72 A GLOSSARY OF LATER 



simple ; thus, T -i^tX.oi/."'' This name is of frequent occurrence in the rules of Chce- 

 roboscus, and of other, succeeding grammarians. (Compare E, above.) 

 In modern Greek T is sounded like I. 



§ 50. 



Diphthongs. 



According to the ancient grammarians, a diphthong consists of two sounds, each 

 component part retaining its proper sound."'® The Greek has thirteen diphthongs, 

 seven of which begin with a short vowel, and six with a long one. The latter differ 

 from the former only in the prolongation of the first vowel. 



AI, AT, EI, ET, 01. or, TI, two short vowels. 

 AI, AT, HI, HT, ni, n,T, a long and a short. 



That the ancient Greeks pronounced both the vowels of a diphthong rests on the 

 following considerations, in addition to the direct testimony of the grammarians. 



(a) When a diphthong arose from spiceresis, the presumption is that its elementary 

 sounds remained unchanged in pronunciation. Thus, AI in the monosyllable 7ra« 

 differed from AI in the dissyllable Tra't? only in the greater rapidity of utterance. The 

 same remark applies to ^AtBr]'i"Ai,Sr]<;, ai'«^? oik^?, ala-a-m aia-a-a, Tjl'^a rji^a, aiJco ava, jpalBiov 

 rypdiBiov, Bdl'o'i Sdio<;, Brjio^ S^jio^, Bats Bdi,<;, ev ev, ©prji^ Opv^^, «X??t? «\rj(?, oi? oh, ol'o/iat. oiofiai, 

 wi^a wc^a, patBi,o<; pdiBco^. Also to such datives as fiovaat fiova-qi, r^ripdi, '■fripai, Xoyai, rj^ol, 

 TToXei' TToXet, Ix^^'C IxOvl. Also to the endings aio<; aia aiov, ew? eia eiov, eivos eivq ecvov, otos 

 oca oiov, wto? aia (oiov, eiSrjs, eiBiov, of substantives and adjectives. 



(b) In verbs beginning with a diphthong the augment affected only the first voAvel ; 

 which shows that that vowel was distinctly heard ; as alra> tjitow, diacro} ^i^a, av^m ijv^ov, 

 eiKd^Q) 7]iKaafiai, evBo) tjvBov, oIkco oiikovv. So ewiKeiv (^ecpKew) from eocKa. 



(c) Contractions like the following necessarily imply that both vowels were audible : 



1" It has been asserted that Y was called ^iXov, on the ground that anciently it represented also the 

 sound of the now obsolete letter F (FaO or Aiya/i/xa). But there is no evidence that the Greeks ever 

 represented the sound of the consonant F by the figure Y. It is true, however, that F was often changed 



into its kindred vowel-sound Y, as in cva^e (---)> Kavi^ats ( ), where EY and AY are genume 



diphthongs. As to the Pindaric avarav (---), the original reading was iYirav, which, after F fell 

 into disuse, became aarav, now appearing as a various reading. 



158 Priscian. 1, 50 Diphthongi autem dicuntur, quod binos phthongos, hoc est, voces comprehendunt. Nam 

 sin<Tulae vocales suas voces habent, ut AE diphthongus, quando a poetis per diaeresin profertur, secundum 

 Graecos per ^ et / scribitur, ut auhi, pictai, pro aidae, pictae. 



