32 PROFESSOR BLACKIE ON THE 
tree with full luxuriant leafage may bear much lopping, and still remain very 
beautiful. 
Proposition XXVIII—In connection with the orthoepy of the existing 
Greek language, one or two other points deserve mention. The first is that 
the present race, while allowing the spiritus asper to drop, have shown no ten- 
dency to narrow the sphere of that consonantal aspiration so favoured by their 
ancestors, but have rather increased it. For not only do 4, y, s, and @ remain 
with their full aspirated force in the words which originally had them, but 
many words which had a slender consonant in classical usage, now regularly 
receive an aspirate. This specially happens where two slender consonants 
come together, in which case, in the modern practice, the former is always 
aspirated ; thus, 
For xhérrns, they say «dédrns. 
Brarro, <- Bradro. 
, , 
TUTTw, ss TEpTO. 
OelKVULL, ey deixva, 
/, , 
TTWXOS, = PTwXOs. 
MTEPVYES, 5, prépovyes. 
pinta, a plyvo. 
(v4 fo: 
panro, = padro. 
7 >» 
ATTOMAL, ss apTo. 
ee 7. 
TTA, 25 draw. 
And many more. The same tendency to aspiration—closely connected with 
the sibilation so common in classical Greek—has led to the lisping of every 6, 
and the softening of 6 into our English v, which often produces a very pleasant 
effect, as when vodlome, the Romaic pronunciation of BovAowas is compared with 
the rude and canine English bowlomaz. And if the modern Greek has shown 
no objection to the classical aspirates, as little has he felt inclined to soften 
down the masculine &—xs—after the fashion of the Italians, into a double 
sibilant. Besides retaining the ancient € in all cases where it existed, he has 
new created a large class of compound verbs with é« or é€, of which the 
characteristic is, that the initial vowel is omitted or transposed, so that ex 
becomes &, and the word appears commencing with the double consonant. 
Of this class the following are characteristic examples :— 
Eayarro, to cease loving—grow cool. 
Eaxovotoo vn, celebrity. 
Eaorepia, clear starry brightness. 
Eadeyyapia, moonlessness. 
&Banto, to take out the colour. 
