grammar Appendix Pronunciation Vowels In Latin, as in English, the vowels are a,e,i,o,u.1 At one time the English vowels were pronounced like the Latin vowels, but the pronunciation of English has changed greatly. In French, Spanish, Italian, German, and other languages that have adopted the Latin alphabet, the vowels are still pronounced very much as in Latin. Each of the Latin vowels may be pronounced long or short, the differ- ence being one of time. This is called quantity. There is also a difference of sound between the long and the short vowels, except a. This is called quality. The pronunciation is approximately as follows. LONG SHORT LONG AND SHORT ¤ as in father a as first a in aha Martha (¤, a˘) ± as in they or a in late e as in let lateness (±, e˘) ¬ as in police or ea in seat i as in sit seasick (¬, ˘)ı ß as in note o as in for phonograph (ß, o˘) ¥ as in rule or oo in fool u as in full two-footed (¥, u˘) In this book, long vowels are regularly marked with a long mark, called a macron (may´kron) ¯; short vowels are usually unmarked, but ˘ is some- times used. Be careful. It is very important to distinguish the sounds of the long and short vowels. To confuse ¬ and ˘ı , or ± and e˘ in Latin is as bad a mistake as for a person to say, I heard the din in the hall, instead of dean, or I forgot the debt, instead of date. The English equivalents of e and o are only approximate. Avoid pro- nouncing o˘ like o in not or in note; it sounds much like aw. Quantity of Vowels The quantity and quality of vowels must be learned as part of the word. There are, however, a few general rules. 1. A vowel is usually short before another vowel or -h (because h is weakly sounded). 2. A vowel is short before -nt, -nd, final -m and -t, and usually final -r. 3. A vowel is long before -nf, and -ns. 1 And sometimes y (pronounced like French u). English too uses y as a vowel, as in by, but the y in yes, young, et al., is a consonant. 488 grammar Appendixp Diphthongs The first three of the following diphthongs (two vowels making one sound) are the most common ones. ae like ai in aisle ei like ei in freight au like ou in out eu like eh-oo (pronounced quickly) oe like oi in oil ui like oo-ee (pronounced quickly); only in cui and huic. Consonants All letters other than vowels and diphthongs are consonants. The Latin consonants have, generally speaking, the same sounds as in English. The following differences, however, should be noted. b before s or t has the sound of p. c is always hard as in cat, never soft as in city. g is always hard as in go, never soft as in gem. i (consonant) has the sound of y in year. i is a consonant between vowels and at the beginning of a word before a vowel. Some books use j for consonant i. s always has the sound of s in sin; never of s in these. t always has the sound of t in ten; never of t in motion. v has the sound of w in will. x has the sound of x in extra. (ch=k; ph=p; th=t) Doubled consonants are pronounced separately: an-nus . In both English and Latin the combination qu forms a single consonant (kw), and the u is not counted as a vowel. Occasionally in Latin gu (gw) and su (sw) are treated the same way, as in English anguish and suave. English Pronunciation of Latin Latin words that have become thoroughly English should be pro- nounced as English; for example in terra firma, the i is pronounced as in mirth, not as in miracle; in alumni, the i is pronounced as in mile; in alumnae, the ae is pronounced as e in even. Usage varies, especially in the pronunciation of anglicized proper names. Latin o˘ is often lengthened to ß in English, e.g. bonus from Latin bo˘nus. Other examples: bona fide (bohna f¬dee or bohna f¬d [¬ = Eng. eye]), ex officio (eks ohfishioh), modus operandi (mohdus operand¬), sine die (s¬nee d¬ee), vice versa (v¬sa vursa or v¬z vursa), viva voce (veeva vohsee or veeva vohchay [Italian]), Cato (Kaytoh instead of Katoh), Manilius (Man¬lius or Manilius). Syllables Every Latin word has as many syllables as it has vowels or diphthongs: vir-t¥-te, proe-li-um. grammar Appendix 489 A single consonant between two vowels or diphthongs is pronounced with the second: f¬-li-us, a-git. Likewise, the double consonant x [=ks] is preferably joined to the following vowel: d¥-x¬. Compound words are divided into their component parts and are exceptions to this rule: ad-es. When two or more consonants occur between vowels or diphthongs, the division is made before the last consonant: por-tus, v¬nc-t¬, an-nus. An exception to this rule occurs whenever a stop (p, b, t, d, c, g) is followed by a liquid (l, r), in which case the stop combines with the liquid and both are pronounced with the second vowel: p¥-bli-cus, cas-tra. The next to the last syllable of a word is called the penult (Latin paene, almost; ultima, last); the one before the penult (i.e., the third from the end) is called the antepenult. Quantity of Syllables Some syllables of course take longer to pronounce than others, just as some vowels are longer than others. 1. A syllable is naturally long if it contains a long vowel or a diphthong: f¤-mae. 2. A syllable is long by position if it contains a short vowel followed by two or more consonants or the double consonant x (=ks): sil-v¬s, por-tß. Note. Exception is made in the case of a stop followed by a liquid. H is so weakly sounded that it does not help make a syllable long. Caution. Distinguish carefully between long syllable and long vowel; in e˘xe˘mplum the first two syllables are long, though the vowels are short. Accent The accented syllable of a word is the one that is pronounced with more stress or emphasis than the others; so in the word an´swer, the accent is on the first syllable. In Latin the accent is easily learned according to fixed rules. 1. Words of two syllables are accented on the first: fr¤´ter. 2. Words of three or more syllables are accented on the penult if it is long, otherwise on the antepenult: l±g¤´tus, exem´plum; d¬´ce˘re, sı˘´mı˘lis. Note that the accented syllable is not necessarily long. Basic Grammatical Terms The material given here may be reviewed in connection with the lessons. For those who prefer to review basic grammar before beginning the lessons, a number of explanations are given here that are also in the body of the textbook. Teachers can easily devise English exercises for drill with classes that need it, or the sentences on these pages may be used for that purpose. 490 grammar Appendix p The Sentence: Subject and Predicate A sentence is a group of words that completely expresses a thought. Every sentence consists of two parts—the subject, about which something is said, and the predicate, which says something about the subject. The sailor (subject) saved Nauta puellam serv¤vit. the girl (predicate). A subject or predicate is said to be modified by those words that affect or limit its meaning. Parts of Speech The words of most languages are divided according to their use into eight classes called parts of speech. These are: nouns, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, pronouns, verbs, prepositions, and interjections. Nouns A noun (from Latin nßmen, name) is a word that names a person, place, thing, or concept: Anna, Anna; island, ¬nsula; letter, littera; liberty, l¬bert¤s. Nouns may be classified as: 1. common (applies to any one of a group): city, urbs; girl, puella. 2. proper (applies to a particular one of a group and is always capitalized): Rome, Rßma; Julia, I¥lia. Pronouns A pronoun (Latin prß, for; nßmen, name) is a word used in place of a noun. The noun whose place is taken by a pronoun is called an antecedent (Latin ante, before; c±dß, go). 1. Personal pronouns distinguish the three persons: the person speaking: I, ego; we, nßs–first person; the person spoken to: you, t¥, vßs–second person; the person or thing spoken of: he, is; she, ea; it, id; they, e¬–third person. 2. Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions: who?, quis?; what?, quid? 3. Relative pronouns relate to a preceding word (antecedent) and join to it a dependent clause: who, which, what, that, qui, quae, quod. 4. Demonstrative pronouns point out persons or objects definitely—often accompanied with a gesture: this, hic; that, ille; these, h¬; those, ill¬. Adjectives An adjective (Latin adiect¬vus, added to) is used to describe a noun or pronoun or to limit its meaning. grammar Appendix 491 1. Descriptive adjectives are either common or proper: good, bonus; Roman, Rßm¤nus. Proper adjectives begin with a capital letter. 2. Limiting adjectives can be divided into six groups. a. Article—definite: the; indefinite: a, an. There is no definite or indefi- nite article in Latin. b. Numerals—cardinals: one, two, three, etc., ¥nus, duo, tr±s, etc.; ordi- nals: first, second, third, etc., pr¬mus, secundus, tertius, etc.