INDICATING VOWEL LENGTH IN LATIN. 89 



first syllable of the word is preserved, so that it is impossible to say 

 whether or not there was a mark on the only other long vowel. 



Fourteen words have marks on the fourth syllable from the end. 

 In eight instances this is also the first syllable of the word, and in 

 eight instances all the surviving long vowels are marked. Four of 

 the words have other marks as well, and there is one repetition, 

 uni versus and univer(si). It is perhaps significant that in several 

 of the words, amicitia, Oceanus, tribunicia, universus, for example, 

 we have a single long vowel in the neighborhood of short sounds, 

 where the quantity is especially important for correct pronunciation. 



On the last three syllables marks are much more frequent, which 

 is not surprising when we consider the relative number of long and 

 short words in the language. ^° On the antepenult we have sixty-one 

 marks. In thirty-four of these the antepenult is the first syllable of 

 the word and in forty-eight it is the accented syllable. In five of the 

 twelve instances in which the antepenult is not the accented syllable 

 the accented penult is also marked, and in four others the accented 

 penult contains a short vowel followed by two consonants, leaving 

 only three words in which the accented syllable is not marked when 

 it could be marked. There are several repetitions : curiam twice ; 

 ostium twice ; ^^ f rumentum twice ; aerarium twice. Eight hidden 

 quantities are marked and only one is unmarked 



For the penult the figures greatly increase, there being 167 ex- 

 amples of an indication of the length of that syllable. In every case 

 but one the penult is the accented syllable. The solitary exception is 

 civica, one of the few errors in the body of the inscription, a short i 

 being written with I longa. In fifty-four instances the penult is the 

 first syllable of the word. 



The greatest number of marks, 204, is found on the final syllable. 

 In twenty-nine words there is also a second mark, usually on the 

 penult. Thirty-one monosyllables have not been included. 



It does not seem probable that any particular long vowel was more 



20 In the M. A. there are but four words of six syllables, twenty-four of 

 five syllables, and ninety-four of four syllables. 



21 For brevity, mere differences in case, such as ostium, ostio, are not 

 noted separately. 



