4 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



Note. — Ehotacism is the tendency to replace s by r. The 

 following common instances illustrate how s between two 

 vowels gives way to r. Ara (asa, the base of the altare, or 

 high thing raised on it) ; heri, hesi, hesternus, yesterday ; 

 dius, diurnus ; lases, lares, larva ; porro, Trpoo-w ; ausosa, 

 aurora ; virus, visas ; weorer, worse ; Snusa, nurus, snura 

 (O.H.G.) ; gloria, closia, kXcos ; ur-o, us-si ; carmen, casmen ; 

 terra, ter-sa. Festus and Yarrouse foedesum, plusima, melio- 

 sem, maiosibus, arbosem. In a decree against Timotheus given 

 in Maittaire 383-384, r is used instead of s throughout. The 

 decree is Dorian. Cf. also Curtius, Gr. Etym. p. 396 (2nd 

 edition) ; Ahrens, ii. 71 ; Peile, p. 346. Corssen (Formen- 

 lehre, 1866), p. 228, notices that in the perf. subjunctive 

 active, suffix -rim, -rio, -rit, &c., has displaced -sim, -sis, 

 -sit, extant in older forms ; auxim, faxim, &c. Key, Lat. 

 Gr. : loc. cit. Accordingly verto-se becomes vertor-e, and 

 the vowel e being unemphatic drops away. 

 Eoby (j 548) says of the Latin verb, — 

 " There are tw^o voices, the active and the passive (some- 

 times called reflexive or middle). 



" Some verbs have both voices. Some have only the active ; 

 others, called also deponents, have only the passive, but with 

 the signification (apparently) of the active." 



This very guarded statement of the grammarian is to be 

 noted. In vj 734 Eoby has made a list of the deponent verbs, 

 and adds, " Sometimes they, especially in the past participle^ 

 are used in a passive as well as in an active sense." These 

 words are appended at the conclusion of this article. 



Madvig (^; 222, obs. 3) as usual has hit the right nail on 

 the head : — 



" As regards the passive, it is to be noticed that where in 

 German a reflexive verb is used the Latin passive stands 

 thus : Commcndari, to recommend oneself ; congrcgari, to 

 assemble themselves ; contrail i, to contract itself; dclectari, to 

 delight oneself ; effundi, to pour out ; dijfundi, to spread 

 abroad; lavari, to wash oneself; 'iiioveri, to move; mntari, 

 to change ; porrigi, to reach. 



" Sometimes, too, Latin hasapecuhar signification which a, 

 more literal translation would not adequately ex^Dress: tondeor, 

 1 get shaved ; cogor, I see myself obliged, &c." 



In this passage the position of the Latin middle voice is- 

 to some extent indicated, and certain illustrations recorded. 

 The philology of the day accepts under some reserve the Latin 

 middle voice. Sayce seems to adopt it (Introduction to the 

 Science of Language, i., p. 178): "The Latin amamini is 

 the plural masculine of the old middle participle." Morris- 

 (Historical Outlines, § 11) has pointed out a similar pheno- 

 menon in the Scandinavian languages: "The reflexive pro- 



