PART II.

HOW TO USE IT.

The directions now to be given may be fittingly introduced by a few paragraphs from Professor Munro's pamphlet on the pronunciation of Latin, already more than once quoted from. He says--and part of this has been cited before:

"We know exactly how Cicero, or Quintilian did or could spell; we know the syllable on which they placed the accent of almost every word; and in almost every case we already follow them in this. I have the conviction that in their best days philological people took vast pains to make the writing exactly reproduce the sounding; and that if Quintilian or Tacitus spelt a word differently from Cicero or Livy, he also spoke it so far differently. With the same amount of evidence, direct and indirect, we have for Latin, it would not, I think, be worth anybody's while to try to recover the pronunciation of French or English; it might, I think, be worth his while to try to recover that of German or Italian, in which sound and spelling accord more nearly, and accent obeys more determinable laws."

"I am convinced," he says in another place, "that the mainstay of an efficient reform is the adoption essentially of the Italian vowel system: it combines beauty, firmness and precision in a degree not equalled by any other system of which I have any knowledge. The little ragged boys in the streets of Rome and Florence enunciate their vowels in a style of which princes might be proud."

And again:

"I do not propose that every one should learn Italian in order to learn Latin. What I would suggest is, that those who know Italian should make use of their knowledge and should in many points take Italian sounds for the model to be followed; that those who do not know it should try to learn from others the sounds required, or such an approxi-mation to them as may be possible in each case."

We may then sum up the results at which we have arrived in the following directions:

First of all pay particular attention to the vowel sounds, to make them full and distinct, taking the Italian model, if you know Italian, and always observing strictly the quantity.

Pronounce

[long a] as in Italian fato or as final a in aha!

a as in Italian fatto; or as initial a in aha! or as in fast (not as in fat).

[long e] as second e in Italian fedele; or as in fête (not fate); or as in vein.

e as in Italian fetta; or as in very.

[long i] as first i in Italian timide; or as in caprice,

i as second i in Italian timide; or as in capricious.

i or u, where the spelling varies between the two (e.g. maximus, maxumus), as in German Müller.

[long o] as first o in Italian orlo; or as in more.

o as first o in Italian rotto; or as in wholly (not as in holly).

[long u] as in Italian rumore; or as in rural.

u as in Italian ruppe; or as in puss (not as in fuss).

Let i in vi before d, t, m, r or x, in the first syllable of a word, be pronounced quite obscurely, somewhat as first i in virgin.

In the matter of diphthongs, be sure to take always the correct spelling, to begin with, and thus avoid what Munro justly terms "hateful barbarisms like coelum, coena, moestus." Much time is wasted by students and bad habits are acquired in not finding, at the outset, the right spelling of each word and holding to it. This each student must do for himself, consulting a good dictionary, as editors and editions are not always to be depended on. Here it is the diphthongs that present the chief difficulty and call for the greatest care.

In pronouncing diphthongs sound both vowels, but glide so rapidly from the first to the second as to offer to the ear but a single sound. In the publication of the Cambridge (Eng.) Philological Society on "Pronunciation of Latin in the Augustan Period," the following directions are given:

"The pronunciation of these diphthongs, of which the last three are extremely rare, is best learnt by first sounding each vowel separately and then running them together, AE as ah-eh, AU as ah-oo, OE as o-eh, EI as eh-ee, EU as eh-oo, and UI as oo-ee."

Thus:

AE (ah-éh) as in German näher; or as EA in pear; or AY in aye (ever); (not like a* in fate nor like AI in aisle).

AI (ah-ée) as in aye (yes).

AU (ah-óo) as in German Haus, with more of the U sound than OU in house.

EI (eh-ée) nearly as in veil. (In dein, deinde, the EI is not a diphthong, but the E, when not forming a distinct syllable, is elided.)

EU (eh-óo) as in Italian Europa. (In neuter and neutiquam elide the E.)

OE (o-éh) nearly like German ö in Goethe.

OI is not found in the classical period. (In proin, proinde, the O is either elided or forms a distinct syllable. OU in prout is not a diphthong; the U is either elided or forms a distinct syllable.)

UI (oo-ée) as in cuirass.

In the pronunciation of consonants certain points claim special attention. And first among these is the sounding of the doubled consonants. Whoever has heard Italian spoken recognizes one of its greatest beauties to be the distinctness, yet smoothness, with which its ll and rr and cc--in short, all its doubled consonants--are pronounced. No feature of the language is more charming. And one who attempts the same in Latin and perseveres, with whatever difficulty and pains, will be amply rewarded in the music of the language.

A good working rule for pronouncing doubled consonants is to hold the first until ready to pronounce the second: as in the words _we'll lie till late, not to be pronounced as we lie till eight_.

Next in importance, and, in New England at least, first in difficulty, is the trilling of the r. There can be no approximation to a satisfactory pronunciation of Latin until this r is acquired; but the satisfaction in the result when accomplished is well worth all the pains taken.

Another point to be observed is that the dentals t, d, n, l, require that the tongue touch the teeth, rather than the palate. Munro says: "d and t we treat with our usual slovenliness, and force them up to the roof of our mouth: we should make them real dentals, as no doubt the Romans made them, and then we shall see how readily ad at, _apud aput, illud illut_ and the like interchange." This requires care, but amply repays the effort.

It is necessary also to remember that n before a guttural is pronounced as in the same position in English, e.g., in ancora as in anchor; in anxius as in anxious; in relinquo as in relinquish.

Remember to make n before f or s a mere nasal, having as little prominence otherwise as possible, and to carefully lengthen the preceding vowel.

Studiously observe the length of the vowel before the terminations gnus, gna, gnum.

Remember that the final syllable in m, when not elided, is to be pronounced as lightly and rapidly as possible, the more lightly and indistinctly the better.

Remember that s must not be pronounced as z, except where it represents z in Greek words, as Smyrna (Zmyrna), Smaragdus (Zmaragdus), otherwise always pronounce as in sis.

Remember in pronouncing v to direct the lower lip toward the upper lip, avoiding the upper teeth.

In general, in pronouncing the consonants conform to the following scheme:

b as in blab.

b before s or t, sharpened to p, as urbs==urps; obtinuit== optinuit.

c as sceptic (never as in sceptre).

ch as in chemist (never as in cheer or chivalry).

d as in did, but made more dental than in English.

d final, before a word beginning with a consonant, in particles especially, often sharpened to t as in tid-bit (tit-bit).

f as in fief, but with more breath than in English.

g as in gig (never as in gin).

gn in terminations gnus, gna, gnum, makes preceding vowel long.

h as in hah!

i (consonant) as in onion.

k as in kink.

l initial and final, as in lull.

l medial, as in lullaby, always more dental than in English.

m initial and medial, as in membrane.

m before q, nasalized.

m final, when not elided, touched lightly and obscurely, somewhat as in tandem (tandm); or as in the Englishman's pronunciation of Blenheim (Blenhm), Birmingham (Birminghm).

n initial and final, as in nine.

n medial, as in damnable, always more dental than in English.

n before c, g, q, x, as in concord, anger, sinker, relinquish, anxious, the tongue not touching the roof of the mouth.

n before f or s, nasal, lengthening the preceding vowel, as in renaissance.

p as in pup.

q as in quick.

r as in roar, but trilled, as in Italian or French. (This is most important.)

s as in sis (never as in his).

t as in tot, but more dental than in English (never as in motion).

th nearly as in then (never as in thin).

v (u consonant) nearly as in verve, but labial, rather than labio- dental; like the German w (not like the English w). Make English v as nearly as may be done without touch-* the lower lip to the upper teeth.

x as in six.

z nearly as dz in adze.

Doubled consonants to be pronounced each distinctly, by holding the first until ready to pronounce the second.

As Professor Ellis well puts it: "No relaxation of the organs, no puff of wind or grunt of voice should intervene between the two parts of a doubled consonant, which should more resemble separated parts of one articulation than two separate articulations."

"Duplication of consonants is consequently regarded simply as the energetic utterance of a single consonant."

ELISION.

Professor Ellis believes that the m was always omitted in speaking and the following consonant pronounced as if doubled (quorum pars as quoruppars). Final m at the end of a sentence he thinks was not heard at all. Where a vowel followed he thinks that the m was not heard, the vowel before being slurred on to the initial vowel of the following word.

The Cambridge (Eng.) Philological Society, however, takes the view that "final vowels (or diphthongs) when followed by vowels (or diphthongs) were not cut off, but lightly run on to the following word, as in Italian. But if the vowel was the same the effect was that of a single sound."

Professor Munro says:

"In respect of elision I would only say that, by comparing Plautus with Ovid, we may see how much the elaborate cultivation of the language had tended to a more distinct sounding of final syllables; and that but for Virgil's powerful influence the elision of long vowels would have almost ceased. Clearly we must not altogether pass over the elided vowel or syllable in m, except perhaps in the case of e* in common words, que, neque, and the like."

This view, held by the Cambridge Philological Society and by Professor Munro, is the one generally accepted; the practice recommended by them is the one generally in use, and that which seems safe and suitable to follow. That is: Do not altogether pass over the elided vowel or syllable in m, except in cases of very close connection, in compound words or phrases, or when the final and initial vowel are the same, or in the case of e* final in common words, as que, neque, and the like; but let the final vowel run lightly on to the following vowel as in Italian, and touch lightly and obscurely the final syllable in m. The o or e of proin, proinde, prout, dein, deinde, neuter, neutiquam, when not forming a distinct syllable, are to be treated as cases of elision between two words.

QUANTITY.

In the pronunciation of Latin the observance of quantity and of pitch are the two most difficult points of attainment; and they are the crucial test of good reading.

The observance of quantity is no less important in prose than in verse. A little reflection will convince the dullest mind that the Romans did not pronounce a word one way in prose and another in verse, that we have not in poetry and prose two languages. Cicero and Quintilian both enjoin a due admixture of long and short syllables in prose as well as verse; and any one who takes delight in reading Latin will heartily agree with Professor Munro when he says: "For myself, by observing quantity, I seem to feel more keenly the beauty of Cicero's style and Livy's, as well as Virgil's and Horace's."

Therefore until one feels at home with the quantities, let him observe the rule of beating time in reading, to make sure that the long syllables get twice the time of the short ones. In this way he will soon have the pronunciation of each word correctly fixed in mind, and will not be obliged to think of his quantities in verse more than in prose. A long step has been taken in the enjoyment of Latin poetry when the reader does not have to be thinking of the 'feet.'

Young students particularly should be especially careful in the final syllable of the verse. Since, so far as the measure is concerned, there is no difference there between the long and the short syllable, the reader is apt to be careless as to the length of the syllable itself, and to make all final syllables long, even to the mispronouncing of the word, thereby both making a false quantity and otherwise injuring the effect of the verse, by importing into it a monotony foreign to the original. Does not Cicero himself say that a short syllable at the end of the verse is as if you ' stood (came to a stand), but a long one as if you ' sat down'?

It is, in fact, in the pronouncing of final syllables everywhere that the most serious and persistent faults are found, bus for bus being one of the worst and most common cases. How much of the teacher's time might be spared, for better things, if he did not have to correct bus into bus!

The disposition to neglect the double and doubled consonants is another serious fault, as well as the slovenly pronunciation of two consonants, where the reader fails to give the time necessary to speak each distinctly, making false quantity and mispronunciation at the same time.

In general, if two symbols are written we are to infer that two sounds were intended. The only exception to this is in the case of a few words where the spelling varies, as casso or caso. In such cases we may suppose that the doubled consonant was only designed to indicate length.

Another, apparent, exception is in the case of a mute followed by a liquid; but the mute and liquid are regularly sounded as one, and therefore do not affect the length of the preceding vowel. Sometimes, however, for the sake of time, the verse requires them to be pronounced separately. In this case each is to be given distinctly; the mute and liquid must not coalesce. For it must not be forgotten that, as a rule, the vowel before a mute followed by a liquid is short, in which case it must on no account be lengthened. Thus, ordinarily, we say pa-tris, but the verse may require pat-ris.

Although the vowel before two consonants is generally--short, we find, in some instances, a long vowel in this position. For example, it would appear that the vowel of the supine and cognate parts of the verb is long if the vowel of the present indicative, though short, is followed by a medial (b, g, d, z), as actus, lectus, from ago, lego.

Let it be remembered in the matter of i consonant between two vowels, that we have really the force of two ii's, as originally written, one, vowel, making a diphthong with the preceding, the other, consonant, introducing the new syllable; and that the same is true of the compounds of jacio, which should be written with a single i but pronounced as with two, as obicit (objicit).

ACCENT.

The question of accent presents little difficulty as to place, but some as to quality, and much as to kind. As to quality, it must be remembered that while the acute accent is found on syllables either short or long (by nature or position), and on either the penult or the antepenult, the circumflex is found only on long vowels, and (in words of more than one syllable) only on the penult, and then only in case the ultima is short. Thus, spés, but dúx; lûna, but lún[long a]; legâtus, but legáti. In these examples the length of the syllable is the same and of course remains the same in inflection, but the quality of the accent changes. In the one case the voice is both raised and depressed on the same syllable, in the other it is only raised. As Professor Ellis puts it: "If the last syllable but one is long, it is spoken with a raised pitch, which is maintained throughout if its vowel is short, as: vént[long o]s, or if the last syllable is long, as: _f[long a]m[long a]e_; but sinks immediately if its own vowel is long, and at the same time the vowel of the last syllable is short, as fâma, to be distinguished from f[long a]m[long a]."

But when we come to the question of the kind of accent, we come upon the most serious matter practically in the pronunciation of Latin, and this because of a difficulty peculiar to the English speaking peoples. The English accent is one of stress, whereas the Roman is one of pitch.

No one will disagree with Professor Ellis when he "assumes," in his Quantitative Pronunciation of Latin, "that the Augustan Romans had no force accent, that is, that they did not, as we do, distinguish one syllable in every word invariably by pronouncing it with greater force, that is, with greater loudness, than the others, but that the force varied according to the feeling of the moment, or the beat of the timekeeper in singing, and was used for purposes of expression; just as with us, musical pitch is free, that is, just as we may pronounce the same word with different musical pitches for its different syllables, and in fact are obliged to vary the musical pitch in interrogations and replies. The fixity of musical pitch and freedom of degrees of force in Latin, and the freedom of musical pitch and fixity of degrees of force in English sharply distinguish the two pronunciations even irrespective of quantity."

But this pitch accent, while alien to us, is not impossible of acquisition, and it is essential to any adequate rendering of any Latin writer, whether of prose or verse. Nor will the attainment be a work of indefinite time if one pursues with constancy some such course as the following, recommended by Professor Ellis:

"The place of raised pitch," he says, "must be strictly observed, and for this purpose the verses had better be first read in a kind of sing- song, the high pitched syllables being all of one pitch and the low pitched syllables being all of one pitch also, but about a musical 'fifth' lower than the other, as if the latter were sung to the lowest note of the fourth string of a violin, and the former were sung to the lowest note of its third string."

In the foregoing pages an effort has been made to bring together compactly and to set forth concisely the nature of the 'Roman method' of pronouncing Latin; the reasons for adopting, and the simplest means of acquiring it. No attempt has been made at a philosophical or exhaustive treatment of the subject; but at the same time it is hoped that nothing unphilosophical has crept in, or anything been omitted, which might have been given, to render the subject intelligible and enable the intelligent reader to understand the points and be able to give a reason for each usage herein recommended.

The main object in view in preparing this little book has been to help the teachers of Latin in the secondary schools, to furnish them something not too voluminous, yet as satisfactory as the nature of the case allows, upon a subject which the present diversity of opinion and practice has rendered unnecessarily obscure.

To these teachers, then, a word from Professor Ellis may be fitly spoken in conclusion:

"To teach a person to read prose well, even in his own language, is difficult, partly because he has seldom heard prose well read, though he is constantly hearing prose around him, intonated, but unrhythmical. In the case of a dead language, like the Latin, which the pupil never hears spoken, and seldom hears read, except by himself or his equally ignorant and hobbling fellow-scholars, this difficulty is inordinately increased. Let me once more impress on every teacher of Latin the duty of himself learning to read Latin readily according to accent and quantity; the duty of his reading out to his pupils, of his setting them a pattern, of his hearing that they follow it, of his correcting their mistakes, of his leading them into right habits. If the quantitative pronunciation be adopted, no one will be fit to become a classical teacher who cannot read a simple Latin sentence decently, with a strict observance of that quantity by which alone the greatest of Latin orators regulated his own rhythms."

"All pronunciation is acquired by imitation, and it is not rill after hearing a sound many times that we are able to grasp it sufficiently well to imitate. It is a mistake constantly made by teachers of language to suppose that a pupil knows by once hearing unfamiliar sounds, or even unfamiliar combinations of familiar sounds. When pupils are made to imitate too soon, they acquire an erroneous pronunciation, which they afterward hear constantly from themselves actually or mentally, and believe that they hear from the teacher during the small fraction of a second that each sound lasts, and hence the habits of these organs become fixed."

The following direction is of the utmost importance (Curwen's "Standard Course," p. 3): "The teacher never sings (speaks) with his pupils, but sings (utters, reads, dictates) to them a brief and soft pattern. The first art of the pupil is to listen well to the pattern, and then to


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