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Page 4
The rule that overrode all others, though it has the exceptions given
below, was that vowels and any other diphthongs than _au_ and _eu_, if
they were followed by two consonants, were pronounced short. Thus _a_
in _magnus_, though long in classical Latin, was pronounced as in our
'magnitude', and _e_ in _census_, in Greek transcription represented
by [Greek: eta], was pronounced short, as it is when borrowed into
English. So were the penultimate vowels in _villa_, _nullus_, _c�spes_.
This rule of shortening the vowel before two consonants held good even
when in fact only one was pronounced, as in _nullus_ and other words
where a double consonant was written and in Italian pronounced.
Moreover, the parasitic _y_ was treated as a consonant, hence our
'v[)a]cuum'.
In the penultima _qu_ was treated as a single consonant, so that the
vowel was pronounced long in _[=a]quam_, _[=e]quam_, _in[=i]quam_,
_l[=o]quor_. So it was after _o_, hence our 'coll[=o]quial'; but in
earlier syllables than the penultima _qu_ was treated as a double
consonant, hence our 'sub[)a]queous', 'equity', 'iniquity'.
EXCEPTIONS.
1. When the former of the two consonants was _r_ and the latter
another consonant than _r_, as in the series represented by _larva_,
_verbum_, _circus_, _corpus_, _laburnum_, the vowels are a separate
class of long vowels, though not really recognized as such. Of course
our ancestors and the Gradus marked them long because in verse the
vowel with the two consonants makes a long unit.
2. A fully stressed vowel before a mute and _r_, or before _d_
or _pl_, was pronounced long in the penultima. Latin examples are
_labrum_, _Hebrum_, _librum_, _probrum_, _rubrum_, _acrem_, _cedrum_,
_vafrum_, _agrum_, _pigrum_, _aprum_, _veprem_, _patrem_, _citrum_,
_utrum_, _triplus_, _duplex_, _Cyclops_. Moreover, in other syllables
than the penultima the vowel in the same combinations was pronounced
long if the two following vowels had no consonant between them, as
_patria_, _Hadria_, _acrius_. (Our 'triple' comes from _triplum_ and
is a duplicate of '_treble_'. Perhaps the short vowel is due to its
passage through French. Our 'citron' comes from _citronem_, in which
_i_ was short.)
3. The preposition and adverb _post_ was pronounced with a long vowel
both by itself and in composition with verbs, but its adjectives
did not follow suit. Hence we say in English 'p[=o]stpone', but
'p[)o]sterior' and 'p[)o]sthumous'.
Monosyllables ending in a vowel were pronounced long, those ending in
a consonant short. Enclitics like _que_ were no real exception as
they formed part of the preceding word. There were, however, some real
exceptions.
1. Pronouns ending in _-os_, as _hos_, _quos_. These followed _eos_
and _illos_.
2. Words ending in _-es_, as _pes_, _res_.
3. Words ending in _r_, as _par_, _fer_, _vir_, _cor_, _fur_. These
had that form of long vowel which we use in 'part', 'fertile',
'virtue', 'cordate', 'furtive'.
In, disyllables the former vowel or diphthong, if followed by a single
consonant, or by a mute and _r_, or by _cl_ or _pl_, was pronounced
long, a usage which according to Mr. Henry Bradley dates in spoken
Latin from the fourth century. Examples are _apex_, _tenet_, _item_,
_focus_, _pupa_, _Psyche_, _C�sar_, _foetus_. I believe that at first
the only exceptions were _tibi_, _sibi_, _ibi_, _quibus_, _tribus_. In
later days the imperfect and future of _sum_ became exceptions. Here
perhaps the short vowel arose from the hideous and wholly erroneous
habit, happily never universal though still in some vogue, of reciting
_er�m_, _er�s_, _er�t_. There are actually schoolbooks which treat the
verse _ictus_, the beat of the chanter's foot, as a word stress and
prescribe _terra trib�s scopul�s_. I can say of these books only
_Pereant ipsi, mutescant scriptores_, and do not mind using a
post-classical word in order to say it.
In disyllables the former vowel or diphthong, if followed immediately
by another vowel or diphthong, had the quality, and if emphatic also
the quality, of a long vowel. The distinction was not recognized,
and seems not to be generally acknowledged even now. We seem not to
have borrowed many words which will illustrate this. We have however
_fiat_, and _pius_ was pronounced exactly as we pronounce 'pious',
while for a diphthong we may quote Shelley,
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