The Roman Pronunciation of Latin
F >>
Frances E. Lord >> The Roman Pronunciation of Latin
T is pronounced like the English T pure, except that the tongue should
approach the teeth more nearly.
[Pompei. _Comm. ad Donat._ Keil. v. VI. p. 32.] D autem et T, quibus,
ut ita dixerim, vocis vicinitas quaedam est, linguae sublatione ac
positione distinguuntur. Nam cum summos atque imos conjunctim dentes
suprema sua parte pulsaverit D litteram exprimit. Quotiens autem
sublimata partem qua superis dentibus est _origo_ contigerit, T sonore
vocis explicabit.
From the same writer we learn that some pronounced the T too heavily,
giving it a 'thick sound':
[Keil. v. V. p. 394.] Ecce in littera T aliqui ita pingue nescio quid
sonant, ut cum dicunt _etiam_ nihil de media syllaba infringant.
By which we understand that the T was wrongly uttered with a kind of
effort, such as prevented its gliding on to the I.
TH nearly as in _then_, not as in _thin_.
U (consonant) or V.
That the letter U performed the office of both vowel and consonant all
the grammarians agree, and state the fact in nearly the same terms.
Priscian says that they (I and U) seem quite other letters when used as
consonants, and that it makes a great difference in which of these ways
they are used:
[Keil. v. II. p. 13.] Videntur tamen I et U cum in consonantes transeunt
quantum ad potestatem, quod maximum est in elementis, aliae litterae
esse praeter supra dictis; multum enim interest utrum vocales sint an
consonantes.
The grammarians also state that this consonant U was represented by the
Greek digamma, which the Romans called _vau_ also.
Marius Victorinus says:
[I. iii. 44.] Nam littera U vocalis est, sicut A, E, I, O, sed eadem
vicem obtinet consonantis: cujus potestatis notam Graeci habent [Greek
letter: digamma], nostri _vau_ vocant, et alii _digamma_; ea per se
scripta non facit syllabam, anteposita autem vocali facit, ut [Greek in
which w = digamma:* wamaxa, wekaebolos] et [Greek, w = digamma:*
welenae]. Nos vero, qui non habemus hujus vocis nomen aut notam, in
ejus locum quotiens una vocalis pluresve junctae unam syllabam faciunt,
substituimus U litteram.
Now it is contended by some that this _digamma_, or _vau_, was merely
taken as a symbol, somewhat arbitrarily perhaps, and that it did not
indicate a particular sound, but might stand for anything which the
Romans chose to represent by it; and that therefore it gives us no
certain indication of what the Latin U consonant was. But we are
expressly told that it had the force and sound of the Greek _digamma_.
In Marius Victorinus we find:
[Keil. v. VI. p. 23.] F autem apud Aeolis dumtaxat idem valere quod apud
nos _vau_ cum pro consonante scribitur, vocarique [Greek
transliteration: bau] et _digamma_.
Priscian explains more fully:
[Keil. v. II. p. 15.] U vero loco consonantis posita eandem prorsus in
omnibus vim habuit apud Latinos quam apud Aeolis _digamma_. Unde a
plerisque ei nomen hoc datur quod apud Aeolis habuit olim [Greek
letter: digamma] _digamma_, id est _vau_, ab ipsius voce profectum
teste Varrone et Didymo, qui id ei nomen esse ostendunt. Pro quo Caesar
hanc [Greek letter: digamma rotated 90 degress] figuram scribi voluit,
quod quamvis illi recte visum est tamen consuetude antiqua superavit.
Adeo autem hoc verum est quod pro Aeolico _digamma_ [Greek letter:
digamma] U ponitur.
What then was the sound of this Aeolic _digamma_ or [Greek
transliteration: bau]? Priscian says:
[Keil. v. II. p. 11.] [Greek letter: digamma] Aeolicum _digamma_, quod
apud antiquissimos Latinorum eandem vim quam apud Aeolis habuit. Eum
autem prope sonum quem nunc habet significabat P cum aspiratione, sicut
etiam apud veteres Graecos pro [Greek letter: ph] [Greek letter: p] et
[Greek letter: eta]; unde nunc quoque in Graecis nominibus antiquam
scripturam servamus, pro [Greek: ph] P et H ponentes, ut _Orpheus_,
_Phaethon_ Postea vero in Latinis verbis placuit pro P et H, F scribi,
ut _fama_, _filiu_, _facio_, loco autem _digamma_ U pro consonante,
quod cognatione soni videbatur affinis esse _digamma_ ea littera.
The Latin U consonant is here distinctly stated to be akin to the Greek
_digamma_ ([Greek letter: digamma]) in sound.
Now the office of the Greek _digamma_ was apparently manifold. It stood
for [Greek letter: s, b] (Eng. V), [Greek letter: g, ch, ph], and for
the breathings 'rough' and 'smooth.' Sometimes the sound of the
_digamma_ is given, we are told, where the character itself is not
written. It is said that in the neighborhood of Olympia it is to-day
pronounced, though not written, between two vowels as [Greek letter: b]
(Eng. V). Which of these various sounds should be given the digamma
appears to have been determined by the law of euphony. It was sometimes
written but not sounded (like our H).
The question then is, which of these various sounds of the digamma is
represented by the Latin U consonant, or does it represent all, or none,
of these.
Speaking of F, Priscian says:
[Keil. v. II. p. 35.] Antiqui Romanorum Aeolis sequentes loco
aspirationis earn (F) ponebant, effugientes ipsi quoque aspirationem,
et maxime cum consonante recusabant eam proferre in Latino sermone.
Habebat autem haec F littera hunc sonum quem nunc habet U loco
consonantis posita, unde antiqui AF pro AB scribere solebant; sed quia
non potest _vau_, id est _digamma_, in fine syllabae inveniri, ideo
mutata in B. _Sifilum_ quoque pro _sibilum_ teste Nonio Marcello _de
Doctorum Indagine_ dicebant.
And again:
[Prisc. Keil. v. II. p. 15.] In B etiam solet apud Aeolis transire
[Greek letter: digamma] _digamma_ quotiens ab [Greek: r] incipit dictio
quae solet aspirari, ut [Greek transliteration: raetor], [Greek
transliteration: braetor] dicunt, quod _digamma_ nisi vocali praeponi
et in principio syllabae non potest. Ideo autem locum transmutavit,
quia B vel _digamma_ post [Greek letter: r] in eadem syllaba
pronuntiari non potest. Apud nos quoque est invenire quod pro U
consonante B ponitur, ut _caelebs_, caelestium vitam ducens, per B
scribitur, quod U consonans ante consonantem poni non potest. Sed etiam
_Bruges_ et _Belena_ antiquissimi dicebant, teste Quintiliano, qui hoc
ostendit in primo _institutionum oratoriarum_: nec mirum, cum B quoque
in U euphoniae causa converti invenimus; ut _aufero_.
[Quint, I. v. 69.] Frequenter autem praepositiones quoque copulatio
ista corrumpit; inde _abstulit_, _aufugit_, _amisit_, cum praepositio
sit ab sola.
It is significant here that Cicero speaks of the change from DU to B as
a contraction. He says:
[Cic. Or. LXV.] Quid vero licentius quam quod hominum etiam nomina
contrahebant, quo essent aptiora? Nam ut _duellum_, _bellum_; et _duis_,
_bis_; sic _Duellium_ eum qui Poenos classe devicit _Bellium_
nominaverunt, cum superiores appellati essent semper _Duellii_.
One cannot but feel in reading the numerous passages in the grammarians
that treat of the sound of U consonant, that if its sound had been no
other than the natural sound of U with consonantal force, they never
would have spent so much time and labor in explaining and elucidating
it. Why did they not turn it off with the simple explanation which they
give to the consonantal I--that of double I? What more natural than to
speak of consonant U as "double U" (as we English do W). But on the
contrary they expressly declare it to have a sound distinct and
peculiar. Quintilian says that even if the form of the Aeolic _digamma_
is rejected by the Romans, yet its force pursues them:
[Quint. XII. x. 29.] Aeolicae quoque litterae qua _servum cervum_que
dicimus, etiamsi forma a nobis repudiata est, vis tamen nos ipsa
persequitur.
He gives it as his opinion that it would have been well to have adopted
the _vau_, and says that neither by the old way of writing (by UO), nor
by the modern way (by servus_ et _cervus_) ea ratione quam reddidi:
neutro sane modo vox quam sentimus efficitur. Nec inutiliter Claudius
Aeolicam illam ad hos usus litteram adjecerat.
And again still more distinctly:
[Id. ib. iv. 7, 8.] At grammatici saltern omnes in hanc descendent
rerum tenuitatem, desintne aliquae nobis necessariae literarum, non cum
Graeca scribimus (tum enim ab iisdem duas mutuamur) sed propriae, in
Latinis, ut in his _seruus_ et _uulgus_ Aeolicum digammon desideratur.
This need of a new symbol, recognized by authorities like Cicero and
Quintilian, is not an insignificant point in the argument.
Marius Victorinus says that Cicero adds U (consonant) to the other five
consonants that are understood to assimilate certain other consonants
coming before them:
[Mar. Vict. I. iv. 64.] Sed propriae sunt cognatae (consonantes) quae
simili figuratione oris dicuntur, ut est B, F, R, M, P, quibus Cicero
adjicit U, non eam quae accipitur pro vocali, sed eam quae consonantis
obtinet vicem, et interposita vocali fit ut aliac quoque consonantes.
He proceeds to illustrate with the proposition OB:
[Id. ib. 67.] OB autem mutatur in cognatas easdem, ut _offert, officit_;
et _ommovet, ommutescit_; et _oppandit, opperitur; ovvertit, ovvius_.
Let any one, keeping in mind the distinctness with which the Romans
uttered doubled consonants, attempt to pronounce _ovvius_ on the theory
of consonant U like English (W) (!).
By the advocates of the W sound of the V much stress is laid upon the
fact that the poets occasionally change the consonant into the vowel U,
and _vice versa_; as Horace, Epode VIII. 2:
"Nivesque deducunt Jovem, nunc mare nunc siluae;"
Or Lucretius, in II. 232:
"Propterea quia corpus aquae naturaque tenvis."
Such single instances suggest, indeed, a common origin in the U and V,
and a poet's license, archaistic perhaps; but no more determine the
ordinary value of the letter than, say, in the English poets the rhyming
of wind with mind, or the making a distinct syllable of the _ed_ in
participle endings.
Another argument used in support of the W sound is taken from the words
of Nigidius Figulus.
He was contending, we are told, that words and names come into being not
by chance, or arbitrarily, but by nature; and he takes, among other
examples, the words _vos_ and _nos_, _tu_ and _ego_, _tibi_ and _mihi_:
[Aul. Gell. X. iv. 4.] _Vos_, inquit, cum dicimus motu quodam oris
conveniente cum ipsius verbi demonstratione utimur, et labias sensim
primores emovemus, ac spiritum atque animam porro versum et ad eos
quibuscum sermonicamur intendimus. At contra cum dicimus _nos_ neque
profuso intentoque flatu vocis, neque projectis labiis pronunciamus; sed
et spiritum et labias quasi intra nosmetipsos coercemus. Hoc idem fit
et in eo quod dicimus _tu_ et _ego_; et _tibi_ et _mihi_. Nam sicuti
cum adnuimus et abnuimus, motus quidem ille vel capitis vel oculorum a
natura rei quam significabat non abhorret; ita in his vocibus, quasi
gestus quidam oris et spiritus naturalis est.
But a little careful examination will show that this passage favors the
other side rather.
The first part of the description: "labias sensim primores emovemus,"
will apply to either sound, _vos_ or _wos_, although better, as will
appear upon consulting the mirror, to _vos_ than to _wos_; but the
second: "ac spiritum atque animam porro versum et ad eos quibuscum
sermonicamur intendimus," will certainly apply far better to _vos_ than
to _wos_. In _wos_ we get the "projectis labiis" to some extent,
although not so marked as in _vos_; but we do not get anything like the
same "profuso intentoque flatu vocis" as in _vos_.
The same may be said of the argument drawn from the anecdote related by
Cicero in his _de Divinatione_:
[Cic. de Div. XL. 84.] Cum M. Crassus exercitum Brundisii imponeret,
quidam in portu caricas Cauno advectas vendens "Cauneas!" clamitabat.
Dicamus, si placet, monitum ab eo Crassum _caveret ne iret_, non fuisse
periturum si omini paruisset.
Now when we remember that Caunos, whence these particular figs came, was
a Greek town; that the fig-seller was very likely a Greek himself
(Brundisium being a Greek port so to speak), but at any rate probably
pronounced the name as it was doubtless always heard; and that U in such
a connection is at present pronounced like our F or V, and we know of no
time when it was pronounced like our U, it is difficult to avoid the
conclusion that the fig-seller was crying "Cafneas!"--a sound far more
suggestive of _Cave-ne-eas_! than "_Cauneas!_" of _Cawe ne eas_!
But beyond the testimony, direct and indirect, of grammarians and
classic writers, an argument against the W sound appears in the fact
that this sound is not found in Greek (from which the _vau_ is
borrowed), nor in Italian or kindred Romance languages.
The initial U in Italian represents not Latin U consonant, but some
other letter, as H, in _uomo_ (for _homo_). On the other hand we find
the V sound, as _vedova_ (from _vidua_),--notice the two V sounds,--or
the U sometimes changed to B, as _serbare_ from _servare_; _bibita_ and
_bevanda_, both from _bibo_.
In French we find the Latin U consonant passing into F, as _ovum_ into
_oeuf_; _novem_ into _neuf_.
It seems not improbable that in Cicero's time and later the consonant U
represented some variation of sound, that its value varied in the
direction of B or F, and possibly, in some Greek words especially, it
was more vocalized, as in _vae!_ (Greek [Greek transliteration: ouai]).
Yet here it is worthy of note that the corresponding words in Italian
are not written with U but with _gu_, as _guai!_
In considering the sound of Latin U consonant we must always keep in
mind that the question is one of time,--not, was U ever pronounced as
English W; but, was it so pronounced in the time of Cicero and Virgil.
Professor Ellis well says: "Any one who wishes to arrive at a conclusion
respecting the Latin consonantal U must learn to pronounce and
distinguish readily the four series of sounds: U
A
UE UI UO, WA WE WI WO WU, V'A V'E
V'I V'O V'U, VA VE VI VO VU."
Now the question is: At what point along this line do we find the U
consonant of the golden age? Roby, though not agreeing with Ellis in
rejecting the English W sound, as the representative of that period,
declares himself "quite content to think that a labial V was
provincially contemporary and in the end generally superseded it."
But 'provincialisms' do not seem sufficient to account for the use of
*[Greek letter: b]} for U consonant in inscriptions and in writers of
the first century. For instance, _Nerva_ and _Severus_ in contemporary
inscriptions are written both with *[Greek: ou] and with [Greek letter:
b]: [Greek transliteration: Neroua, Nerba; Seouaeros, Sebaeros]. And in
Plutarch we find numerous instances of [Greek letter: b] taking the
place of [Greek transliteration: ou].
It is true that the instances in which we find [Greek letter: b] taking
the place of [Greek trasnliteration: ou] in the first century, and
earlier, are decidedly in the minority, but when we recollect that
[Greek trasnliteration: ou] was the original and natural representative
of the Latin U, the fact that a change was made at all is of great
weight, and one instance of [Greek letter: b] for U would outweigh a
dozen instances of the old form, OU. That the letter should be changed
in the Greek, even when it had not been in the Latin, seems to make it
certain that the 'Greek ear,' at least, had detected a real variation of
sound from the original U, and one that approached, at least, their
[Greek letter: b] (Eng. V).
Nor, in this connection, should we fail to notice the words in Latin
where U consonant is represented by B, such as _bubile_ from _bovile_,
_defervi_ and _deferbui_ from _deferveo_.
In concluding the argument for the labial V sound of consonantal U, it
may be proper to suggest a fact which should have no weight against a
conclusive argument on the other side, but which might, perhaps, be
allowed to turn the scale nicely balanced. The W sound is not only
unfamiliar but nearly, if not quite, impossible, to the lips of any
European people except the English, and would therefore of necessity
have to be left out of any universally adopted scheme of Latin
pronunciation. Professor Ellis pertinently says: "As a matter of
practical convenience English speakers should abstain from W in Latin,
because no Continental nation can adopt a sound they cannot pronounce."
X has the same sound as in English.
Marius Victorinus says:
[Keil. v. VI. p. 32.] Dehinc duae supremae S et X jure jungentur, nam
vicino inter se sonore attracto sibilant rictu, ita tamen si prioris
ictus pone dentes excitatus ad medium lenis agitetur; sequentis autem
crasso spiritu hispidum sonet qui per conjunctionem C et S, quarum et
locum implet et vim exprimit, ut sensu aurium ducamur efficitur.
Again:
[Id. ib. p. 5.] X autem per C et S possemus scribere.
And:
Posteaquam a Graecis [Greek: x], et a nobis x, recepta est, abiit et
illorum et nostra perplexa ratio, et in primis observatio Nigidii, qui
in libris suis x littera non est usus, antiquitatem sequens.
X suffers a long vowel before it, being composed of the c (the only mute
that allows a long vowel before it) and the S.
Z probably had a sound akin to ds in English. After giving the sound of
X as cs, Marius Victorinus goes on to speak of Z thus:
[Keil. v. VI. p. 5.] Sic et z, si modo latino sermoni necessaria esset,
per d et s litteras faceremus.
QUANTITY.
A syllable in Latin may consist of from one to six letters, as _a_,
_ab_, _ars_, _Mars_, _stans_, _stirps_.
In dividing into syllables, a consonant between two vowels belongs to
the vowel following it. When there are two consonants, the first goes
with the vowel before, the second with the vowel after, unless the
consonants form such a combination as may stand at the beginning of a
word (Latin or Greek), that is, as maybe uttered with a single impulse,
as one letter; in which case they go, as one, with the vowel following.
An apparent exception is made in the case of compound words. These are
divided into their component parts when these parts remain intact.
On these points Priscian says:
Si antecedens syllaba terminal in consonantem necesse est et sequentem a
consonante incipere; ut _artus_, _ille_, _arduus_; nisi fit compositum:
ut _abeo_, _adeo_, _pereo_. Nam in simplicibus dictionibus necesse est s
et c ejusdem esse syllabae, ut _pascua_, _luscus_. M quoque, vel p, vel
t, in simplicibus dictionibus, si antecedats, ejusdem est syllabae, ut
_cosmos_, _perspirare_, _testis_.
In semivocalibus similiter sunt praepositivae aliis semivocalibus in
eadem syllaba; ut m sequente n, ut _Mnesteus_, _amnis_.
Each letter has its 'time,' or 'times.' Thus a short vowel has the time
of one beat (_mora_); a long vowel, of two beats; a single consonant, of
a half beat; a double consonant, of one beat. Theoretically, therefore,
a syllable may have as many as three, or even four, _tempora_; but
practically only two are recognized. All over two are disregarded and
each syllable is simply counted 'short' (one beat) or 'long' (two
beats).
Priscian says:
[Keil. v. II. p. 52.] In longis natura vel positione duo sunt tempora,
ut _do_, _ars_; duo semis, quando post vocalem natura longam una
sequitur consonans, ut _sol_; tria, quando post vocalem natura longam
duae consonantes sequuntur, vel una duplex, ut _mons_, _rex_. Tamen in
metro necesse est unamquamque syllabam vel unius vel duorum accipi
temporum.
ACCENT.
The grammarians tell us that every syllable has three dimensions,
length, breadth and height, or _tenor_, _spiritus_, _tempus_:
[Keil. Supp. p. XVIII.] Habet etiam unaquaeque syllaba altitudinem,
latitudinem et longitudinem; altitudinem in tenore; crassitudinem vel
latitudinem, in spiritu; longitudinem in tempore.
Diomedes says:
[Keil. v. I. p. 430.] Accentus est dictus ab accinendo, quod sit quasi
quidam cujusque syllabae cantus.
And Cicero:
[Cic. Or. XVIII.] Ipsa enim natura, quasi modularetur hominem orationem,
in omni verbo posuit acutam vocem, nec una plus, nec a postrema syllaba
citra tertiam.
The grammarians recognize three accents; but practically we need take
account of but two, inasmuch as the third is merely negative. The
syllable having the grave accent is, as we should say, unaccented.
[Diom. Keil. v. I. p. 430.] Sunt vero tres, acutus, gravis, et qui ex
duobus constat circumflexus. Ex his, acutus in correptis semper,
interdum productis syllabis versatur; inflexus (or 'circumflexus'), in
his quae producuntur; gravis autem per se nunquam consistere in ullo
verbo potest, sed in his in quibus inflexus est, aut acutus ceteras
syllabas obtinet.
The same writer thus gives the place of each accent:
[Keil. v. I. p. 431.] (Acutus) apud Latinos duo tantum loca tenent,
paenultimum et antepaenultimum; circumflexus autem, quotlibet
syllabarum sit dictio, non tenebit nisi paenultimum locum. Omnis igitur
pars orationis hanc rationem pronuntiationis detinet. Omnis vox
monosyllaba aliquid significans, si brevis est, acuetur, ut _ab, mel,
fel;_ et, si positione longa fuerit, acutum similiter tenorem habebit,
ut _ars, pars, pix, nix, fax_. Sin autem longa natura fuerit,
flectetur, ut _lux, spes, flos, sol, mons, fons, lis_.
Omnis vox dissyllaba priorem syllabam aut acuit aut flectit. Acuit, vel
cum brevis est utraque, ut _deus, citus, datur, arat;_ vel cum positione
longa est utraque, ut _sollers;_ vel alterutra positione longa dum ne
natura longa sit, prior, ut _pontus;_ posterior, ut _cohors_. Si vero
prior syllaba natura longa et sequens brevis fuerit, flectitur prior,
ut _luna, Roma_.
In trisyllabis autem et tetrasyllabis et deinceps, secunda ab ultima
semper observanda est. Haec, si natura longa fuerit, inflectitur, ut
_Romanus, Cethegus, marinus, Crispinus, amicus, Sabinus, Quirinus,
lectica_. Si vero eadem paenultima positione longa fuerit, acuetur, ut
_Metellus, Catullus, Marcellus_; ita tamen si positione longa non ex
muta et liquida fuerit. Nam mutabit accentum, ut _latebrae, tenebrae_.
Et si novissima natura longa itemque paenultima, sive natura sive
positione longa fuerit, paenultima tantum acuetur, non inflectetur;
sic, natura, ut _Fidenae_,
_Athenae_, _Thebae_, _Cymae_; positione, ut _tabellae_, _fenestrae_.
Sin autem media et novissima breves fuerint, prima servabit acutum
tenorem, ut _Sergius_, _Mallius_, _ascia_, _fuscina_, _Julius_,
_Claudius_. Si omnes tres syllabae longae fuerint, media acuetur, ut
_Romani_, _legati_, _praetores_, _praedones_.
Priscian thus defines the accents:
[Keil. v. III. p. 519.] Acutus namque accentus ideo inventus est quod
acuat sive elevet syllabam; gravis vero eo quod deprimat aut deponat;
circumflexus ideo quod deprimat et acuat.
Then after giving the place of the accent he notes some disturbing
influences, which cause exceptions to the general rule:
[Keil. v. III. pp. 519-521.] Tres quidem res accentuum regulas
conturbant; distinguendi ratio; pronuntiandi ambiguitas; atque
necessitas....
Ratio namque distinguendi legem accentuum saepe conturbat. Siquis
pronuntians dicat _poné_ et _ergo_, quod apud Latinos in ultima syllaba
nisi discretionis causa accentus poni non potest: ex hoc est quod
diximus _poné_ et _ergó_. Ideo _poné_ dicimus ne putetur verbum esse
imperativi modi, hoc est _pone_; _ergó_ ideo dicimus ne putetur
conjunctio rationalis, quod est _érgo_.
Ambiguitas vero pronuntiandi legem accentuum saepe conturbat. Siquis
dicat _interealoci_, qui nescit, alteram partem dicat _interea_,
alteram _loci_, quod non separatim sed sub uno accentu pronuntiandum
est, ne ambiguitatem in sermone faciat.
Necessitas pronuntiationis regulam corrumpit, ut puta siquis dicat in
primis _doctus_, addat _que_ conjunctionem, dicatque _doctusque_, ecce
in pronuntiatione accentum mutavit, cum non in secunda syllaba, sed in
prima, accentum habere debuit.
He also states the law that determines the kind of accent to be used:
[Id. ib. p. 521.] Syllaba quae correptam vocalem habet acuto accentu
pronuntiatur, ut _páx_, _fáx_, _píx_, _níx_, _dúx_, _núx_, quae etiam
tali accentu pronuntianda est, quamvis sit longa positione, quia
naturaliter brevis est. Quae vero naturaliter producta est circumflexo
accentu exprimenda est ut, _rês_, _dôs_, _spês_. Dissyllabae vero quae
priorem productam habent et posteriorem correptam, priorem syllabam
circumflectunt, ut _mêta_, _Crêta_. Illae vero quae sunt ambae longae
vel prior brevis et ulterior longa acuto accento pronuntiandae sunt, ut
_népos_, _léges_, _réges_. Hae vero quae sunt ambae breves similiter
acuto accentu proferuntur, ut _bonus_, _melos_. Sed notandum quod si
prior sit longa positione non circumflexo, sed acuto, accentu
pronuntianda est, ut _arma_, _arcus_, quae, quamvis sit longa
positione, tamen exprimenda est tali accentu quia non est naturalis.
Trisyllabae namque et tetrasyllabae sive deinceps, si paenultimam
correptam habuerint, antepaenultimam acuto accentu proferunt, ut
_Túllius_, _Hostílius_. Nam paenultima, si positione longa fuerit,
acuetur, antepaenultima vero gravabitur, ut _Catúllus_, _Metéllus_. Si
vero ex muta et liquida longa in versu esse constat, in oratione quoque
accentum mutat, ut _latébrae_, _tenébrae_. Syllaba vero ultima, si
brevis sit et paenultimam naturaliter longam habuerit ipsam paenultimam
circumflectit, ut _Cethêgus_, _perôsus_. Ultima quoque, si naturaliter
longa fuerit, paenultimam acuet, ut _Athénae_, _Mycénae_. Ad hanc autem
rem arsis et thesis necessariae. Nam in unaquaque parte oratione arsis
et thesis sunt, non in ordine syllabarum, sed in pronuntiatione: velut
in hac parte _natura_, ut quando dico _natu_ elevatur vox, et est arsis
intus; quando vero sequitur _ra_ vox deponitur, et est thesis deforis.
Quantum, autem suspenditur vox per arsin tantum deprimitur per thesin.
Sed ipsa vox quae per dictiones formatur donee accentus perficiatur in
arsin deputatur, quae autem post accentum sequitur in thesin.