Produced by David Starner, William Flis, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team.
Transcriber's Note: Phonetic characters are represented by the
following symbols:
[^1] = raised "1", etc.
[e] = inverted "e" or schwa
[oe] = oe ligature character
['x] = any letter "x" with acute accent
[=x] = any letter "x" with macron
[)x] = any letter "x" with breve
[=xy] = any pair of letters "xy" with joining macron, except
[=OE], [=ae] = OE, ae ligature characters with macron
['oe], ['ae] = oe, ae ligature characters with acute accent and
[)xy] = any pair of letters "xy" with joining breve, except
[)AE], [)ae], [)OE], [)oe] = AE, ae, OE, oe ligature characters
with breve
_S.P.E. TRACT NO. IV_
THE PRONUNCIATION OF ENGLISH WORDS DERIVED FROM THE LATIN
BY JOHN SARGEAUNT
WITH PREFACE AND NOTES BY H. BRADLEY
CORRESPONDENCE & MISCELLANEOUS NOTES BY H.B., R.B., W.H.F., AND
EDITORIAL
_AT THE CLARENDON PRESS_ MDCCCCXX
ON THE PRONUNCIATION OF ENGLISH WORDS DERIVED FROM LATIN
[This paper may perhaps need a few words of introduction concerning
the history of the pronunciation of Latin in England.
The Latin taught by Pope Gregory's missionaries to their English
converts at the beginning of the seventh century was a living
language. Its pronunciation, in the mouths of educated people when
they spoke carefully, was still practically what it had been in
the first century, with the following important exceptions. 1. The
consonantal _u_ was sounded like the _v_ of modern English, 2. The _c_
before front vowels (_e_, _i_, _o_, _æ_, _oe_), and the combinations
_t[)i]_, _c[)i]_ before vowels, were pronounced _ts_. 3. The _g_
before front vowels had a sound closely resembling that of the Latin
consonantal _i_. 4. The _s_ between vowels was pronounced like our
_s_. 5. The combinations _æ_, _oe_ were no longer pronounced as
diphthongs, but like the simple _e_. 6. The ancient vowel-quantities
were preserved only in the penultima of polysyllables (where they
determined the stress); in all other positions the original system of
quantities had given place to a new system based mainly on rhythm. Of
this system in detail we have little certain knowledge; but one of
its features was that the vowel which ended the first syllable of
a disyllabic was always long: _p[=a]ter_, _p[=a]trem_, _D[=e]us_,
_p[=i]us_, _[=i]ter_, _[=o]vis_, _h[=u]mus_.
Even so early as the beginning of the fifth century, St. Augustine
tells us that the vowel-quantities, which it was necessary to learn
in order to write verse correctly, were not observed in speech. The
Latin-speaking schoolboy had to learn them in much the same fashion as
did the English schoolboy of the nineteenth century.
It is interesting to observe that, while the English scholars of
the tenth century pronounced their Latin in the manner which their
ancestors had learned from the continental missionaries, the tradition
of the ancient vowel-quantities still survived (to some extent at
least) among their British neighbours, whose knowledge of Latin was an
inheritance from the days of Roman rule. On this point the following
passage from the preface to Ælfric's Latin Grammar (written for
English schoolboys about A.D. 1000) is instructive:--
Miror ualde quare multi corripiunt sillabas in prosa quae in
metro breues sunt, cum prosa absoluta sit a lege metri; sicut
pronuntiant _pater_ brittonice et _malus_ et similia, quae in
metro habentur breues. Mihi tamen uidetur melius inuocare Deum
Patrem honorifice producta sillaba quam brittonice corripere,
quia nec Deus arti grammaticae subiciendus est.
The British contagion of which Ælfric here complains had no permanent
effect. For after the Norman Conquest English boys learned their Latin
from teachers whose ordinary language was French. For a time, they
were not usually taught to write or read English, but only French
and Latin; so that the Englishmen who attempted to write their native
language did so in a phonetic orthography on a French basis. The
higher classes in England, all through the thirteenth century, had two
native languages, English and French.
In the grammar schools, the Latin lessons were given in French; it was
not till the middle of the fourteenth century that a bold educational
reformer, John Cornwall, could venture to make English the vehicle
of instruction. In reading Latin, the rhythmically-determined
vowel-quantities of post-classical times were used; and the Roman
letters were pronounced, first as they were in French, and afterwards
as in English, but in the fourteenth century this made little
difference.
In Chaucer's time, the other nations of Europe, no less than England,
pronounced Latin after the fashion of their own vernaculars. When,
subsequently, the phonetic values of the letters in the vernacular
gradually changed, the Latin pronunciation altered likewise. Hence, in
the end, the pronunciation of Latin has become different in different
countries. A scholar born in Italy has great difficulty in following
a Frenchman speaking Latin. He has greater difficulty in understanding
an Englishman's Latin, because in English the changes in the sounds
of the letters have been greater than in any other language. Every
vowel-letter has several sounds, and the normal long sound of every
vowel-letter has no resemblance whatever to its normal short sound. As
in England the pronunciation of Latin developed insensibly along with
that of the native tongue, it eventually became so peculiar that by
comparison the 'continental pronunciation' may be regarded as uniform.
It is sometimes imagined that the modern English way of pronouncing
Latin was a deliberate invention of the Protestant reformers. For this
view there is no foundation in fact. It may be conceded that English
ecclesiastics and scholars who had frequent occasion to converse in
Latin with Italians would learn to pronounce it in the Italian way;
and no doubt the Reformation must have operated to arrest the growing
tendency to the Italianization of English Latin. But there is no
evidence that before the Reformation the un-English pronunciation was
taught in the schools. The grammar-school pronunciation of the early
nineteenth century was the lineal descendant of the grammar-school
pronunciation of the fourteenth century.
This traditional system of pronunciation is now rapidly becoming
obsolete, and for very good reasons. But it is the basis of the
pronunciation of the many classical derivatives in English; and
therefore it is highly important that we should understand precisely
what it was before it began to be sophisticated (as in our own early
days) by sporadic and inconsistent attempts to restore the classical
quantities. In the following paper Mr. Sargeaunt describes, with a
minuteness not before attempted, the genuine English tradition of
Latin pronunciation, and points out its significance as a factor in
the development of modern English.
H.B.]
* * * * *
It seems not to be generally known that there is a real principle
in the English pronunciation of words borrowed from Latin and Greek,
whether directly or through French. In this matter the very knowledge
of classical Latin, of its stresses and its quantities, still more
perhaps an acquaintance with Greek, is apt to mislead. Some speakers
seem to think that their scholarship will be doubted unless they say
'doctrínal' and 'scriptúral' and 'cinéma'. The object of this paper is
to show by setting forth the principles consciously or unconsciously
followed by our ancestors that such pronunciations are as erroneous
as in the case of the ordinary man they are unnatural and pedantic.
An exception for which there is a reason must of course be accepted,
but an exception for which reason is unsound is on every ground to
be deprecated. Among other motives for preserving the traditional
pronunciation must be reckoned the claim of poetry. Mark Pattison
notes how a passage of Pope which deals with the Barrier Treaty loses
much of its effect because we no longer stress the second syllable of
'barrier'. Pope's word is gone beyond recovery, but others which are
threatened by false theories may yet be preserved.
The _New English Dictionary_, whose business it is to record facts,
shows that in not a few common words there is at present much
confusion and uncertainty concerning the right pronunciation. This
applies mostly to the position of the stress or, as some prefer to
call it, the accent, but in many cases it is true also of the quantity
of the vowels. It is desirable to show that there is a principle in
this matter, rules which have been naturally and unconsciously obeyed,
because they harmonize with the genius of the English tongue.
For nearly three centuries from the Reformation to the Victorian era
there was in this country a uniform pronunciation of Latin. It had its
own definite principles, involving in some cases a disregard of the
classical quantities though not of the classical stress or accent. It
survives in borrowed words such as _[=a]li[)a]s_ and _st[)a]mina_,
in naturalized legal phrases, such as _N[=i]s[=i] Prius_ and _[=o]nus
probandi_, and with some few changes in the Westminster Play. This
pronunciation is now out of fashion, but, since its supersession does
not justify a change in the pronunciation of words which have become
part of our language, it will be well to begin with a formulation of
its rules.
The rule of Latin stress was observed as it obtained in the time
of Quintilian. In the earliest Latin the usage had been other, the
stress coming as early in the word as was possible. Down to the days
of Terence and probably somewhat later the old rule still held good
of quadrisyllables with the scansion of _m[)u]l[)i][)e]r[)i]s_ or
_m[)u]l[)i][)e]r[=e]s_, but in other words had given way to the later
Quintilian rule, that all words with a long unit as penultimate
had the stress on the vowel in that unit, while words of more
than two syllables with a short penultimate had the stress on the
antepenultimate. I say 'unit' because here, as in scansion, what
counts is not the syllable, but the vowel plus all the consonants
that come between it and the next vowel. Thus _inférnus_, where the
penultimate vowel is short, no less than _suprémus_, where it is long,
has the stress on the penultima. In _volucris_, where the penultimate
unit was short, as it was in prose and could be in verse, the stress
was on the _o_, but when _ucr_ made a long unit the stress comes on
the _u_, though of course the vowel remains short. In polysyllables
there was a secondary stress on the alternate vowels. Ignorance of
this usage has made a present-day critic falsely accuse Shakespeare
of a false quantity in the line
Coríolánus in Coríoli.
It may be safely said that from the Reformation to the nineteenth
century no Englishman pronounced the last word otherwise than I have
written it. The author of the Pronouncing Dictionary attached to
the 'Dictionary of Gardening' unfortunately instructs us to say
_gládiolus_ on the ground that the _i_ is short. The ground alleged,
though true, is irrelevant, and, although Terence would have
pronounced it _gládiolus_, Quintilian, like Cicero, would have said
_gladíolus_. Mr. Myles quotes Pliny for the word, but Pliny would no
more have thought of saying _gládiolus_ than we should now think of
saying 'laboúr' except when we are reading Chaucer.
We need not here discuss the dubious exceptions to this rule, such
as words with an enclitic attached, e.g. _prim[)a]que_ in which some
authorities put the stress on the vowel which precedes the enclitic,
or such clipt words as 'illuc', where the stress may at one time have
fallen on the last vowel. In any case no English word is concerned.
In very long words the due alternation of stressed and unstressed
vowels was not easy to maintain. There was no difficulty in such
a combination as _hónoríficábilí_ or as _tudínitátibús_, but
with the halves put together there would be a tendency to say
_hónoríficabilitúdinitátibus_. Thus there ought not to be much
difficulty in saying _Cónstantínopólitáni_, whether you keep the long
antepenultima or shorten it after the English way; but he who forced
the reluctant word to end an hexameter must have had 'Constantinóple'
in his mind, and therefore said _Constántinópolitáni_ with two false
stresses. The result was an illicit lengthening of the second _o_.
His other false quantity, the shortening of the second _i_, was
due to the English pronunciation, the influence of such words as
'metropol[)i]tan', and, as old schoolmasters used to put it, a neglect
of the Gradus. Even when the stress falls on this antepenultimate
_i_, it is short in English speech. Doubtless Milton shortened it in
'Areopagitica', just as English usage made him lengthen the initial
vowel of the word.
Probably very few of the Englishmen who used the traditional
pronunciation of Latin knew that they gave many different sounds to
each of the symbols or letters. Words which have been transported
bodily into English will provide examples under each head. It will be
understood that in the traditional pronunciation of Latin these words
were spoken exactly as they are spoken in the English of the present
day. For the sake of simplicity it may be allowed us to ignore some
distinctions rightly made by phoneticians. Thus the long initial vowel
of _alias_ is not really the same as the long initial vowel of _area_,
but the two will be treated as identical. It will thus be possible to
write of only three kinds of vowels, long, short, and obscure.
The letter or symbol _a_ stood for two long sounds, heard in the first
syllables of _alias_ and of _larva_, for the short sound heard in the
first syllable of _stamina_, and for the obscure sound heard in the
last syllable of each of these last two words in English.
The letter _e_ stood for the long sounds heard in _genus_ and in
_verbum_, for the short sound heard in _item_, and for the obscure
sound heard in _cancer_. When it ended a word it had, if short, the
sound of a short _i_, as in _pro lege_, _rege_, _grege_, as also in
unstressed syllables in such words as _precentor_ and _regalia_.
The letter _i_ stood for the two long sounds heard in _minor_ and in
_circus_ and for the short sound heard in _premium_ and _incubus_.
The letter _o_ stood for the two long sounds heard in _odium_ and in
_corpus_, for the short sound in _scrofula_, and for the obscure in
_extempore_.
The two long sounds of _u_ are heard in _rumor_, if that spelling
may be allowed, and in the middle syllable of _laburnum_, the two
short sounds in the first _u_ of _incubus_ and in the first _u_ of
_lustrum_, the obscure sound in the final syllables of these two
words. Further the long sound was preceded except after _l_ and _r_ by
a parasitic _y_ as in _albumen_ and _incubus_. This parasitic _y_ is
perhaps not of very long standing. In some old families the tradition
still compels such pronunciations as _moosic_.
The diphthongs _æ_ and _oe_ were merely _e_, while _au_ and _eu_ were
sounded as in our _August_ and _Euxine_. The two latter diphthongs
stood alone in never being shortened even when they were unstressed
and followed by two consonants. Thus men said _[=Eu]stolia_ and
_[=Au]gustus_, while they said _[)Æ]schylus_ and _[)OE]dipus._ Dryden
and many others usually wrote the _Æ_ as _E_. Thus Garrick in a letter
commends an adaptation of 'Eschylus', and although Boswell reports him
as asking Harris 'Pray, Sir, have you read Potter's _Æschylus_?' both
the speaker and the reporter called the name _Eschylus_.
The letter _y_ was treated as _i_.
The consonants were pronounced as in English words derived from Latin.
Thus _c_ before _e_, _i_, _y_, _æ_, and _oe_ was _s_, as in _census_,
_circus_, _Cyrus_, _Cæsar_, and _coelestial_, a spelling not classical
and now out of use. Elsewhere _c_ was _k_. Before the same vowels _g_
was _j_ (d[ezh]), as in _genus_, _gibbus_, _gyrus_. The sibilant was
voiced or voiceless as in English words, the one in _rosaceus_, the
other in _saliva_.
It will be seen that the Latin sounds were throughout frankly
Anglicized. According to Burney a like principle was followed by
Burke when he read French poetry aloud. He read it as though it were
English. Thus on his lips the French word _comment_ was pronounced as
the English word _comment_.
The rule that overrode all others, though it has the exceptions given
below, was that vowels and any other diphthongs than _au_ and _eu_, if
they were followed by two consonants, were pronounced short. Thus _a_
in _magnus_, though long in classical Latin, was pronounced as in our
'magnitude', and _e_ in _census_, in Greek transcription represented
by [Greek: eta], was pronounced short, as it is when borrowed into
English. So were the penultimate vowels in _villa_, _nullus_, _cæspes_.
This rule of shortening the vowel before two consonants held good even
when in fact only one was pronounced, as in _nullus_ and other words
where a double consonant was written and in Italian pronounced.
Moreover, the parasitic _y_ was treated as a consonant, hence our
'v[)a]cuum'.
In the penultima _qu_ was treated as a single consonant, so that the
vowel was pronounced long in _[=a]quam_, _[=e]quam_, _in[=i]quam_,
_l[=o]quor_. So it was after _o_, hence our 'coll[=o]quial'; but in
earlier syllables than the penultima _qu_ was treated as a double
consonant, hence our 'sub[)a]queous', 'equity', 'iniquity'.
EXCEPTIONS.
1. When the former of the two consonants was _r_ and the latter
another consonant than _r_, as in the series represented by _larva_,
_verbum_, _circus_, _corpus_, _laburnum_, the vowels are a separate
class of long vowels, though not really recognized as such. Of course
our ancestors and the Gradus marked them long because in verse the
vowel with the two consonants makes a long unit.
2. A fully stressed vowel before a mute and _r_, or before _d_
or _pl_, was pronounced long in the penultima. Latin examples are
_labrum_, _Hebrum_, _librum_, _probrum_, _rubrum_, _acrem_, _cedrum_,
_vafrum_, _agrum_, _pigrum_, _aprum_, _veprem_, _patrem_, _citrum_,
_utrum_, _triplus_, _duplex_, _Cyclops_. Moreover, in other syllables
than the penultima the vowel in the same combinations was pronounced
long if the two following vowels had no consonant between them, as
_patria_, _Hadria_, _acrius_. (Our 'triple' comes from _triplum_ and
is a duplicate of '_treble_'. Perhaps the short vowel is due to its
passage through French. Our 'citron' comes from _citronem_, in which
_i_ was short.)
3. The preposition and adverb _post_ was pronounced with a long vowel
both by itself and in composition with verbs, but its adjectives
did not follow suit. Hence we say in English 'p[=o]stpone', but
'p[)o]sterior' and 'p[)o]sthumous'.
Monosyllables ending in a vowel were pronounced long, those ending in
a consonant short. Enclitics like _que_ were no real exception as
they formed part of the preceding word. There were, however, some real
exceptions.
1. Pronouns ending in _-os_, as _hos_, _quos_. These followed _eos_
and _illos_.
2. Words ending in _-es_, as _pes_, _res_.
3. Words ending in _r_, as _par_, _fer_, _vir_, _cor_, _fur_. These
had that form of long vowel which we use in 'part', 'fertile',
'virtue', 'cordate', 'furtive'.
In, disyllables the former vowel or diphthong, if followed by a single
consonant, or by a mute and _r_, or by _cl_ or _pl_, was pronounced
long, a usage which according to Mr. Henry Bradley dates in spoken
Latin from the fourth century. Examples are _apex_, _tenet_, _item_,
_focus_, _pupa_, _Psyche_, _Cæsar_, _foetus_. I believe that at first
the only exceptions were _tibi_, _sibi_, _ibi_, _quibus_, _tribus_. In
later days the imperfect and future of _sum_ became exceptions. Here
perhaps the short vowel arose from the hideous and wholly erroneous
habit, happily never universal though still in some vogue, of reciting
_erám_, _erás_, _erát_. There are actually schoolbooks which treat the
verse _ictus_, the beat of the chanter's foot, as a word stress and
prescribe _terra tribús scopulís_. I can say of these books only
_Pereant ipsi, mutescant scriptores_, and do not mind using a
post-classical word in order to say it.
In disyllables the former vowel or diphthong, if followed immediately
by another vowel or diphthong, had the quality, and if emphatic also
the quality, of a long vowel. The distinction was not recognized,
and seems not to be generally acknowledged even now. We seem not to
have borrowed many words which will illustrate this. We have however
_fiat_, and _pius_ was pronounced exactly as we pronounce 'pious',
while for a diphthong we may quote Shelley,
Mid the mountains Euganean
I stood listening to the paean.
English derivatives will show the long quality of the vowels in _aer_,
_deus_, _coit_, _duo_. To these add _Graius_.
The rule of _apex_ applies also to words of more than two syllables
with long penultima, as _gravamen_, _arena_, _saliva_, _abdomen_,
_acumen_. The rule of _aer_ also holds good though it hardly has
other instances than Greek names, as _Macháon_, _Ænéas_, _Thalía_,
_Achelóus_, _Ach['æ]i_.
In words of more than two syllables with short penultima the vowel
in the stressed antepenultima was pronounced short when there was a
consonant between the two last vowels, and _i_ and _y_ were short
even when no consonant stood in that place. Examples are _stamina_,
_Sexagesima_, _minimum_, _modicum_, _tibia_, _Polybius_. But _u_,
_au_, _eu_ were, as usual, exceptions, as _tumulus_, _Aufidus_,
_Eutychus_. I believe that originally men said _C[)æ]sarem_, as they
certainly said _c[)æ]spitem_ and _C[)æ]tulum_, as also _C[)æ]sarea_,
but here in familiar words the cases came to follow the nominative.
Exceptions to the rule were verb forms which had _[=a]v_, _[=e]v_,
_[=i]v_, or _[=o]v_ in the antepenultima, as _am[=a]veram_,
_defieverat_, _audivero_, _moveras_, and like forms from aorists with
the penultima long, as _suaseram_, _egero_, _miserat_, _roseras_, and
their compounds.
This rule was among the first to break down, and about the middle
of the nineteenth century the Westminster Play began to observe the
true quantities in the antepenultimate syllables. Thus in spite of
'cons[)i]deration' boys said _s[=i]dera_, and in spite of 'n[)o]minal'
they said _nômina_, while they still said _s[)o]litus_ and
_r[)a]pidus_.
On the other hand the following rule, of which borrowed words provide
many examples, still obtains in the Play. In words of more than two
syllables any vowel in the antepenultima other than _i_ or _y_ was
pronounced long if no consonant divided the two following vowels.
Possibly the reason was that there was a synæresis of the two vowels,
but I doubt this, for a parasitic _y_ was treated as a consonant.
Examples are _alias_, _genius_, _odium_, _junior_, _anæmia_, and
on the other hand _f[)i]lius_, _L[)y]dia_. Compound verbs with a
short prefix were exceptions, as _[)o]beo_, _r[)e]creo_, whence our
'recreant'. A long prefix remained long as in _d[=e]sino_. The only
other exception that I can remember was _Ph[)o]loe_.
In polysyllables the general rule was that all vowels and diphthongs
before the penultima other than _u_, when it bore a primary or
secondary stress, and _au_ and _eu_ were pronounced short except
where the 'alias' rule or the 'larva' rule applied. Thus we said
_h[)e]r[)e]ditaritis_, _[)æ]qu[)a]bilitas_, _imb[)e]cillus_,
_susp[)i]cionem_, but _fid[=u]ciarius_, _m[=e]diocritas_,
_p[=a]rticipare_. I do not know why the popular voice now gives
_[)A]riadne_, for our forefathers said _[=A]riadne_ as they said
_[=a]rea_.
In very long words the alternation of stress and no-stress was
insisted on. I remember a schoolmaster who took his degree at Oxford
in the year 1827 reproving a boy for saying _Álphesib['oe]us_ instead
of _Alphesib['oe]us_, and I suspect that Wordsworth meant no inverted
stress in
Laódamía, that at Jove's command--
nor Landor in
Artémidóra, gods invisible--
though I hope that they did.
* * * * *
It is not to be thought that these rules were in any way arbitrary. So
little was this so that, I believe, they were never even formulated.
If examples with the quantities marked were ever given, they must have
been for the use of foreigners settling in England. English boys did
not want rules, and their teachers could not really have given them.
The teachers did not understand that each vowel represented not two
sounds only, a long and a short, but many more. This fact was no more
understood by John Walker, the actor and lexicographer, who in 1798
published a Key to the Classical Pronunciation of Greek and Latin
proper names. His general rule was wrong as a general rule, and so far
as it agreed with facts it was useless. He says that when a vowel ends
a syllable it is long, and when it does not it is short. Apart from
the confusion of cause and effect there is the error of identifying
for instance the _e_ in _beatus_ and the _e_ in _habebat_. Moreover,
Walker confounds the _u_ in 'curfew', really long, with the short and
otherwise different _u_ in 'but'. The rule was useless as a guide,
for it did not say whether _moneo_ for instance was to be read as
_ino-neo_ or as _mon-eo_, and therefore whether the _o_ was to be long
or short. Even Walker's list is no exact guide. He gives for instance
_M[=o]-na_, which is right, and _M[=o]-næses_, which is not. Now
without going into the difference between long vowels and ordinary
vowels, of which latter some are long in scansion and some short,
it is clear that there is no identity. In fact _Mona_, has the long
_o_ of 'moan' and _Monæses_ the ordinary _o_ of 'monaster'. A boy at
school was not troubled by these matters. He had only two things to
learn, first the quantity of the penultimate unit, second the fact
that a final vowel was pronounced. When he knew these two things
he gave the Latin word the sounds which it would have if it were
an English word imported from the Latin. Thus he finds the word
_civilitate_. I am not sure that he could find it, but that does not
matter. He would know 'civility', and he learns that the penultima of
the Latin word is long. Therefore he says _c[)i]v[)i]l[)i]t[=a]t[)e]_.
Again he knows '[)i]nf[)i]n[)i]t' (I must be allowed to spell the
word as it is pronounced except in corrupt quires). He finds that
the penultima of _infinitivus_ is long, and he therefore says
_[)i]nf[)i]n[)i]t[=i]v[)u]s_. Again he knows 'irradiate', and
finding that the penultima of _irradiabitur_ is short he says
_[)i]rr[=a]d[)i][)a]b[)i]t[)u]r_. It is true that some of these
verb forms under the influence of their congeners came to have
an exceptional pronunciation. Thus _irradi[=a]bit_ led at last to
_irradi[=a]bitur_, but I doubt whether this occurred before the
nineteenth century. The word _dabitur_, almost naturalized by Luther's
adage of _date et dabitur_, kept its short _a_ down to the time when
it regained it, in a slightly different form, by its Roman right;
and _am[)a]mini_ and _mon[)e]mini_ were unwavering in their use. Old
people said _v[=a]ri[)a]bilis_ long after the true quantities had
asserted themselves, and the word as the specific name of a plant may
be heard even now. Its first syllable of course follows what I shall
call the 'alias' rule. We may still see this rule in other instances.
All men say 'hippopót[)a]mus', and even those who know that this _a_
is short in Greek can say nothing but 'Mesopot[=a]mia', unless indeed
the word lose its blessed and comforting powers in a disyllabic
abbreviation. When a country was named after Cecil Rhodes, where the
_e_ in the surname is mute, we all called it 'Rhod[=e]sia'. Had it
been named after a Newman, where the _a_ is short or rather obscure,
we should all have called it 'Newm[=a]nia ', while, named after a
Davis, it would certainly have been 'Dav[)i]sia'. The process of
thought would in each case have been unconscious. A new example is
'aviation', whose first vowel has been instinctively lengthened.
Again, when the word 'telegram' was coined, some scholars objected to
its formation and insisted upon 'telegrapheme', but the most obdurate
Grecian did not propose to keep the long Greek vowel in the first
syllable. When only the other day 'cinematograph' made its not wholly
desirable appearance, it made no claim to a long vowel in either of
its two first syllables. Not till it was reasonably shortened into
'c[)i]n[)e]ma' did a Judge from the Bench make a lawless decree for a
long second vowel, and even he left the _i_ short though it is long in
Greek.
Of course with the manner of speech the quantities had to be learnt
separately. The task was not as difficult as some may think. To boys
with a taste for making verses the thumbing of a Gradus (I hope that
no one calls it a Gr[)a]dus) was always a delightful occupation, and
a quantity once learnt was seldom forgotten. It must be admitted that,
as boys were forced to do verses, whether they could or not, there
were always some who could read and yet forget.
Although these usages did not precede but followed the pronunciation
of words already borrowed from Latin, we may use them to classify
the changes of quantity. We shall see that although there are some
exceptions for which it is difficult to give a reason, yet most of
the exceptions fall under two classes. When words came to us through
French, the pronunciation was often affected by the French form of the
word. Thus the adjective 'present' would, if it had come direct from
Latin, have had a long vowel in the first syllable. To an English ear
'pr[)e]sent' seemed nearer than 'pr[=e]sent' to the French 'présent'.
The _N.E.D._ says that 'gladiator' comes straight from the Latin
'gladiatorem'. Surely in that case it would have had its first vowel
long, as in 'radiator' and 'mediator'. In any case its pronunciation
must have been affected by 'gladiateur'. The other class of exceptions
consists of words deliberately introduced by writers at a late period.
Thus 'adorable' began as a penman's word. Following 'inéxorable' and
the like it should have been 'ádorable'. Actually it was formed by
adding _-able_ to 'adóre', like 'laughable'. It is now too stiff in
the joints to think of a change, and must continue to figure with the
other sins of the Restoration.
Before dealing with the words as classified by their formation, we may
make short lists of typical words to show that for the pronunciation
of English derivatives it is idle to refer to the classical
quantities.
From _[=æ]_: [)e]difice, [)e]mulate, c[)e]rulean, qu[)e]stion.
From _[=oe]_: [)e]conomy, [)e]cumenical, conf[)e]derate.
From _[=a]_,: don[)a]tive, n[)a]tural, cl[)a]mour, [)a]verse.
From _[)a]_: [=a]lien, st[=a]tion, st[=a]ble, [=a]miable.
From _[=e]_: [)e]vident, Quadrag[)e]sima, pl[)e]nitude, s[)e]gregate.
From _[)e]_: s[=e]ries, s[=e]nile, g[=e]nus, g[=e]nius.
From _[=i]_: lasc[)i]vious, erad[)i]cate, d[)i]vidend, f[)i]lial,
susp[)i]cion.
From _[)i]_: l[=i]bel, m[=i]tre, s[=i]lex.
From _[=o]_: [)o]rator, pr[)o]minent, pr[)o]montory, s[)o]litude.
From _[)o]_: b[=o]vine, l[=o]cal, f[=o]rum, coll[=o]quial.
From _[=u]_: fig[)u]rative, script[)u]ral, sol[)u]ble.
From _[)u]_: n[=u]merous, C[=u]pid, all[=u]vial, cer[=u]lean.
The _N.E.D._ prefers the spelling 'oecumenical'; but Newman wrote
naturally 'ecumenical', and so does Dr. J.B. Bury. Dublin scholarship
has in this matter been markedly correct.
_CLASSIFICATION OF WORDS ACCORDING TO THEIR LATIN STEMS._
In classification it seems simplest to take the words according
to their Latin stems. We must, however, first deal with a class of
adjectives borrowed bodily from the Latin nominative masculine with
the insertion of a meaningless _o_ before the final _-us_.[1] These
of course follow the rules given above. In words of more than two
syllables the antepenultimate and stressed vowel is shortened, as
'[)e]mulous' from _æmulus_ and in 'fr[)i]volous' from _fr[=i]volus_,
except where by the 'alias' rule it is long, as in 'egr[=e]gious' from
_egr[)e]gius_. Words coined on this analogy also follow the rules.
Thus 'glabrous' and 'fibrous' have the vowels long, as in the
traditional pronunciation of _glabrum_ and _fibrum_, where the vowels
in classical Latin were short. The stressed _u_ being always long we
have 'lug[=u]brious' and 'sal[=u]brious', the length being independent
of the 'alias' rule. Some words ending in _-ous_ are not of this
class. Thus 'odorous' and 'clamorous' appear in Italian as _odoroso_
and _clamoroso_. Milton has
Sonórous mettal blowing Martial sounds.
The Italian is _sonoro_, and our word was simply the Latin _sonorus_
borrowed bodily at a somewhat late period. Hence the stress remains
on the penultima. Skeat thought that the word would at last become
'sónorous'. It maybe hoped that Milton's line will save it from the
effect of a false analogy.
[Footnote 1: I regard this statement as inaccurate. The _-ous_ in
these words does not come from the nominative ending _-us_, but is the
ordinary _-ous_ from L. _-osus_ (through Fr.). It was added to many
Latin adjective stems, because the need of a distinctly adjectival
ending was felt. Similarly in early French _-eux_ was appended to
adjectives when they were felt to require a termination, as in
_pieux_ from _pi-us_. Compare the English _capacious_, _veracious_,
_hilarious_, where _-ous_ is added to other stems than those in _o_.
Other suffixes of Latin origin are used in the same way: e.g. _-al_ in
_aerial_, _ethereal_.--H.B.]
In classifying by stems it will be well to add, where possible, words
of Greek origin. Except in some late introductions Greek words, except
when introduced bodily, have been treated as if they came through
Latin, and some of the bodily introductions are in the same case. Thus
'anæsthetic' is spelt with the Latin diphthong and the Latin _c_.
Even 'skeleton' had a _c_ to start with, while the modern and wholly
abominable 'kaleidoscope' is unprincipled on the face of it.
STEMS ENDING IN -ANT AND -ENT. These are participles or words formed
as such. Our words have shed a syllable, thus _regentem_ has become
'regent'. Disyllables follow the 'apex' rule and lengthen the first
vowel, as 'agent', 'decent', 'potent'. Exceptions are 'clement' and
'present', perhaps under French influence. Words of more than two
syllables with a single consonant before the termination throw the
stress back and shorten a long penultima, as 'ignorant', 'president',
'confident', 'adjutant'. Where there are two heavy consonants, the
stress remains on the penultima, as 'consultant', 'triumphant', even
when one of the consonants is not pronounced, as 'reminiscent'. In
some cases the Latinists seem to have deliberately altered the
natural pronunciation. Thus Gower has 'ápparaúnt', but the word became
'appárent' before Shakespeare's time, and later introductions such as
'adherent' followed it. What right 'adjacent' has to its long vowel
and penultimate stress I do not know, but it cannot be altered now.
STEMS ENDING IN -ATO AND -UTO. These are mostly past participles, but
many of them are used in English as verbs. It must be admitted that
the disyllabic words are not wholly constant to a principle. Those
verbs that come from _-latum_ consistently stress the last vowel,
as 'dilate', 'relate', 'collate'. So does 'create', because of one
vowel following another. Of the rest all the words of any rank have
the stress on the penultima, as 'vibrate', 'frustrate', 'mígrate',
'cástrate', 'púlsate', 'vácate'. Thus Pope has
The whisper, that to greatness still too near,
Perhaps, yet vibrates on his Sov'reign's ear,
and Shelley
Music, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory.
There are, however, verbs of no literary account which in usage
either vary in the stress or take it on the latter syllable. Such are
'locate', 'orate', 'negate', 'placate', and perhaps 'rotate'. With
most of these we could well dispense. 'Equate' is mainly a technical
word. Dictionaries seem to prefer the stress on the ultima, but some
at least of the early Victorian mathematicians said 'équate', and the
pronunciation is to be supported. Trisyllabic verbs throw the stress
back and shorten the penultima, as 'dés[)o]late', 'súff[)o]cate',
'scínt[)i]llate'. Even words with heavy double consonants have adopted
this habit. Thus where Browning has (like Milton and Cowper)
I the Trinity illústrate
Drinking water'd orange pulp,
In three sips the Arian frustrate.
While he drains his at one gulp,
it is now usual to say 'íllustrate'.
Adjectives of this class take as early a stress as they can, as
'órnate', 'pínnate', 'délicate', 'fórtunate'. Nouns from all these
words throw the accent back and shorten or obscure all but the
penultimate vowel, as 'ignorance', 'evaporation'.
STEMS IN -IA. Here even disyllables shorten the penultima, as 'copy',
'province', while longer words throw the stress back as well as
shorten the penultima, as 'injury', 'colony', while 'ignominy' almost
lost its penultimate vowel, and therefore threw back the stress to the
first syllable. Shakespeare frankly writes the word as a trisyllable,
Thy ignomy sleep with thee in the grave.
Milton restored the lost syllable, often eliding the final vowel, as
in
Exile, or ignominy, or bonds, or pain.
Even with heavy consonants we have the early stress, as in 'industry'.
Greek words follow the same rules, as 'agony', 'melody'. Some words
of this class have under French influence been further abbreviated, as
'concord'.
Corresponding STEMS IN -IO keep the same rules. Perhaps the only
disyllable is 'study'; the shortening of a stressed _u_ shows its
immediate derivation from the old French _estudie_. Trisyllabic
examples are 'colloquy', 'ministry', 'perjury'. Many words of this
class have been further abbreviated in their passage through French.
Such are 'benefice', 'divorce', 'office', 'presage', 'suffrage',
'vestige', 'adverb', 'homicide', 'proverb'. The stress in 'divórce'
is due to the long vowel and the two consonants. A few of these
words have been borrowed bodily from Latin, as 'odium', 'tedium',
'opprobrium'.
STEMS IN -DO AND -TO (-SO). These words lose the final Latin syllable
and keep the stress on the vowel which bore it in Latin. The stressed
vowel, except in _au_, _eu_, is short, even when, as in 'vivid',
'florid', it was long in classical Latin. This, of course, is in
accord with the English pronunciation of Latin. Examples are 'acid',
'tepid', 'rigid', 'horrid', 'humid', 'lurid ', 'absurd', 'tacit',
'digit', 'deposit', 'compact', 'complex', 'revise', 'response',
'acute'. Those which have the suffix _-es_ prefixed throw the stress
back, as 'honest', 'modest'. Those which have the suffix _-men_
prefixed also throw the stress back, as 'moment', 'pigment',
'torment', and to the antepenultima, if there be one, as 'argument',
'armament', 'emolument', the penultimate vowel becoming short or
obscure. In 'temperament' the tendency of the second syllable to
disappear has carried the stress still further back. We may compare
'Séptuagint', where _u_ becomes consonantal. An exception for which I
cannot account is 'cemént', but Shakespeare has 'cément'.
STEMS IN -T[=A]T. These are nouns and have the stress on the
antepenultima, which in Latin bore the secondary stress. They
of course show the usual shortening of the vowels with the usual
exceptions. Examples are 'charity', 'equity', 'liberty', 'ferocity',
'authority', and with long antepenultima 'immunity', 'security',
'university'. With no vowel before the penultima the long quality is,
as usual, preserved, as in 'satiety'.
STEMS IN -OSO. These are adjectives and throw the stress back to the
antepenultima, if there be one. In disyllables the penultimate vowel
is long, as in 'famous', 'vinous'; in longer words the antepenultimate
vowel is short, as 'criminous', 'generous'. Many, however, fall
under the 'alias' rule, as 'ingenious', 'odious', while those which
have _i_ in the penultimate run the two last syllables into one, as
'pernicious', 'religious', 'vicious'. A few late introductions, coming
straight from the Latin, retained the Latin stress, as 'morose',
'verbose'.
STEMS IN -T[=O]RIO AND -S[=O]RIO. In these words the stress goes
back to the fourth syllable from the end, this in Latin having the
secondary stress, or, as in 'circulatory', 'ambulatory', even further.
In fact the _o_, which of course is shortened, tends to disappear.
Examples are 'declamatory', 'desultory', 'oratory', 'predatory',
'territory'. Three consonants running, as in 'perfunctory', keep the
stress where it has to be in a trisyllable, such as 'victory'. So does
a long vowel before _r_ and another consonant, as in 'precursory'.
Otherwise two consonants have not this effect, as in 'prómontory',
'cónsistory'. In spite of Milton's
A gloomy Consistory, and them amidst
With looks agast and sad he thus bespake,
the word is sometimes mispronounced.
STEMS IN -[=A]RIO. These follow the same rules, except that, as in
'ádversary', combinations like _ers_ are shortened and the stress goes
back; and that words ending in _-entary_, such as 'elementary' and
'testamentary', stress the antepenultima. Examples are 'antiquary',
'honorary', 'voluntary', 'emissary'. It is difficult to see a reason
for an irregular quantity in the antepenultima of some trisyllables.
The general rule makes it short, as in 'granary', 'salary', but in
'library' and 'notary' it has been lengthened. The _N.E.D._ gives
'pl[=e]nary', but our grandfathers said 'pl[)e]nary'. Of course
'diary' gives a long quality to the _i_.
STEMS IN -[)I]LI. These seem originally to have retained the short
_i_. Thus Milton's spelling is 'facil' and 'fertil' while other
seventeenth-century writers give 'steril'. This pronunciation still
obtains in America, but in England the words seem to have been usually
assimilated to 'fragile', as Milton spells it, which perhaps always
lengthened the vowel. The penultimate vowel is short.
STEMS IN -[=I]LI. Here the long _i_ is retained, and in disyllables
the penultima is lengthened, as in 'anile', 'senile', 'virile'.
There is no excuse for following the classical quantity in the former
syllables of any of these words. As an English word 'sedilia' shortens
the antepenultimate, like 'tibia' and the rest, the 'alias' rule not
applying when the vowel is _i_.
STEMS IN -B[)I]LI. These mostly come through French and change the
suffix into _-ble_. Disyllables lengthen the penultima, as 'able',
'stable', 'noble', while 'mobile', as in French, lengthens its
latter vowel. Trisyllables shorten and stress the antepenultima,
as 'placable', 'equable', but of course _u_ remains long, as in
'mutable'. Longer words throw the stress further back, except mere
negatives, like 'implácable', and words with heavy consonants such as
'delectable'. Examples are 'miserable', 'admirable', 'intolerable',
'despicable'. The Poet Laureate holds that in these words Milton kept
the long Italian _a_ of the penultimate or secondary stress.
Fall'n Cherube, to be weak is miserable.
In English we have naturalized _-able_ as a suffix and added it to
almost any verb, as 'laughable', 'indescribable', 'desirable'. The
last word may have been taken from French. The form 'des[)i]derable'
occurs from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century. Originally
'acceptable' threw the stress back, as in Milton's
So fit, so acceptable, so Divine,
but the double mute has brought it into line with 'delectable'.
Nowadays one sometimes hears 'dispútable', 'despícable', but these
are intolerable vulgarisms.
SUFFIXES IN T[)I]LI AND S[)I]LI. These words mostly lengthen the _i_
and make the usual shortenings, as 'missile', 'sessile', 'textile',
'volatile', but of course 'futile'. Exceptions which I cannot explain
are 'foss[)i]l' and 'fus[)i]le'.
SUFFIX IN [=A]LI. These adjectives shorten the _-a_ and, with the
usual exceptions, the preceding vowels, as 'dóctrinal', 'fílial',
'líberal', 'márital', 'medícinal', but of course by the 'alias'
rule 'arb[=o]real' (not a classical word in Latin) and 'g[=e]nial'.
Words like 'national' and 'rational' were treated like trisyllables,
which they now are. The stress is on the antepenultima except when
heavy consonants bring it on to the penultima, as in 'sepulcral',
'parental', 'triumphal'.
Those who say 'doctrínal' on the ground that the second vowel is long
in Latin commit themselves to 'medicínal', 'natúral', 'nutríment',
'instrúment', and, if their own principle be applied, they make false
quantities by the dozen every day of their lives.
Three words mostly mispronounced are, from their rarity, perhaps not
past rescue. They are 'décanal', 'ruridécanal', and 'prébendal'. There
is no more reason for saying 'decánal' than for saying 'matrónal' or
for saying 'prebéndal' than for saying 'caléndar'. Of course words
like 'tremendous', being imported whole, keep the original stress.
In our case the Latin words came into existence as _décanális_,
_prébendális_, parallel with _náturális_, which gives us 'nátural'.
That mostly wrong-headed man, Burgon of Chichester, was correct in
speaking of his rights or at any rate his claims as 'décanal'.
STEMS IN -LO. Of these 'stimulus' and 'villa' have been borrowed
whole, while _umbella_ is corrupted into 'umbrella'. Disyllables
lengthen the penultima, as 'stable', 'title', 'pupil'. Under French
influence 'disciple' follows their example. In longer words the usual
shortenings are made, as in 'frivolous', 'ridiculous'. The older
words in _-ulo_ change the suffix into _-le_, as 'uncle', 'maniple',
'tabernacle', 'conventicle', 'receptacle', 'panicle'. Later words
retain the _u_, as 'vestibule', 'reticule', 'molecule'.
STEMS IN -NO. The many words of this class are a grief to the
classifier, who seeks in vain for reasons. Thus 'german' and 'germane'
have the same source and travelled, it seems, by the same road through
France. The Latin _hyacinth[)i]nus_ and _adamant[)i]nus_ are parallel
words, yet Milton has 'hyacinthin' for the one and 'adamantine' for
the other. One classification goes a little way. Thus 'human' and
'urban' must have come through French, 'humane' and 'urbane' direct
from Latin. On the other hand while 'meridian' and 'quartan' are
French, 'publican', 'veteran', and 'oppidan' are Latin. Words with
a long _i_, if they came early through France, shorten the vowel,
as 'doctrine', 'discipline', 'medicine', and 'masculine', while
'genuine', though a later word, followed them, but 'anserine' and
'leonine' did not. Disyllables seem to prefer the stress on the
ultima, as 'divine', 'supine', but even these are not consistent. Some
critics would scan Cassio's words
The dívine Desdemona,
though Shakespeare nowhere else has this stress, while Shelley has.
Shelley, too, has
She cannot know how well the súpine slaves
Of blind authority read the truth of things.