IL SYLLABLES.

In the pronunciation of Latin, every word has as many syllables as it has vowels and diphthongs; thus the Latin words, more, vice, acute, and persuade, are pronounced, not as the same words are in English, but with their vowel sounds all heard in separate syllables; thus, mo-re, vi-ce, a-cu-te, per-sua-de.

IIL QUANTITY.

Syllables are, in quantity or length, either long, short, or common (i. e. sometimes long and sometimes short). 1. A syllable is long in quantity:

1) When it contains a diphthong, as the first syllable of cœdo.

2) When its vowel is followed by j, x, z, or any two consonants, except a mute followed by a liquid; as the second syllables of erexit and magister.

2. A syllable is short, when its vowel is followed by another vowel, or a diphthong, as the second syllable of indies.

REM. The letter h does not affect the quantity of the preceding vowel. The quantity of syllables, when not determined by these rules, will be indicated in the vocabularies (and, in some instances, in the exercises) by the dash when long, by the curve when short, and by the two

together

when common.

IV. ACCENTUATION.

1. The primary (or principal) accent, or stress of voice, is placed:

1) In words of two syllables, always on the first; as, homo, a man.

2) In words of more than two syllables, on the penult (the last syllable but one), if that is long in quantity; otherwise on the antepenult (the last syllable but two); as, radicis, con'sulis.

2. An additional accent is placed on each second syl lable preceding the primary accent; as, demonstrātur

V. SOUNDS OF THE LETTERS.

I. THE CONTINENTAL METHOD.*

1. The Sounds of the Vowels.

The Continental sounds of the vowels are as fol

REM. Y is used only in words derived from the Greek.

These sounds are uniformly the same in all situations, except as modified by quantity and accent, (III. and IV.)

2. The Sounds of the Diphthongs.

æ and o ..a in made; e. g., ætas, cœlum.

au

ou in out; e. g.,

aurum.

REM. The vowels in ei and eu are generally pronounced separately.

*For the Continental Pronunciation the editor is indebted to the kindness of Mr. George W. Greene, Instructor in Modern Languages in Brown University.

3. The Sounds of the Consonants.

The pronunciation of the consonants is nearly the same as in English, though it varies somewhat in different countries.

II. THE ENGLISH METHOD.

1. The Sounds of the Vowels*

In the English method, the vowels generally have the long or short English sounds: the length of the sound, however, is not dependent upon the quantity of the vowel, but must be determined by its situation or

accent.

(a) In all monosyllables, vowels have

1) The long sound if at the end of the word; as, si, re. 2) The short sound if followed by a consonant; as, sit, rem; except post, monosyllables in es, and plural cases in os; as, hos (a plural case). ·

(b) In an accented penult, vowels have

1) The long sound before a vowel, diphthong, single consonant, or a mute followed by l, r, or h; as, deus, pater, patres; except tibi and sibi.

2) The short sound before a double consonant, or any two single consonants except a mute followed by l, r, or h; as, bellum, rexit.

(c) In any accented syllable except the penult, vowels have

1) The long sound before a vowel or diphthong; as e in éadem.

*The system of vowel sounds here presented is the same as that given in Andrews and Stoddard's Latin Grammar, and, like that, is based upon Walker's Key to the Pronunciation of Greek and Latin Proper Names. The rules, however, unlike those of Andrews and Stoddard, are so prepared as to show the sounds of the vowels, in all their various situations, independently of the division of words into syllables. This, it is hoped, will facilitate their application.