ON LATIN PRONUNCIATION. 463 



their combination with other letters, and changed with the varying 

 custom of the times. The principal or alphabetical sound of each of 

 the vowels cannot now be ascertained; but, following those who have 

 most deeply investigated the subject, we may assume as extremely 

 probable that a was pronounced like the a in papa, e like the circum- 

 flexed e in the French bSte, % aa the i in might, o like the o in note and 

 not, and u like the oo in boot. With respect to the consonants, there 

 is not so much room for doubt; for the most part they have a well 

 established pronunciation in all languages, which is only modified by 

 position. It is clearly established that c and g were never soft as they 

 are sometimes made before vowels, and that j had the sound of y in 

 youth, as it still retains in the Italian. 



With reference to the second element — accent — the Grammarians 

 are more explicit. They have left us a complete set of rules according 

 to which the proper syllables may be correctly accentuated. These 

 rules form part, as far as they go, of a system of elocution. They 

 indicate those changes in the pitch of the voice which give force and 

 effect to spoken language. The following are some of the rules relating 

 to the use of the acute and circumflex accents : — 



(1) A monosyllable takes the acute or circumflex according as its 



vowel is long or short by nature. 



(2) In dissyllabic words, the accent is on the penult. 



(3) In words of more than two syllables, the accent is put on the 



penult if it is long either by nature or position; the acute 

 is put on the ante-penult, if the penult is short. 



To these rules there are many exceptions which it is unnecessary 

 to mention here. To these principles of accentuation two German 

 critics, Lipsius and Vossius, have taken exception, but the reasonable- 

 ness of the rules is apparent, and the fact that they were formally 

 acknowledged as early as the days of Quintilian may serve as a sufficient 

 vindication of the Grammarians. 



The third element, that of quantity, depends upon the length of time 

 occupied in the utterance of a syllable. Originally some long vowels 

 appear to have been distinguished from short vowels either by duplica- 

 tion as Of/, ee, or by capital letters as I. When these rude expedients 

 were abandoned, they were replaced by the ordinary marks - ^, by 

 doubling the following consonant, aa in classis, summus,' etc, or a 

 similar result was secured by other means. In all cases, however. 



