tions resulting from its regular and constant loss have been described systematically under the diphthongs. The change of s into p is pretty well confined to the Laconian: the nature of it will be described under the changes of Latin s. Thus we find πόρ instead of πούς, τίρ for τίς, θιόρ for θεός, &c., among the glosses of Hesychius: παλεόρ is παλαιός in Aristophanes'. (3) The remaining spirant v was known to the Greeks later than y by a distinct symbol, the Digamma, as it was called from its form. This F, as is well known, is found on old Aeolic and Doric inscriptions, and unmistakeable traces of its presence (as well as of the other semivowel) are to be found in Homer; not indeed with perfect regularity: sometimes e.g. we find ideîv and sometimes Fideiv; this would be not unnatural at a time when the sound was dying out: but it accords best with the theory that the poems were arranged late. There seems to be no reason to suppose (what is possible on phonetic grounds) that either of the other spirants y or s passed into F before they disappeared. F is the representative of original v, and of that only, in spite of one or two mistakes in inscriptions, natural at a time when the v-sound had become almost as strange as y, but the symbol F was still remembered3. That the sound was the same as that of the English w, not'v, is most probable from the easy transition of the semivowel to the vowel, and vice versa: also the arguments respecting the sound of the Latin v. see Examples of the symbol F in Aeolic and Doric are to be found in Ahrens*. Thus we have For in Sappho and Feíπnv (i.e. eiπeîv°); though here, as well as in Homer, it was often omitted; e.g. þáevvõv eidos', though √vid proba 1 Lys. 988: see for more examples Ahrens, II. 71, &c. 2 Thus in Iliad 1. 203 we read but in line 262 ἢ ἵνα ὕβριν ἴδῃς ̓Αγαμένονος 'Ατρείδαο; οὐ γάρ πω τοίους ἴδον ἀνέρας, οὐδὲ Εἰδωμαι. 3 See Gr. Et. 368. 4 Dial. Graec. I. 30, &c.; II. 42, &c. 5 II. 1. 6 Id. XXVI. 2. 7 Id. III. 2. CH. VIII. (ii) V'=v. bly retained the v-sound at least as long as any other word. In spite indeed of the term "Aeolic digamma," used by grammarians, the evidence of the surviving fragments would seem to shew that the Aeolic commonly changed v to u, or hardened it (by dissimilation generally) to ; it was retained, however, more regularly by the Boeotian variety of the Aeolic, which resembled the Doric more than any other1. In Doric we have the evidence of numerous glosses of Hesychius', where indeed the symbol used is T, but where it is almost certain that the F must be replaced, the mistake being that of the copyist: it is indeed possible that a g should be produced before a wsound, as it has been produced in French guêpe, gâter: the tongue (as has been already pointed out) is in the same position for sounding w as for sounding g: but the action of the lips is added for the w. But Ahrens has pointed out that the glosses in which this y occurs, although generally Laconian, yet sometimes bear the mark of being Lesbian and sometimes Boeotian: and it is certainly not conceivable that y should be found in all these dialects instead of v, without more explicit evidence for the fact. Also F occurs in tolerable frequency in inscriptions of the old Doric; e.g. in words like rλéƑos, aiƑei (compare aeuom), &c. But even from these it is clear that the letter was rapidly passing out of common use. It is resolved into u in dúo certainly in common Greek; and in Lesbian we have forms like χεύω for χεFω, πνεύω for πveƑw, ảúŋp, aúws, &c., where the letter is entirely lost in Attic Greek. In all these the v is the radical vowel, intensified in the present-stem; but it must have taken the w-sound (that is, F) before the vowel w: which was then written as v by the Aeolic when they lost the symbol F. The v is also found in the Ionic yovvós, the genitive of yóvu, instead of yovƑós3: in μoûvos for μov-Fos, &c. It appears as the rough breathing at the beginning of 1 See numerous examples from inscriptions in Ahrens, 1. 169, &c. 3 Comp. 222. a word; so that all the spirants in Greek can be resolved into h. This is at once seen by comparison with the Latin: σπepos=uesper; evvvμ has the same root as uestis. The rough breathing thus produced is liable to the same affections as that which represents σ; thus we have ἔσθης: ἵστορ (whence ἱστορία) came to have the smooth breathing in time, as the verb (idμev) seems very early to have had. CH. VIII. (iii) V= rough breathing. substitutes (iv) V=B. These are the regular substitutes for v, found to some Sporadic extent in all dialects. Many more examples might easily of. have been given of these substitutions: but a few suffice, because they are familiar. But there are others very difficult to explain, which occur sporadically, or in one dialect only. Thus in the Laconian v appears commonly hardened to B; e.g. as in Bépyov (where the original v is shewn by our "work"), in Béros for eros (Latin uetus, originally a "year," whence the adjective ueter-nus, as diurnus from dies), in Beĺkatı, Békas, and many other cases where the sound is initial : in ἀβείδω, αβώρ (Lesbian «ύως), in the Cretan ἀβέλιος, the Argive ὤβεα (compare Latin oua), and other words where the sound was medial. And one example common to all Greek is given by the common verb βούλομαι, which is the Ionic form of βολyo-μαι, Aeolic βάλλομαι, and severe Doric βώλομαι. That the original consonant was v' seems clear from Sanskrit vri (VAR), Latin uolo, Gothic vil-jan, and Sclav. vol-it-i1: it is scarcely to be supposed that all the other languages agreed to weaken a sound preserved only by the Greek. This ß then, like the dialectic varieties given above, must be regarded as a strengthening, though there is no apparent reason for it. V sometimes passed into ẞ before p or λ in the Aeolic, as we shall see hereafter; but here the reason is obvious, the influence of the following sound: but no such cause can be assigned for these initial changes. Was the hard Doric B an exceptionally weak sound, itself hardly stronger than v? This is possible, and the change 1 Gr. Et. No. 659. CH. VIII. (1) V=μ. is intelligible, if the Greek v-sound were a true labial, not a labio-dental; that is, either our w, or the labial v: then a weak b would naturally pass into this sound. Curtius thinks that o and u may have had a dissimilating effect on the F, just as we saw in Latin that vu was regularly avoided; and Curtius thinks that ferb-ui from ferv- and bub-ile from bov- are due to this principle. So perhaps the B in Bouλouai may be due to the combined influence of o and λ: but this principle will not explain the Laconian words where o does not occur more than any other vowel. Another variation of v-into μ-has been often assumed'; the change is probable for a very small list of words, scarcely more than those in which μ passes in obscure dialects into B. Curtius allows the change for μáλeupov μάλευρον from Fax, whence aλéw, to grind corn. Max Müller thinks that here and in some other words initial μ has been dropped, and refers aλeupov to MAR, whence Latin mola, &c. Curtius denies the loss of initial μ, as also the transition from μ, a common and easy sound, to v, a sound for which the Greeks had no liking, and which was becoming very uncommon. This argument, I think, is strong; and it will account for the change of F to μ, although to us the latter may seem the harder sound. The two are pronounced so closely together (that is, if we assume that the Greek v was a true labial), that in chance cases the Greeks, wishing to avoid v, might easily slip into μ. Other words, in which Curtius allows the change, are μαλλός (Latin uillus, and μῆλον can hardly be separated from this group), μέλδομαι by ἔλδομαι, μάρπτω by Sanskrit vark, μολπίς by ἐλπίς (a dialectical variety in Hesychius), and ảμþýv by avɣýv. It is commonly assumed in μόσχος by ὄσχος and μηρύω® by ἐρύω. It will be seen that in all these cases there is much uncertainty. 1 Gr. Et. 533. 2 See however Corssen, Krit. Beitr. 165, and Schleicher, 255, 5 II. 323. 4 Theok. xv. 116. Theok. 1. 29. I may mention here the pretty certain change of aF (1)-vos -from avi, Greek Fe-into ȧuvós, though this is not substitution, but arises from the influence of the v. In the simple cases of substitution, the μ must be regarded as one of the many attempts made by the Greeks to avoid the w-sound which was so unpleasant to them. The same struggle led to a different result in many words, i.e. to the introduction of a weak vowel-sound before the w, which then fell out, leaving the vowel behind it: such cases are ἐ-(F)έλδ-ομαι beside μέλδομαι, and many others where the μ-form does not occur, as e-(F)épyw, ¿-(F)eíkoσi, ¿-(F)ion (=aioa), perhaps éoprý compared with Sanskrit vrata, &c. The change of F into y is more strange. It occurs in no common word, but is supported by some rare dialectical forms, which need not here detain us1. It must be regarded as an irregular anticipation of the change (regular in modern Greek) by which y is sounded as a strong y": but the very small number of words, for which the change from F to y can be assumed, is totally inadequate to prove that y had universally sunk into the weak sound of modern times. The Boeotian iv for eyov undoubtedly points to a weak sound of the y in that dialect: we have before seen that the Boeotian resembles the modern Greek3. Forms like yaîa and (F)aîa are of course not in point: the y here is radical and the parasitic v has forced it out. I have thus shewn the different simple sounds to which the spirants sank in Greek, and how they sometimes passed out, leaving no mark at all. Further changes worked by them will be found under the head of Assimilation, and still more when we come to treat of indistinct articulation. The spirants in Latin have been also very considerably affected; but not in any way which so profoundly influenced the character of the language as the changes above-mentioned modified the Greek. The Latin had in CH. VIII. II. Substi tutes for the spi rants in Latin. |