3. Two vowels may unite and form a diphthong, as in English; but in Greek all these combinations must end in or v, and are called proper or improper diphthongs, according as the other vowel is short or long, e. g.:

Proper Diphthongs.

αι, ει, οι, αν, εν, ου.

Improper Diphthongs.
a, n, w, nu.

REM. In the improper diphthongs the, instead of being placed after the other vowel (except after a capital) is written under it, as instead of al. It is then called Iota subscript, i. e. iota written under.

2. Consonants.

4. The Greek has seventeen consonants:

1) Four liquids: λ, μ, v, p.

2) Nine mutes, which may be arranged as fol

REM.-The smooth, middle, and rough mutes of the same class differ from each other only in the degree of aspiration: thus π is not aspirated at all, ẞ is partially so, and is fully aspirated=ph.

3) Three double consonants:

, formed by adding s to a Pi-mute, as sy.

5. The Greek has a rough breathing marked', and a smooth breathing marked'. The former has the sound of the English h, the latter is not heard at all in pronunciation. Every Greek word beginning with a vowel or diphthong, must have one of these breathings written over such vowel or diphthong:* as o, the, pronounced ho; åλŋ0cúw, I speak the truth; cipí, I

am.

IV. ACCENTS.

6. The Greek has three characters to mark accent, called the acute', the grave`, and the circumflex. Every Greek word, as a general rule, must have one accent, and can have but one.

7. This accent must stand on one of the last three syllables of the word.

8. On the last syllable may stand either the acute, the grave, or the circumflex.

9. On the penult (last but one) may stand either the acute or circumflex.

10. On the antepenult (last but two) may stand only the acute, and that only when the ultimate is short.

* The breathing stands over the second vowel of the diphthong, as in εἰμί.

11. The circumflex always shows that the syllable on which it stands is long in quantity.

12. The circumflex on the penult not only shows that such penult is long, but also that the ultimate of the word is short: thus the circumflex on the penult of πoλîτа not only shows that the is long, but also that the a is short.

し

13. The acute on the penult of a word whose ultimate is short, shows the vowel of the penult to be short also: the acute in épyárâ, shows that the á is short.

14. A few monosyllables take no accent. They are called Proclitics.

15. A few other short words either lose their own. accent or throw it back upon the preceding word, as ἄνθρωπός τις, a certain man. Here the accent of τις stands upon the last syllable of aveрwπоs. Such words are called Enclitics.

16. Greek is pronounced according to the written accents quite extensively on the continent of Europe, and in a few of the schools and colleges of our own country; but the more common usage with us, as in England, disregards the written mark entirely, and accents, as in Latin, according to quantity, as follows:

1) In words of two syllables, always on the first. 2) In words of more than two syllables, on the penult if that is long in quantity; otherwise on the antepenult.

V.-SYLLABLES.

17. In Greek, as in Latin, every word has as many syllables as it has separate vowels and diphthongs.

VI.-QUANTITY.

18. A syllable is long in quantity,

1) If it contains a diphthong or one of the long vowels η or ω: as οἴκων.

2) If its vowel, whether long or short in itself, is followed by a double consonant or by any two single consonants, except a mute and a liquid as oupa, in which both syllables are long, though both vowels are short.

19. A syllable is short if it contains one of the short vowels, e or o, before a vowel, diphthong, or a single consonant: as λόγος.

VII.-SOUNDS OF THE LETTERS.

20. There are no less than three distinct methods recognized by classical scholars in the pronunciation of Greek, generally known as the English, the Modern Greek, and the Erasmian; the first prevailing in England and in this country, the second in Greece, and the third in other parts of the continent of Europe. We subjoin a brief outline of each, leaving the instructor to make his own selection.

I.—THE ENGLISH METHOD.

1. Sounds of the Vowels.

21. The vowels, n, w, and v, always have the long English sounds of e, o, and u, as heard in mete, tube, note, e. g. μήν, νῦν, τῶν.

22. The vowels, e and o, have the short English

sounds of e and o in met, not; e. g. èk, тóv; except when they stand before another vowel or at the end of a word, in which positions they are lengthened.

23. The vowels, a and, are pronounced like a and i in Latin, sometimes with the long. English sounds, as in made, pine, and sometimes with the short sounds, as in mad, pin. In words of more than one syllable, however, final a has the sound of final a in America.

The improper diphthongs, a, n, and y, are pronounced precisely like a, n, and w.

3. Sounds of the Consonants.

ng

25. The consonants are pronounced nearly as in English; y, however, is always hard, like g in go, except before K, Y, X, and §, where it has the sound of in sing, as ayyeλos, pronounced anggelos; 9 has the sound of th in thin; σ and 7 never have the sound of sh like s and t in Latin and English: thus 'Acía is not pronounced Ashia, but with the ordinary sound of 8; Kpirías is not pronounced Krishias, but with the ordinary sound of t.