the many complications of their parts, and the attraction of the relative pronouns, demand great caution in applying the signs of punctuation, in order that we may not by the use of too many signs separate those parts of a sentence which belong to one another.

7. With regard to the use of capital and small letters, it must be observed that the Romans, generally speaking, wrote only in capital letters (litterae unciales), until in the latest period of antiquity the small letters came into use, which are now always employed in writing Latin.* Capital initials are at present used: (a) at the beginning of a verse, or at least of a strophe; (b) at the beginning of a new sentence, both in prose and in verse, after a full stop, and after a colon when a person's own words are quoted; (c) in proper names, and in adjectives and ad verbs which are derived from them, e. g., Latium, sermo Latinus, Latine loqui; (d) in words which express a title or office, such as Consul, Tribunus, and Senatus, but not in their derivatives.

8. The diaeresis (puncta diaereseos) is a sign to facilitate reading; it is put upon a vowel which is to be pronounced separately, and which is not to be combined with the preceding one into a diphthong, as in aër, aëris, aërius, poëta; and also in auraï, vitaï, since ai is only an ancient form for ae. In cases where the diphthong would be foreign to the Latin language, the diaeresis is unnecessary, as in diei, Persei, because there can be no fear of any one pronouncing the ei as a diphthong; ferreus, too, does not require it, since in a Latin word no one will regard eu as a diphthong. But we must write Gaïus and silia, when the consonants j and v are to be pronounced as vowels. The signs to indicate the length or shortness of a vowel or a syllable (` and ) were sometimes used by the ancients themselves.

[The cursive character arose from a principle of rapidity, by which the letters are made to run on in continuous succession. Such modes of writing were no doubt common in very early times; and, as regards the Romans, we are not left to mere conjecture, as the British Museum contains an inscription of the kind on papyrus, which is referred to the second or third century. The statement in the text, therefore, requires correction. (Key, Alphabet, p. 36.)]--Am. Ed.

[§ 14.] 1. A voWEL or a diphthong may by itself form a syllable, as in u-va, me-o; all other syllables arise from a combination of consonants and vowels. The Latin language allows only two consonants to stand at the end of a syllable, and three only in those cases where the last is S. At the beginning of a syllable, also, there can be no more than two consonants, except where the first is a c, p, or s, followed by muta cum liquida; and at the beginning of a word there never are three consonants, except in the case of sc, sp, and st being followed by an r or 1; for example, do-ctrina, Ba-ctra, corru-ptrix, sce-ptrum, castra, magi-stri, I-sthmus; spretus, strenuus, scriba, splendor.

2. It often appears doubtful as to how a word is to be divided into syllables, and where the division is to be made at the end of a line, when the space does not suffice. The following rules, however, which are founded on the structure of the language, should be observed. 1. A consonant which stands between two vowels belongs to the latter, as in ma-ter. 2. Those consonants, which, in Latin or Greek, may together begin a word, go together in the division of syllables; e. g., pa-tris, and not patris, as tr occur at the beginning of tres.* In like manner, li-bri (brevis), i-gnis (gnomon), o-mnis, da-mnum (μváoμai), a-ctus, pun-ctum (ктnμа), ra-рtus, scri-ptus, pro-pter (Ptolemaeus), Ca-dmus (duweç), re-gnum (yvous), va-fre (fretus), a-thleta (híbw), i-pse, scri-psi (yavw), Le-sbos (obévvvμí), e-sca, po-sco (scando), a-sper, ho-spes (spes), pa-stor, faustus, i-ste (stare). The cases in which three consonants begin a syllable have been mentioned above. Whenever there occurs any combination of consonants which cannot stand at the beginning of words, they are treated according to the analogy of the rest. All combinations of muta cum liquida, for instance, go together, as most of them may commence a word; and we must therefore divide ara-chne, a-gmen, fra-gmentum, Da-phne, Pha-tnae, rhy-thmus, smara-gdus, and Lu-gdunum, since gd is to be

[This mode of dividing is well intended, but perhaps too methodical, it occasions difficulty to learners, and has little use, but rather betrays some affectation (Scheller, L. G., vol. i., 31, Walker's transl.)]—Am. Ed

B

treated like ct. 3. In compound words, the division must be made so as to keep the parts distinct, as inter-eram (not inte-reram), because the word is compounded of inter and eram. So, also, ab-utor, ab-rado, abs-condo, abs-temius (from temetum), sus-cipio (from the form subs), dis-quiro, et-iam, ob-latum; and red-eo, red-undo, prod-eo, and sed-itio, for the d, here inserted to prevent hiatus, must go with the preceding vowel, because, if added to the second, it would obscure the elements of the compound word. But when the component parts of a word are doubtful, or when the first word has dropped its termination to prevent hiatus, the syllables are divided as if the word were not a compound; e. g., po-tes (from pote or potis es), ani-madverto, and not anim-adverto, ve-neo (from venum eo), ma-gnanimus, am-bages, and lon-gaevus.*

CHAPTER III.

OF THE LENGTH AND SHORTNESS OF SYLLABLES.

[§ 15.] SYLLABLES are long or short, either by the nature of the vowel they contain, or they become long by their short vowel being followed by two or more consonants, that is, by their position. We shall first speak of the natural length and shortness of vowels.

1. All Diphthongs are long, and also all those single vowels which have arisen from the contraction of two into one, such as cōgo (from coago), mālo (from măvălo), tibīcen (from tibiicen and tibia, but tubicen from tuba), bīgae (from bijugae), būbus and bōbus (from bovibus), and so, also, dis for diis, gratis for gratiis, and nil for nihil.

Note. The preposition prae is commonly made short when compounded with a word which begins with a vowel, e. g., Ovid, Metam., vii., 131: Quos ubi viderunt praeacutae cuspidis hastas. The reason for this peculiarity is explained in the rule following; but there is no other instance in the Latin language of a diphthong standing before a vowel. It occurs only in Greek proper names, in which, however, the diphthong remains long, as Aeolides Sisyphus, and Aeeta relictus, for the examples which are adduced as proofs of the diphthong being shortened (Ovid, Heroid., vi., 103, and Trist., iii., 12, 2) are not decisive.

* [The carrying out of this system would lead, it is apprehended, to some ludicrous results; as, for example, in such cases as fra-gmentum, a-gmen, &c. (Compare Journal of Education, vol. i., p. 94.)]—Am. Ed.

[The syllable pre being originally praï or prae, the latter of the two vowels is tacitly elided. Consult Anthon's Litin Prosody, ed. 1842, p. 25, not.]-Am. Ed.

2. A Vowel is short when it is followed by another vowel (Vocalis ante vocalem brevis est), as in déus, filius, pìus, ruo, corrão; and, as h is not considered as a consonant, also in such words as traho, contrăho, věho, and advěho.

[ 16.] Note.-Exceptions.-1. The vowel e in eheu is always long, the o in ohe is frequently long, and the i in Diana sometimes. 2. The e in the termination of the genitive and dative of the fifth declension is long when it is preceded by a vowel, as in diei, speciei.† 3. a is long in the obsolete ending of the genitive in the first declension, as in aurai and pictãi, for aurae and pictae, in Virgil.‡ 4. a and e are long in the vocative terminations ai and ei of the words ending in aius and eius; e. g., Găi, Vultēi. (See chap. xi., note 3.) 5. All the genitives in ius, except alterius, have the i commonly long; the poets, however, use the i in illius, istius, ipsius, unius, totius, ullius, and utrius, sometimes as a long and sometimes as a short vowel. The instances of the i in solius being shortened cannot be relied upon; but alius, being a contraction for alius, can never be made short. Alterius, on the other hand, is sometimes made long (see § 49). 6. The verb fio has the i long, except when an r occurs in it. Ovid, Trist., i., 8, 7: Omnia jam fient, fieri quae posse negabam.¶ 7. Greek words retain their own original quantity, and we therefore say aër, éos (ʼnúç), Amphion, Agesilaus, and Menelaus. The e and i in the terminations ea and eus, or ia and ius, therefore, are long when they represent the Greek ɛia and ɛlos

* [The interjection eheu is thought to have been abbreviated from heu heu by the transcribers. The first abbreviation would be heheu, which is common in the MSS., and hence, in process of time, arose eheu. (Compare Wagner ad Virg., Eclog., ii., 58.)-Ohe follows its primitive O, which, since it cannot be elided, because words of this nature require a strong emphasis, is made either long or short when it falls before a vowel. Diana was originally Deiva Jana, the lunar goddess, contracted subsequently into Deiana, and at last becoming Diana. The e of the diphthong being dropped gave rise to the double quantity of Diana, since it could be brought under the general principle of one vowel before another. (Ramsay's Latin Prosody, p. 25. Voss, de Art. Gram., ii., 13. Varro, R. R., i., 37. Græv., Thes., vol. viii., p. 311. Nigid. ap. Macrob., Sat. i., 19. Creuzer, Sym bolik, par Guigniaut, vol. ii., pt. i., p. 433.)]-Am. Ed.

+(This peculiarity arises from the old forms of declension. According to some, the nominative of the fifth declension was originally dies, specieis, making in the genitive die-is, speciei-is, which case afterward dropped the s, and became dieii, specieii, and eventually diei, speciei, the i of the diphthong being dropped. (Ramsay, Lat. Pros., p. 22.) Others, however, make the original form of the nominative to have been die is, specie-is, and the genitive to have dropped its characteristic ending in s, and to have terminated like the old locative in i, thus making die-i, specie-i, &c. (Bopp, Vergleich. Gramm., p. 141, seqq.)]-Am. Ed.

[The old form of the genitive singular of the first declension was a+is, i. e., formāïs, aurāïs, pictāïs, &c., which was afterward abbreviated by dropping the s, as formai, aurāï, pictāï. (Bopp, l. c. Allen's Analysis, &c., p. xviii.)]-Am. Ed.

[The original forms of these names were Caius, Pompeiius, &c., and hence the vocatives Caï, Pompei, &c., are in reality Cai-i, Pompei-i, &c., which last undergoes another contraction, in Horace, into Pompei. (Horat Od., ii. 7, 5. Priscian, vii., 5.)]-Am. Ed.

[Bopp considers the Latin genitive ending ius analogous to the Sancrit termination sya, the a being changed to u before the final s, by a very isual process, in early Latin. (Vergleich. Gram., p. 220.)]-Am. Ed.

Compare Anthon's Lat. Pros., ed. 1842, p. 16, not.]-Am. Ed.

(the Romans, not having the diphthong ei in their language, represent the Greek & sometimes by e and sometimes by i, but these vowels, of course are always long); e. g., Galatea, Medea, Eneas, Dareus or Darius, Iphi genia, Alexandria, Antiochia, Nicomedia, Samaria, Seleucia, Thalia, Arius, Basilius, nosocomium, and the adjectives Epicureus, Pythagorēus, spondeus, and the like: but when the Greek is ɛa or ta, the e and i are short, as in idea, philosophia, theologia. The same is the case with the patronymic words in ides, since the Greek may be dns, as in Priamides and acides; or εidns, as in Atrides, Pelides, which are derived from Atreus and Peleus. The only exceptions to this rule are, that platea (a street) has the e short, though, according to the Greek harcia, it ought to be long, and that chorea is sometimes used instead of chorea (xopɛía). Some of the late Roman poets use academia instead of academia, although in Greek writers it is always long, whether spelled with ɛ or with .*

Note 2.-It is a part of the above rule, that a long vowel or diphthong at the end of a word, when the word following begins with a vowel, is usually made short in the thesis of a verse.t (See above, chap. i., 4, note 1).

[§ 17.] 3. Usage (auctoritas) alone makes the vowel in the first syllable of mater, frater, pravus, mano (I flow), dico, duco, miror, nitor, scribo, dono, pono, utor, muto, sumo, cura, &c. long; and short in pater, avus, cado, maneo, gravis, rego, tego, bibo, minor, colo, moror, probo, domus, sono, soror, and others. It must be presumed that the student makes himself acquainted with the quantity of such words as these by practice, for rules can be given only with regard to derivatives. It must farther be observed that the i in the following words is long: formica, lectica, lorica, vesica, urtica, hemina, resina, sagina, saliva, castigo, and formido.

a. Derivative words retain the quantity of their root, as in declension and conjugation: thus the a in ămor and ămo is short, and therefore also in ămoris, ămat, ămabam, ămavi, &c. except when the consonants after the vowel of the root produce a difference. New words formed from roots likewise retain the quantity; as from ămoămor, ămicus, ămabilis; from lux, lūcis-lūceo, lūcidus; from māter-māternus, mātertera; and from finis—finio, finitio, finitimus, &c.

[ 18.] With regard to Conjugation, however, the following rules also must be observed:

1. The perfect and supine, when they consist of two syllables, and the tenses formed from them, have the first syllable long, even when in the present tense it is short, e. g., video, vidi; fúgio, fūgi; lego, lēgi, lēgisse, lēgeram, &c.‡ (except, however, when one vowel stands before another,

[Compare Anthon's Lat. Pros., ed. 1842, p. 22, not.]—Am. Ed. +[Because the long vowel or diphthong loses one of its componen vowels by elision, and there is no stress of the voice to lengthen again the remaining short one.]-Am. Ed.

[According to the theory of Grimm (Deutsche Grammatik, vol. i.