AND BYZANTINE GREEK. 73 



a e I contracted into di by dropping e and lengthening a ; as rifidei^; rifiw (rifia^y The 



Dorians drop a and lengthen e ; as TifideK Ti,fjirii<; (rt/if}?). 

 a 7] I — a 4 by dropping ij and lengthening a ; as n./j.drii'; rifiMv (rtyita?). 

 ao t, — CO I, by dropping a and lengthening o ; as rifidoi/xev rifiioifiev (^Tiii&fiev). 

 aov — u> by dropping a and v and lengthening o ; as xP°-°^ XP^' 

 a le — « by dropping i and e and lengthening a ; as koI lyw Kayw. 

 a Let — db by dropping te and lengthening a ; as koI elra Katra (^KaTa). 

 e ai — ■»; t by dropping a and lengthening e ; as d-jre-^Odveai dTreyfidvrji, (direxddvrj). It is 



contracted also into et, by simply dropping the a ; as Xeyeai Xeyrji (Xe'yi;) or Xeyei. 

 7] a I — 7) I by dropping a ; as a^t/cr/at acfuKiji, (^d(f>iKrjy 

 oav — cov by dropping a and lengthening o; as 6 a^ro's 03VTd<;. 

 oca — £0 by dropping la and lengthening o ; as ol dWoi wWoi. 

 o le — ov by dropping le and lengthening o; as ol ifioc ov/moL 

 oei — o t by dropping e ; as a-Tscpavdei, (ne^avol. The Doric contracts it into wi ; as 



aTe<^avo)i ((rretpavcpX 



7] I — o t by dropping 7] ; as S5jA,o7?{s St^Xoi?. Also into « t ; as SoTjts Sci)t9 (Sms). 

 CO t, — w t by dropping o ; as eyw olSa iywoSa (^eyuiBay 

 coev — w V by dropping e ; thus w Evpmi^T) covpiTriBt]. 



(d) The change of EI, ET into 01, OT, in forms like 'KeXoiira, eoiKu, SeSoiKa, eCKrjKovOa, 

 cnrovhri, from Xeljrco, eUco, BelSco, EAETGfl, a-TrevSco, shows that the E was not a silent 

 letter. 



§ 51. 



The Diphthong AI. 



Plato jocosely derives BiKaiov from Siaidv (the neuter participle of Stw/xt), by 

 simply inserting a K between AI and A, for the sake of euphony.'"^ From this it may 

 be inferred that the last sounds of BIkmov were ION ; that is, the I of the diphthong 

 AI was distinctly heard. 



The Greek diphthong AI becomes AE in Latin ; as AlcrxvXo<;, Aeschylus. Sometimes 

 the Romans changed the I into its corresponding consonant, and then doubled it in 

 pronunciation, in order to preserve the original quantity of the syllable ; thus, A'ia<s Aiax, 

 Mala Maia, were pronounced Aiiax [A-yyax), Maiia (Ma-yi/ay^'^ Quintilian states 



1=5 Plat. Cratyl. 412 D. 



1^" Prisciax. 1, 50 In Graecis vero, quoticns liujusmodi fit apud nos diaeresis penultimae syllabae, / 

 pro duplici consonante accipitur, ut Maia, Blai'a, Aiax, A'ias. See also Id. De XII vers. Aen. 33. 

 VOL. VII. NEW SERIES. 10 



