# (458) or #-iā-# (437): as, #Gāī#, #Bōī#, #Pōmpēī#, #plēbēī#: #Gāīs#, #Bōīs#, #Pompēīs#, #plēbēīs#, #Bāīs#; #aulāī#, #pictāī#.

(8.) #Dī̆ana# has #ĭ# as often as #ī#. #ohē# has #ŏ̄#; #ē̆heu# has #ĕ# in comedy, otherwise #ē#.

(9.) In many Greek words a long vowel comes before another vowel; as, #āēr#, #Aenēās#, #Mēdēa#. But early importations from Greek followed the general rule and shortened the vowel: as, #platĕa# (πλατεῖα), #balinĕum#, #balnĕum# (βαλανεῖον).

128. A long vowel preceding unsyllabic #i̭# or #ṷ# followed by a consonant is shortened: as, #gaudeō# for #*gāudeō# (cf. #gāvīsus#, 111); #claudo# for #clāudō# (cf. #clāṷis#, 111).

Similarly a long vowel (unless long by contraction: as, #nūntius#, 111, _a_, #cōntiō#) preceding a liquid or nasal followed by a consonant is shortened: as, syncopated #ardus# from #āridus# (111), #habentem#, from the stem #habē-#. For cases of induced lengthening of the vowel before #n# followed by certain consonants, see 122.

129. IAMBIC SHORTENING. The law of iambic shortening (2470) produced a number of important changes: thus,

(1.) In old dramatic verse iambic words (⏑ -) often shorten the long vowel. The poets after Plautus and Terence preserve the long vowel.

(_a._) Nouns; G. #eri#, #boni#, #preti#. D. #cani#, #ero#, #malo#. L. #domi#, #heri#. Ab. #levi#, #manu#, #domo#, #bona#, #fide#. Plural: N. #fores#, #viri#. D., Ab. #bonis#. Ac. #foris#, #viros#, #bonas#. (_b._) Verbs: #eo#, #volo#, #ago#; #ero#, #dabo#; #vides#; #loces#; #voles#; #dedi#, #dedin#; #roga#, #veni#; later poets sometimes retain #cave#, #vale#, and #vide#. The vowel may also be shortened when #-n# (1503) is added and #s# is dropped before #-n# (170, 2): #rogan#, #abin#; #viden# is also retained by later poets.

(2.) In a few pyrrhic words (⏑ ⏑) in #-i#, which were originally iambic (⏑ -), the poets in all periods retained final #-ī# at pleasure: these are,

#mihī̆#, #tibī̆#, #sibī̆#; #ibī̆#, #ubī̆#; also #alicubī̆#. The #i# of #bi# is always short in #nēcubi# and #sīcubi#, and usually in #ubinam#, #ubivīs#, and #ubicumque#; #ibidem# is used by the dramatists, #ibīdem# in hexameter. #ubīque# has always #ī#.

130. The following instances show that this law operated in prose speech also:

(1.) In iambic words of the #ā-# declension (432) the final #-ā# of the nominative singular was shortened; hence #*equā# became #equa#, _mare_. From these iambic words short final #-a# spread so that all stems in #-ā-# shorten the final #ā# of the nom. sg. (434).

(2.) The final #-a# in the nominative plural of neuter nouns of the #o-# declension (446), which appears in #trīgintā#, _thirty_, was likewise shortened, first in iambic words like #iuga#, _yokes_, #bona#, _goods_, then everywhere (461).

(3.) This law explains the short final vowel in #homo# (2442) by the side of #sermō# (2437, _c_) and similar cases, like the adverbs #modo#, #cito# (2442), #bene#, #male# (2440). In the same way arose the short final #o# of the first person in conjugation (2443): as, #volo#, #dabo#, #dīxero# by the side of #scrībō#; so also #viden# for #vidēn# (129, 1; 170, 2).

(4.) Of imperatives only #puta#, used adverbially (2438, _c_), #ave#, #have# (805; Quint. i, 6, 21; but Martial scans #havē#) as a salutation and #cave#, used as an auxiliary (1711), show the short final vowel in classical Latin. Elsewhere the long vowel has been restored, as #amā#, #monē# (845).

(5.) According to this rule #calēfaciō#, #malēdīcō# changed to #calefaciō#, #maledīcō#.

131. A long final vowel is shortened when an enclitic is added to the word: as #siquidem# from #sī#; #quoque# from #quō#.

132. A long vowel is regularly shortened, in the classical period, before final #-t# and #-m# and, in words of more than one syllable, also before final #r# and #l#.

Thus, #soror#, _sister_, for Plautus’s #sorōr#, from the stem #sorōr-# (487); #ūtar#, _I may use_, for Plautus’s #ūtār# (cf. #ūtāris#); #bacchanal# for Plautus’s #bacchanāl#; #animal#, #exemplar# from the stems #animāl-# (530) and #exemplār-# (537); but the long vowel is retained in the monosyllables #fūr#, _thief_, #sōl#, _sun_; #pōnēbat#, _he placed_, for Plautus’s #pōnēbāt# (cf. #pōnēbās#); #iūbet#, _he commanded_, for Plautus’s #iūbēt#; #eram#, _I was_, but #erās#; #rēxerim#, _I may have ruled_, but #rēxerīs# (877); #-um# in the genitive plural of #-o-# stems is for #-ūm# (462); #mēnsam#, _table_, for #*mēnsām# from the stem #mensā-#; #rem#, from #rē-# (#rēs#), #spem# from #spē-# (#spēs#).

[Errata: 125 ... #pra͡e͡optāvīstī# The vowels “aeo” are joined with a single ligature 132 ... (cf. #ūtāris#) (cf #ūtāris#)]

TRANSFER OF QUANTITY.

133. (1.) In a few cases the length of the vowel has been transferred to the following consonant, the length of which is then indicated by doubling it (81): as, #littera# for #lītera#, LEITERAS; #Iuppiter# for #Iūpiter#; #parricīda# for #pāri-cīda#, _murder of a member of the same clan_ (#*pāro-#, _member of a clan_, Doric πᾶός, _a relative_); #cuppa# for #cūpa#, _barrel_. The legal formula _sī pāret_, _if it appear_, was vulgarly pronounced #sī parret# (Festus).

(2.) Since the doubled unsyllabic #i# (#i̭#) between vowels (23; 166, 9; 153, 2) is commonly written single, the _vowel_ preceding it is often erroneously marked long: as, #āiō# wrongly for #aiō#, _i.e._ #ai̭i̭ō#, _I say_; #māior# wrongly for #maior#, _i.e._ #mai̭i̭or#, _greater_; #pēior# wrongly for #peior#, _i.e._ #pei̭i̭or#, _worse_; #ēius#, _of him_, #cūius#, _of whom_, #hūius#, _of him_, all wrongly for #eius#, #cuius#, #huius# _i.e._ #ei̭i̭us#, #cui̭i̭us#, #huii̭us# (153, 2). In all these words the first _syllable_ was long but not the vowel.

VARIATIONS OF QUANTITY.

134. (1.) In some foreign proper names and in a very few Latin words the quantity of a vowel varied. Vergil has #Sȳchaeus# and #Sychaeus# within six verses; also #Āsia# and #Asia#, #Lavīnium# and #Lāvīnius#; so also #glōmus# (Lucr.), #glomus# (Hor.); #cōturnīx# (Plaut., Lucr.), #coturnīx# (Ov.).

(2.) Sometimes such variations in vowel quantity are only apparent: thus, the occasional long final #-ē# of the active infinitive (#darē#, #prōmerē#) has probably a different origin from the usual #-ĕ#. For metrical lengthening, see 2505.

[Erratum: 134 ... #glomus# (Hor.) (Hor)]

QUANTITATIVE VOWEL GRADATION.

135. The same stem often shows a long vowel in some of its forms and a short vowel in others. In most cases these variations of quantity were not developed on Latin soil but inherited from a much earlier period. Such old inherited differences in vowel quantity are called _quantitative vowel gradation_.

(1.) Instances of this are #prō# for #*prōd# (149; cf. #prōdesse#) and #pro-# (Greek πρό); #nē# and #ne-# in #nescius#; the couples #regō#, _I rule_, and #rēxī#; #vehō#, _I draw_, #vēxī#; #veniō#, _I come_, #vēnī#, where the long vowel is characteristic of the perfect stem (862); #vocō#, _I call_, and #vōx#, _voice_; #regō#, _I rule_, and #rēx#, _ruler_; #legō#, _I read_, and #lēx#, _bill_; #sedeō#, _I sit_, and #sēdēs#, _seat_; #fidēs#, _confidence_, and #fīdō#, _I trust_; #dux# (cf. #ducis#), _leader_, and #dūcō#, _I lead_, where verb and noun are differentiated by the quantity of the root vowel; and many others.

(2.) Sometimes the reduction of the vowel in certain forms amounts to complete loss, as in the adverbial ending #-is-# in #magis# (346, 363) compared with the comparative suffix #-ios#, #-iōs# (Nom. #-ior#, Genit. #-iōris#); in the oblique cases of the stem #carōn-# (nomin. sg. #carō#, 497), where the suffix becomes #-n-# (545), genitive #car-n-is#; in the suffix #-ter#, which becomes #-tr-# in all cases but the nom. sg. (#pater#, #patris#, etc., 470, 487); in the feminine #-tr-ī-c-# to the suffix #-tor-#; but the nom. sing. #Caecīlis# (465) for #Caecīlios# is probably due to syncope.

QUALITATIVE VOWEL CHANGES.

136. (1.) #i# before an #r# which goes back to an earlier voiced #s# (154) was changed to #e#: as, #cineris#, _of ashes_, for #*cinisis#, from the stem #cinis# (491); #Faleriī#, for #*Falisiī#, cf. #Falis-cus#; (formed like #Etrūria#, for #*Etrūsia#, cf. #Etrūs-cī#).

(2.) In the nominative singular of compounds like #iūdex#, _judge_ (from #iūs# and #dīcere#), #comes#, _companion_ (from #com#, _with_, and #īre#, _go_), the #i# of the second member of the compounds is changed to #e# (470) after the analogy of words like #artifex#, _artisan_, etc. (107, _d_).

137. #e# before #-gn-# became #i#: as, #īlignus#, from the stem #īlec-# (cf. #īlex#).

138. #e# before the guttural nasal (62) followed by a guttural mute was changed to #i#: as, #septingentī#, from #septem#; #singulī#, from the stem #sem-# in #semel# (for the assimilation of #m# see 164, 3); #obtingō# (925), _I attain_, for #*óbtengō# (104, _c_) from #*ob-tangō# (104, _e_).

139. A similar change took place in the group #-enl-# which became first #-inl-# and then #-ill-#: as, #*signilum#, diminutive of #sīgnum# (for #ī#, see 122, _c_), first changed by syncope (111) from #*signilum# to #*sign̥lum#, then to #*sigenlum# (172, 3), then to #*siginlum#, and finally to #sigillum#.