A single syllable may contain a vowel with two or more con- 15 sonants on each side of it. Two consecutive syllables may therefore, if the first ends and the second begins with a combination of consonants, bring together in the middle a twofold aggregation of

consonants.

The aggregation of consonants in the middle of a word is limited only by the necessity of its being capable of precise division into a pronounceable final combination followed by a pronounceable initial combination.

But in ordinary pronunciation a consonant between two vowels is uttered partly with both. The real division of the syllables is therefore neither before nor after the consonant, but in the middle of it, i.e. after the closing of the organs and before the opening.

Accordingly a valid aggregation of consonants in the middle of a word must be such that some one of the consonants shall fitly close the first syllable, and also open the second syllable: e. g. actra is divisible into act-tra; but act-pra is not divisible into act-tpra or into actp-pra, tpra not being a possible initial combination, nor actp a possible final combination.

The division of a word into syllables is in modern languages 16 decided rather by the etymological than by a phonetic division. So far as this phonetic principle is disregarded, the word is either resolved not into separate syllables, but into separate words, or else a vowel is lightly interposed between the consonants by the opening of the organs to complete one consonant before uttering the next; e.g. actpra becomes actěpra or acětěpra.

On the division in Latin, see Chap. XI.

CHAPTER III.

VOWELS AND COMBINATIONS OF VOWELS.

THE shape of the mouth determines the quality of the vowel. 17 There are two great agents in modifying vowel sound, the tongue and the lips. The tongue by the elevation of its hinder part towards the palate diminishes internally the oral channel: the lips being protruded lengthen the oral channel and contract the external aperture.

The purest and simplest vowel is Italian a, English ah. The 18 extremes are Italian i (i. e. English ee), being the vowel with the narrowest channel: and Italian u, English oo, the vowel with the longest channel and narrowest external aperture. Of these a is formed nearest to the guttural point of contact; i at the palato-dental point; u at the labial.

Other vowels, i.e. other modifications of vowel sound, may be regarded as intermediate either between a and 1 (lingual vowels), or

19

between a and u (labial or round vowels), or partaking in some degree of the characters of both lines. Each vowel also may be wide or close, according as the pharynx (i.e. the cavity at the back of the tongue above the larynx) is more or less expanded.

It is difficult to put any precise limit to the number of possible vowels, most nations, and, indeed, most individuals, differing more or less from one another in vowel pronunciation. But the vowels most worth notice for an English student of Latin are given in the following list. All may be either long or short. (Ellis's palæotypic symbols and Bell's names are subjoined to each. Most of the parallelisms are from Ellis.)

I. Germ. a (a. 'Low back wide'). Scot. măn; Germ. mănn, mähnen.

2.

Ital. a (a. Mid back wide'). Engl. father; Ital. mătto, māno; Fr. chatte.

3. A common Engl. vowel (ǝ or H. 'Mid mixed' or 'Mid back '). Engl. up, son, does; nearly tailor, paper; long in urn, word, fern, bird; nearly Fr. que je me repente.

4. Ital. close o (uh. 'High mixed wide round'). Ital. croce, dolce, Roma. It sounds to English between 3 and 9, but nearer 9.

5. Engl. short o (5. Low back wide round'). Engl. odd, doll, John, dog.

6. Engl. aw (A. 'Low back round'). Engl. awed, tall, pawn; Austrian a; short in Engl. august.

7. Ital. open o (o. Mid back wide round'). Cumberland home; Ital. uomo; French short o, e. g. homme; Germ. short o, e. g. gold.

8. French au (o. 'Mid back round'). Engl. ŏmit, window, home (but cf. § 21); Germ. long o, e.g. gross.

9. Engl. short u (z. 'High back wide round'). Engl. pull, book,

wood.

10.

Ital. u (u. 'High back round'). Engl. brute, rule, do, mood; short in French poule, coupe.

II.

French eu (oe. Mid front wide round'). Fr. peur, jeune; Germ. ö, e.g. böcke, Göthe.

12. French u (y. High front wide round'). Devonshire combe, you; French du, hutte; Germ. ü, e.g. lücke, Müller.

13. Engl. short a (æ. Low front wide'). Engl. hăt, măn; long in (sometimes) half, ask, and in Somersetshire Bath.

14.

Ital. open e (E. 'Low front'). Scot. ell, pet; Ital. bello, letto, bene, Galileo; Germ. ä, e.g. Väter; Fr. même. 15. Engl. short e (e. Mid front wide'). Scot, ill, pit; Germ. fett, eben; Fr. elle, les.

Engl. ell, pet, men ;

16. Ital. close e (e. Mid front'). Engl. a in aerial; Ital. quello, detta, remo; Fr. é, e. g. été.

17. Engl. short 1 (2. High front wide'). long sound is heard in singing and in Icelandic.

Engl. shin, fit, pity; the

18. Ital. 1 (i. High front'). Engl. machine, feet; Scot. pity; the ordinary Fr., Germ., and Ital. i.

Of these 5 to 18 may be arranged tabularly from their common base a to each of the extremes:

A diphthong is the sound made by the voice while passing from 20 one vowel position to another. The precise sound varies according to (1) the quality of the limiting vowels; (2) the distance between them; (3) the evenness of the rate of speed. The most usually recognized diphthongs are formed when the passage is from an open to a close position, i.e. when the initial position is nearer to a, and further from 1 or u than the final position is.

The following may here be noted, the limiting vowels being 21 denoted by their numbers in the list given above. (Ellis' symbol is added in brackets. On diphthongs with Engl. r see Appendix A.) Germ. haus, laut.

2 to 10 (au).

3 to 10 (ǝu). 8 to 10 (ou).

Engl. now, bough, house, loud.

Southern Engl. long o, the second element being

faint, e.g. no, bone, hose.

13 to 1o (au).

Cockney town.

15 to 10 (eu). American town; Ital. and Span. Europa.

2 to 18 (ai). Engl. ay (yes), a broad sound of I, Isaiah; Germ. hain, Kaiser, theil; Ital. ai (with first element prolonged), daino, laido; French ai (with second element prolonged), faience.

3 to 18 (ai).

13 to 18 (ai).

16 to 18 (eei).

Engl. long i, e.g. fine, eye, buy, die.

Cockney and Scotch long i.

Southern Engl. long a, the second element being

faint; e. g. fate, fain, feint.

5 to 18 (i). Engl. oi, e.g. boil, boy, oyster.

7 to 12 or 18 (oy or oi). Germ. eu, e.g. heute, euch.

A diphthong sometimes gives way to an intermediate vowel, 22 which yet is often written as a diphthong. Comp. Germ. au, ai with French au, ai. Again, an intermediate vowel is sometimes resolved into a diphthong; e.g. Cockney au for ō.

The sounds represented in English by w and y when initial 23 are usually called semivowels. They easily arise when the voice passes from a closer to a more open vowel position; i. e. w in passing from u or o, y in passing from 1 or e, backwards towards a. The consonantal character (compare Engl. we with Fr. oui) is produced by very slight pressure of the lips in the case of w, of the tongue and palate in the case of y, followed by instant separation.

CHAPTER IV.

LAWS OF PHONETIC CHANGE1.

i. PHONETIC change in words is either voluntary, e.g such as 24 is made for the purposes of inflexion, or involuntary. The latter alone is the subject of the following statements.

ii. Involuntary phonetic change is the result of a struggle be- 25 tween the physical tendency to reduce the effort of articulation, and the intellectual or instinctive desire of preserving any parts of the word which are characteristic of its meaning. The latter acts mainly by way of resistance.

e. g. ab is much seldomer changed in composition than sub, because of the danger of confusion with ad.

In the passive voice forms like amabaris, amaberis, amareris are shortened into amabare, &c., but amaris is not shortened to amare lest it should be confused with the present infinitive.

iii. The normal condition of these forces is one of apparent 26 equilibrium, but really of slow conflict, which however is called into greater and more perceptible activity, when a new sound or syllable is added to the word, as is done by inflexion or derivation or composition in order to adapt the word to a modification or enlargement of the conception.

Sudden phonetic change.

iv. Such an addition may produce phonetic changes in two 27 ways: (1) by its adding to the length or weight of the word; and (2) by its bringing into contact sounds, which do not then admit of easy articulation in their integrity.

1 The illustrations throughout this Chapter are meant as illustrations only, not as in any way exhausting the phenomena. Many of the facts are stated more fully as regards Latin in the sixth and following Chapters.

V. So far as such an addition lengthens a word, there is a 28 tendency to counteract this in other ways, especially

1. by omitting short unaccented vowels; e. g. audacter for audaciter; jurgium for jurigium; disciplina for discipulina, &c.

2.

by omitting entire syllables; e. g. homicidium for hominicidium; veneficium for venenificium; viginti for dvi-decen-ti; corpulentus for corporulentus; voluntas for voluntitas, &c.

Compound verbs rarely retain the reduplication in the perfect; e.g: tango, tetigi, but contingo, contigi.

So in French semet ipsissimum becomes in old Provençal smet essme; in Provençal medesme; in old French meisme; in modern French même. Maleaptus becomes Prov. malapti; Ital. malato ; French malade.

In English Cholmondeley is pronounced Chumley; Brighthelmstone, Brighton; Wymondham, Wyndham; Towcester, Towster; Marjoribanks, Marchbanks; Cirencester, Cicester; &c.

3. by slurring over the final syllable, which in Latin is always unaccented; e. g. amavēre for amavērunt; amatör for amatōr, &c. Each of these changes may again bring incompatible sounds into

contact.

vi. The incompatibility of neighbouring sounds may be absolute, or only relative to other combinations ready at hand to replace them. That is, it may be impossible to pronounce two neighbouring sounds, or, at least, it may be much easier to pronounce other sounds nearly allied to the more difficult sounds.

Thus we have suggero as well as succurro, though subgero contains no such incompatibility as subcurro does.

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vii. Sounds are incompatible either from requiring very different 30 positions of the organs, or from being respectively voiced and voiceless (flat and sharp).

viii. When two incompatible sounds would otherwise come 31 together, usually the difficulty is foreseen, and instead of the organs being left, after pronouncing the former, to do what they can with the latter, the anticipation works a change in the former, or at least acts so as to preserve the latter. (But the reverse is sometimes the case1.)

1 When the former of the two consonants or vowels is changed to uit the latter, the assimilation is called regressive; when the latter is changed to suit the former, progressive.