THE LETTERS: THEIR CLASSIFICATION, QUALITIES, AND MODE OF PRODUCTION
There are in human and articulate speech a number of first-beginnings
[Page 138]
μηκέτι δεχόμεναι διαίρεσιν, ἃ καλοῦμεν στοιχεῖα καὶ γράμματα·
γράμματα μὲν ὅτι γραμμαῖς τισι σημαίνεται, στοιχεῖα δὲ ὅτι
πᾶσα φωνὴ τὴν γένεσιν ἐκ τούτων λαμβάνει πρώτων καὶ τὴν
διάλυσιν εἰς ταῦτα ποιεῖται τελευταῖα. τῶν δὴ στοιχείων τε
καὶ γραμμάτων οὐ μία πάντων φύσις, διαφορὰ δὲ αὐτῶν 5
πρώτη μέν, ὡς Ἀριστόξενος ὁ μουσικὸς ἀποφαίνεται, καθ’ ἣν
τὰ μὲν φωνὰς ἀποτελεῖ, τὰ δὲ ψόφους· φωνὰς μὲν τὰ
λεγόμενα φωνήεντα, ψόφους δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ πάντα. δευτέρα δὲ
καθ’ ἣν τῶν μὴ φωνηέντων ἃ μὲν καθ’ ἑαυτὰ ψόφους ὁποίους
δή τινας ἀποτελεῖν πέφυκε, ῥοῖζον ἢ σιγμὸν ἢ μυγμὸν ἢ 10
τοιούτων τινῶν ἄλλων ἤχων δηλωτικούς· ἃ δ’ ἐστὶν ἁπάσης
ἄμοιρα φωνῆς καὶ ψόφου καὶ οὐχ οἷά τε ἠχεῖσθαι καθ’ ἑαυτά·
διὸ δὴ ταῦτα μὲν ἄφωνα τινὲς ἐκάλεσαν, θάτερα δὲ ἡμίφωνα.
οἱ δὲ τριχῇ νείμαντες τὰς πρώτας τε καὶ στοιχειώδεις τῆς
φωνῆς δυνάμεις φωνήεντα μὲν ἐκάλεσαν, ὅσα καὶ καθ’ ἑαυτὰ 15
1 ἃ R: ἃς libri 3 πρώτων F: πρω[**TN: τ written above ω of πρω] P:
πρῶτον RMVs 4 τελευταῖα P: τελευταῖον R: τελευταῖαν FVs: τελευταίαν
M 9 μὴ φωνηέντων REFM: μὲν φωνηέντων PR^b: φωνηέντων Vs 10 σιγμὸν
REF: συριγμὸν PMVs || μυγμὸν RE: μιγμὸν F: ποππυσμὸν P: ἀποπτυσμὸν Vs:
ποππυσμὸν ἢ μυγμὸν M 11 δηλωτικούς RF: δηλωτικά EPMVs 13 διὸ δὴ
REF: om. PMVs || θάτερα] καθάπερ F 14 τῆς φωνῆς RFM: φωνῆς PVs
1. The following note, given in Usener-Radermacher ii. 1, p. 48, is
important for its bearing on the text of the _C. V._: “Scholiasta
Hermogenis Περὶ ἰδεῶν I 6 in Walzii rhet. gr. VII. p. 964, 23
(correctus ex codd. Paris. 1983 = R^a et 2977 = R^b) ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν
στοιχείων ἄριστα παραδίδωσιν ὁ Διονύσιος ἐν τῷ περὶ συνθήκης ὀνομάτων
συγγράμματι· λέγει γὰρ τί συμβέβηκεν ἑκάστῳ τῶν στοιχείων καὶ ποίαν μὲν
δύναμιν ἔχει τὰ φωνήεντα, ποίαν δὲ τὰ σύμφωνα καὶ πάλιν αὖ τὰ ἡμίφωνα·
πλὴν ἵνα τι καὶ θαυμάσωμεν τὸν ἄνδρα τῆς δεξιότητος, αὐτὴν παραθώμεθα
τὴν λέξιν· #Ἀρχαὶ μὲν ... εἶναι ἐκεῖνα# (p. 969. 18 W.). καὶ ταῦτα
μὲν ὁ Διονύσιος· οἷς προσέχων οὐκ ἂν διαμάρτοις τοῦ προσήκοντος. εἰ γὰρ
σεμνὸν ποιεῖν ἐθέλεις (sic b: ἐθέλοις a Walzius) τὸν λόγον, ἐκλεξάμενος
τὰ μακρὰ καὶ ὅσα τεταμένον (τεταγμένον W) λαμβάνει καὶ διηνεκῆ τὸν
αὐλὸν τοῦ πνεύματος λάμβανε· φεῦγε δὲ τὰ βραχέως ἐξ ἀποκοπῆς τε
λεγόμενα καὶ μιᾷ πληγῇ πνεύματος καὶ τῆς ἀρτηρίας ἐπὶ βραχὺ κινηθείσης
ἐκφερόμενα· τὰ γὰρ μακρὰ τῶν φωνηέντων τῷ σεμνῷ μᾶλλον ἁρμόττει ἅτε (εἴ
τε b) μηκυνόμενα κατὰ τὴν ἐκφορὰν καὶ πολὺν ἠχοῦντα χρόνον· ἀνοίκεια
(Walzius: ἀνοίκειον a b) δὲ τὰ βραχέως λεγόμενα καὶ σπαδονίζοντα
(σπαδωνίζοντα b σπανίζοντα Walzius) τὸν ἦχον. ἀλλ’ οὐχ ἁπλῶς οὐδὲ (οὔτε
libri) τὰ μακρὰ δεῖ λαμβάνειν, ἀλλὰ τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἐκφορὰν διογκοῦντα
τὸ στόμα καὶ ὅσα λέγεται τοῦ στόματος ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἀνοιγομένου καὶ
τοῦ πνεύματος ἄνω φερομένου (ἀναφερομένου b) πρὸς τὸν οὐρανόν, ἢ ὅσα
περιστέλλει τὰ χείλη καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα ποιεῖ περὶ τὸ ἀκροστόμιον. ὥστε δεῖ
μάλιστα χρῆσθαι ταῖς λέξεσιν ὅσαι πλεονάζουσι τῷ τε ᾱ καὶ τῷ ω̄.”
2. Dionysius Thrax _Ars Gramm._ § 6 (Uhlig p. 9) γράμματα δὲ λέγεται
διὰ τὸ γραμμαῖς καὶ ξυσμαῖς τυποῦσθαι· γράψαι γὰρ τὸ ξῦσαι παρὰ τοῖς
παλαιοῖς.
3. With this passage generally cp. Aristot. _Poet._ c. 20 στοιχεῖον
μὲν οὖν ἐστιν φωνὴ ἀδιαίρετος, οὐ πᾶσα δὲ ἀλλ’ ἐξ ἧς πέφυκε συνετὴ
γίγνεσθαι φωνή· καὶ γὰρ τῶν θηρίων εἰσὶν ἀδιαίρετοι φωναί, ὧν οὐδεμίαν
λέγω στοιχεῖον· ταύτης δὲ μέρη τό τε φωνῆεν καὶ τὸ ἡμίφωνον καὶ ἄφωνον.
ἔστιν δὲ φωνῆεν μὲν <τὸ> ἄνευ προσβολῆς ἔχον φωνὴν ἀκουστήν, οἷον τὸ
Σ καὶ τὸ Ρ, ἄφωνον δὲ τὸ μετὰ προσβολῆς καθ’ αὑτὸ μὲν οὐδεμίαν ἔχον
φωνήν, μετὰ δὲ τῶν ἐχόντων τινὰ φωνὴν γιγνόμενον ἀκουστόν, οἷον τὸ Γ
καὶ τὸ Δ. ταῦτα δὲ διαφέρει σχήμασίν τε τοῦ στόματος καὶ τόποις καὶ
δασύτητι καὶ ψιλότητι καὶ μήκει καὶ βραχύτητι, ἔτι δὲ ὀξύτητι καὶ
βαρύτητι καὶ τῷ μέσῳ· περὶ ὧν καθ’ ἕκαστον ἐν τοῖς μετρικοῖς προσήκει
θεωρεῖν.
6. =Aristoxenus=, of Tarentum, the great musical theorist of Greece,
lived during the times of Alexander the Great. Dionysius refers to him
also in _de Demosth._ c. 48.
9. Cp. Sext. Empir. _adv. Math._ i. 102 καὶ ἡμίφωνα μὲν ὅσα δι’ αὑτῶν
ῥοῖζον ἢ σιγμὸν ἢ μυγμὸν ἤ τινα παραπλήσιον ἦχον κατὰ τὴν ἐκφώνησιν
ἀποτελεῖν πεφυκότα, κτλ.
10. ποππυσμόν, the reading of P, might mean ‘a popping sound.’
13. The division into vowels, consonants, and mutes appears in Plato
_Cratyl._ 424 C ἆρ’ οὖν καὶ ἡμᾶς οὕτω δεῖ πρῶτον μὲν τὰ φωνήεντα
(‘vowels’) διελέσθαι, ἔπειτα τῶν ἑτέρων κατὰ εἴδη τά τε ἄφωνα
(‘consonants’) καὶ ἄφθογγα (‘mutes’); ἄφωνα seems in this passage to
mean ‘consonants’; in later times σύμφωνα was often so used. In the
_Philebus_ 18 D the originator of an ‘art of grammar’ is attributed to
the Egyptian Theuth.
[Page 139]
admitting no further division which we call elements and letters:
“letters” (γράμματα) because they are denoted by certain lines
(γραμμαί), and “elements” (στοιχεῖα) because every sound made by the
voice originates in these, and is ultimately resolvable into them. The
elements and letters are not all of the same nature. Of the differences
between them, the first is, as Aristoxenus the musician makes clear,
that some represent vocal sounds, while others represent noises: the
former being represented by the so-called “vowels,” the latter by all
the other letters. A second difference is that some of the non-vowels
by their nature give rise to some noise or other,—a whizzing, a
hissing, a murmur, or suggestions of some such sounds, whereas others
are devoid of all voice or noise and cannot be sounded by themselves.
Hence some writers have called the latter “voiceless” (“mutes”),
the others “semi-voiced” (“semi-vowels”). Those writers who make a
threefold division of the first or elemental powers of the voice give
the name of _voiced_ (_vowels_) to all letters which can be uttered,
either by themselves or
[Page 140]
φωνεῖται καὶ μεθ’ ἑτέρων καὶ ἔστιν αὐτοτελῆ· ἡμίφωνα δ’ ὅσα
μετὰ μὲν φωνηέντων αὐτὰ ἑαυτῶν κρεῖττον ἐκφέρεται, καθ’
ἑαυτὰ δὲ χεῖρον καὶ οὐκ αὐτοτελῶς· ἄφωνα δ’ ὅσα οὔτε τὰς
τελείας οὔτε τὰς ἡμιτελεῖς φωνὰς ἔχει καθ’ ἑαυτά, μεθ’
ἑτέρων δ’ ἐκφωνεῖται. 5
ἀριθμὸς δὲ αὐτῶν ὅστις ἐστίν, οὐ ῥᾴδιον εἰπεῖν ἀκριβῶς,
ἐπεὶ πολλὴν παρέσχε καὶ τοῖς πρὸ ἡμῶν ἀπορίαν τὸ πρᾶγμα·
οἱ μὲν γὰρ ᾠήθησαν εἶναι τριακαίδεκα τὰ πάντα τῆς φωνῆς
στοιχεῖα, κατεσκευάσθαι δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ ἐκ τούτων· οἱ δὲ καὶ
τῶν εἰκοσιτεσσάρων οἷς χρώμεθα νῦν πλείω. ἡ μὲν οὖν ὑπὲρ 10
τούτων θεωρία γραμματικῆς τε καὶ μετρικῆς, εἰ δὲ βούλεταί
τις, καὶ φιλοσοφίας οἰκειοτέρα· ἡμῖν δὲ ἀπόχρη μήτ’ ἐλάττους
τῶν κ̅δ̅ μήτε πλείους ὑποθεμένοις εἶναι τὰς τῆς φωνῆς ἀρχὰς
τὰ συμβεβηκότα αὐτοῖς λέγειν, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τῶν φωνηέντων
ποιησαμένοις. 15
ἔστι δὴ ταῦτα τὸν ἀριθμὸν ζ̄, δύο μὲν βραχέα τό τε ε̄
καὶ τὸ ο̄, δύο δὲ μακρὰ τό τε η̄ καὶ τὸ ω̄, τρία δὲ δίχρονα
τό τε ᾱ καὶ τὸ ῑ καὶ τὸ ῡ, καὶ γὰρ ἐκτείνεται ταῦτα καὶ
συστέλλεται· καὶ αὐτὰ οἱ μὲν δίχρονα, ὥσπερ ἔφην, οἱ δὲ
μεταπτωτικὰ καλοῦσιν. φωνεῖται δὲ ταῦτα πάντα παρὰ τῆς 20
ἀρτηρίας συνηχούσης τῷ πνεύματι καὶ τοῦ στόματος ἁπλῶς
σχηματισθέντος τῆς τε γλώττης οὐδὲν πραγματευομένης ἀλλ’
2 αὐτὰ ἑαυτῶν REF: om. PMVs 4 ἡμιτελεῖς REF: ἡμιτελείας PMVs 5 δὲ
ἐκφωνεῖται REFMVs: δὲ καὶ φωνεῖται P 6 ἀριθμὸς RFM: ὁ ἀριθμὸς PVs 11
εἰ δὲ RF: εἰ PMVs 14 τὰ RF: καὶ τὰ PMVs || αὐτοῖς RF: αὐτὴι P, MVs
16 μὲν βραχέα τότε (τὸ R) έ καὶ τὸ ό, δύο δὲ μακρὰ F, ER: μὲν μακρὰ
PMVs 18 καὶ γὰρ ἐκτείνεται ταῦτα RFE: ἃ καὶ ἐκτείνεται PMVs 19 καὶ
αὐτὰ RF: ἃ PMVs || μὲν] μὲν ἤδη R 20 φωνεῖται RF: ἐκφωνεῖται EPMVs ||
παρὰ τῆς EF: ἀπὸ τῆς M: τῆς RPVs 21 συνηχούσης R: συνεχούσης libri ||
τῶι πνεύματι R: τὸ π̅ν̅ι̅ F: τὸ πνεῦμα EPMVs || στόματος] σώματος R
5. “On referring to the treatise of Aristotle περὶ ἀκουστῶν, the notion
which underlies all Greek phonetics will be seen to be as follows.
Breath is expelled by the lungs through the windpipe into the mouth,
whence it passes out. The chief differences of speech-sounds are
effected by ‘the strokes of the air’ (αἱ τοῦ ἀέρος πληγαί) and the
configurations of the mouth (οἱ τοῦ στόματος σχηματισμοί). On the
state of the lungs, their hardness, dryness, thickness, or softness,
moistness, freedom, much stress is laid; and also on the amount and
strength of the ‘stroke,’ which drives out the air forcibly (ἐκθλίβῃ
τὸν ἀέρα βιαίως). Much is said of a long and short windpipe. ‘All that
have long necks speak forcibly, as geese, cranes, and cocks. When the
windpipe is short, the breath necessarily falls out quickly, and the
stroke of the air becomes stronger, and all such persons must speak
sharper (ὀξύτερον) because of the rapidity with which the breath is
borne on.’ But there is not the least reference to the larynx or vocal
chords, to the real organ by which voice proper is formed. No doubt
Dionysius was not wiser than Aristotle in these matters. This must be
well borne in mind for the full appreciation of what follows,” A. J. E.
[But for λάρυγξ cp. the note on l. 21 _infra_.]
14. =αὐτοῖς=: στοιχεῖα (cp. ll. 9 and 10), rather than αἱ τῆς φωνῆς
ἀρχαί, seems to determine the grammar here. The reference of αὐτά,
αὐτό, τοῦτο, etc., is often very general; e.g. Aristoph. _Ran._ 1025
ἀλλ’ ὑμῖν αὔτ’ [sc. τὰ πολεμικά, to be supplied from τὸν πόλεμον in
the previous line] ἐξῆν ἀσκεῖν, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦτ’ [sc. τὸ ἀσκεῖν]
ἐτράπεσθε, and 1464 εὖ, πλήν γ’ ὁ δικαστὴς αὐτὰ [sc. τὰ χρήματα,
implied in πόρος] καταπίνει μόνος; Thucyd. vii. 55 2 τὰ πρὸ αὐτῶν
(‘before the late events’). Cp. also note on =198= 18 _infra_.
Dionysius makes no specific reference, here or elsewhere in his
treatise, to the diphthongs. The probable inference is that he
regarded them as true diphthongs, formed from the simple vowels whose
pronunciation is separately described by him.
16. See Introduction, p. 46 _supra_, as to Sir Thomas Smith on this
passage.—It is interesting also to notice the praise which Smith,
in the same treatise on Greek pronunciation (Havercamp ii. p. 537),
lavishes on Dionysius’ description of various vowels: “Quis Apelles
aut Parrhasius faciem hominis penicillo vel coloribus exprimere potuit
felicius, differentiamque constituere inter diversos vultus, quam hic
verbis vocalium naturam distinxit ac separavit?”
21. With συνεχούσης τὸ πνεῦμα the meaning would be ‘while the windpipe
constricts the breath.’ But the reading given by R represents the facts
with a fair degree of accuracy, and it may be compared with Aristot.
_Hist. An._ ix. 4 τὰ μὲν οὖν φωνήεντα ἡ φωνὴ καὶ ὁ λάρυγξ ἀφίησιν, τὰ
δ’ ἄφωνα ἡ γλῶττα καὶ τὰ χείλη.
=ἁπλῶς σχηματισθέντος=: “meaning perhaps that the mouth is not
continually varied in shape,” A. J. E.
22. =οὐδὲν πραγματευομένης=: “that is, it does not move about, though
it directs the breath,” A. J. E.
=ἀλλ’ ἠρεμούσης=: “meaning that it does not vibrate as for λ and ρ,” A.
J. E.
[Page 141]
together with others, and are self-sufficing; _semi-vowels_ to all
which are pronounced better in combination with vowels, worse and
imperfectly when taken singly; _mutes_ to all which by themselves admit
of neither perfect nor half-perfect utterance, but are pronounced only
in combination with others.
It is not easy to say exactly what the number of these elements is,
and our predecessors also have felt much doubt upon the question. Some
have held that there are only thirteen elements of speech all told,
and that the rest are but combinations of these; others that there are
more than even the twenty-four which we now recognize. The discussion
of this point belongs more properly to grammar and prosody, or even,
perhaps, to philosophy. It is enough for us to assume the elements of
speech to be neither more nor less than twenty-four, and to specify the
properties of each, beginning with the vowels.
These are seven in number: two short, viz. ε and ο; two long, viz. η
and ω; and three common, viz. α, ι and υ. These last can be either long
or short, and some call them “common,” as I have just done, others
“variable.” All these sounds are produced from the windpipe, which
resounds to the breath, while the mouth assumes a simple shape; the
tongue takes no part
[Page 142]
ἠρεμούσης. πλὴν τὰ μὲν μακρὰ καὶ τῶν διχρόνων ἃ μακρῶς
λέγεται τεταμένον λαμβάνει καὶ διηνεκῆ τὸν αὐλὸν τοῦ πνεύματος,
τὰ δὲ βραχέα ἢ βραχέως λεγόμενα ἐξ ἀποκοπῆς τε καὶ
μιᾷ πληγῇ πνεύματος καὶ τῆς ἀρτηρίας ἐπὶ βραχὺ κινηθείσης
ἐκφέρεται. τούτων δὴ κράτιστα μέν ἐστι καὶ φωνὴν ἡδίστην 5
ἀποτελεῖ τά τε μακρὰ καὶ τῶν διχρόνων ὅσα μηκύνεται κατὰ
τὴν ἐκφοράν, ὅτι πολὺν ἠχεῖται χρόνον καὶ τὸν τοῦ πνεύματος
οὐκ ἀποκόπτει τόνον· χείρω δὲ τὰ βραχέα ἢ βραχέως λεγόμενα,
ὅτι μικρόφωνά τ’ ἐστὶ καὶ σπαδονίζει τὸν ἦχον. αὐτῶν
δὲ τῶν μακρῶν πάλιν εὐφωνότατον μὲν τὸ ᾱ, ὅταν ἐκτείνηται· 10
λέγεται γὰρ ἀνοιγομένου τε τοῦ στόματος ἐπὶ πλεῖστον καὶ
τοῦ πνεύματος ἄνω φερομένου πρὸς τὸν οὐρανόν. δεύτερον δὲ
τὸ η̄, διότι κάτω τε περὶ τὴν βάσιν τῆς γλώττης ἐρείδει τὸν
ἦχον ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἄνω, καὶ μετρίως ἀνοιγομένου τοῦ στόματος.
τρίτον δὲ τὸ ω̄· στρογγυλίζεται γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ τὸ στόμα καὶ 15
περιστέλλεται τὰ χείλη τήν τε πληγὴν τὸ πνεῦμα περὶ τὸ
ἀκροστόμιον ποιεῖται. ἔτι δ’ ἧττον τούτου τὸ ῡ· περὶ γὰρ
αὐτὰ τὰ χείλη συστολῆς γινομένης ἀξιολόγου πνίγεται καὶ
στενὸς ἐκπίπτει ὁ ἦχος. ἔσχατον δὲ πάντων τὸ ῑ· περὶ τοὺς
7 ἠχεῖ R (ut videtur) 8 οὐκ ἀποκόπτει τόνον RF: οὐκ ἀποκόπτει
χρόνον E: οὐ κατακόπτει τὸν τόνον PMVs 9 σπαδονίζει PMVs: σπανίζει
R (sed vid. n. =138= 1) EF 10 πάλιν REF: om. PMs 12 ἄνω φερομένου
R^{a}PMVs: ἀναφερομένου R^{b}EF 13 διότι REF: ὅτι PMVs || κάτω τε F:
τε κάτω R: κάτω EPMVs 14 ἀλλ’ οὐκ REF: ἀκόλουθον ἀλλ’ οὐκ PMVs || τοῦ
στόματος REFM: om. PVs 16 περιστέλλεται REF: περιστέλλει PMVs 17
ἔτι RF: ἔστι EPMVs 18 γινομένης REF: γενομένης PMVs
5. With regard to the euphoniousness of the _Egyptian_ vowels there
is an interesting passage in Demetr. _de Eloc._ § 71: “In Egypt the
priests, when singing hymns in praise of the gods, employ the seven
vowels, which they utter in due succession; and the sound of these
letters is so euphonious that men listen to it in preference to flute
and lyre.”
9. =σπαδονίζει=: see Gloss., s.v.
10. For the effect of the _a_ sound in Latin cp. Cic. _Tusc. Disp._
ii. 9. 22 “haec dextra Lernam taetram, mactata excetra, | placavit:
haec bicorporem afflixit manum: | Erymanthiam haec vastificam abiecit
beluam: | haec e Tartarea tenebrica abstractum plaga | tricipitem
eduxit Hydra generatum canem” (a translation of Soph. _Trach._ 1094-99).
11. Cp. _Le Bourg. Gent._ ii. 4 “la voix A se forme en ouvrant fort
la bouche”; and the rest of Molière’s comic phonetics furnish similar
points of coincidence with this chapter of Dionysius.
12. “The position of the tongue has to be inferred from the presumed
direction of the breath, on which many other writers besides Dionysius
have laid stress; for A probably the tongue was depressed, so as to
allow the breath to enter the mouth freely, and the sound was either
_a_ in ‘father,’ or, with a still more depressed tongue, the French _a_
in ‘passer,’ which is a common Scotch pronunciation of the vowel _a_,”
A. J. E.
13. “The description which Dionysius gives of the production of η and
of ε is unfortunately not of such a kind that we can with any certainty
infer the distinction of an open or closed sound,” Blass _Pronunciation
of Ancient Greek_ p. 36 (Purton’s translation).
14. The =καί= introduces a specification which is parallel to those
which follow κάτω.
15. For the effect of the _o_ sound (notwithstanding any differences in
the two languages) cp. Cic. _Cat._ iv. init. “video, patres conscripti,
in me omnium vestra ora atque oculos conversos. video, vos non solum de
vestro ac reipublicae, verum etiam, si id depulsum sit, de meo periculo
esse sollicitos.” And in Greek, the Homeric lines quoted on =154=
23, =156= 4 _infra_.—The question whether ω = ‘open’ or ‘closed’ _o_
depends upon what position of the lips Dionysius’ description is taken
to indicate.
17. =ἧττον=, ‘less,’ might mean inferior either in quality of tone or
in the degree of opening of the mouth (A. J. E.).
=τὸ ῡ=: this vowel can, as in Aristoph. _Plut._ 895, be so pronounced
as to convey the sensations of a sycophant in the presence of roasted
meats:—
ἀρνεῖσθον; ἔνδον ἐστίν, ὦ μιαρωτάτω,
πολὺ χρῆμα τεμαχῶν καὶ κρεῶν ὠπτημένων.
ὒ ὗ ὒ ὗ ὒ ὗ ὒ ὗ ὒ ὗ ὒ ὗ,
where B. B. Rogers remarks: “This line [ὒ ὗ etc.], as Bentley pointed
out, is _naso, non ore, efferendus_. It represents a succession of
sniffings, produced by the nose; and not words or inarticulate sounds
spoken with the mouth.”
18. Cp. scholium on Dionysius Thrax p. 691. 27 B: τὸ ῡ τὰ χείλη
συστέλλει κατὰ τὴν ἐκφώνησιν. φησὶ γὰρ Διονύσιος ὁ Ἁλικαρνασσεὺς ἐν
τῷ περὶ στοιχείων καὶ συλλαβῶν λόγῳ ὅτι περὶ αὐτὰ τὰ χείλη συστολῆς
γινομένης ἀξιολόγου πνίγεται καὶ στενὸς ἐκπίπτει ὁ ἦχος.
19. “So far as the lips are concerned, this description would suit
either the French _u_ or the English _oo_, but the latter part of the
description is better suited to French _u_, and from the Latins having
at this time represented this sound by their new sign Y (the usual form
of Greek Υ in inscriptions) in place of their own V (which was our
_oo_), we may feel sure that the sound was not English _oo_, and, if
not, that it was most probably French _u_, as we know that it was so
subsequently,” A. J. E.
=τοὺς ὀδόντας=: “as the lips are not closed, there are only the teeth
to limit the aperture,” A. J. E.—The position (=ἔσχατον πάντων=)
assigned to iota is to be noticed: cp. Hermog. π. ἰδ. p. 225 (Walz
_Rhett. Gr._ vol. iii.) τὸ ῑ ... ἥκιστα σεμνὴν ποιεῖ τὴν λέξιν
πλεονάσαν.
[Page 143]
in the process but remains at rest. But the long vowels, and those
common vowels that are pronounced long, have an extended and continuous
passage of breath, while those that are short or pronounced as short
are uttered abruptly, with one burst of breath, the movement of the
windpipe being but brief. Of these the strongest, which also produce
the most pleasing sound, are the long ones and those common ones which
are lengthened in utterance, the reason being that they are sounded
for a long time, and do not cut short the tension of the breath. The
short ones, or those pronounced short, are inferior, because they
lack sonorousness and curtail the sound. Again, of the long vowels
themselves the most euphonious is α, when prolonged; for it is
pronounced with the mouth open to the fullest extent, and with the
breath forced upwards to the palate. η holds the second place, inasmuch
as it drives the sound down against the base of the tongue and not
upwards, and the mouth is fairly open. Third comes ω: in pronouncing
this the mouth is rounded, the lips are contracted, and the impact of
the breath is on the edge of the mouth. Still inferior to this is υ;
for, through a marked contraction taking place right round the lips,
the sound is strangled and comes out thin. Last of
[Page 144]
ὀδόντας τε γὰρ ἡ κροῦσις τοῦ πνεύματος γίνεται μικρὸν
ἀνοιγομένου τοῦ στόματος καὶ οὐκ ἐπιλαμπρυνόντων τῶν
χειλῶν τὸν ἦχον. τῶν δὲ βραχέων οὐδέτερον μὲν εὔμορφον,
ἧττον δὲ δυσειδὲς τοῦ ε̄ τὸ ο̄· διίστησι γὰρ τὸ στόμα κρεῖττον
θατέρου καὶ τὴν πληγὴν λαμβάνει περὶ τὴν ἀρτηρίαν 5
μᾶλλον.
φωνηέντων μὲν οὖν γραμμάτων αὕτη φύσις· ἡμιφώνων δὲ
τοιάδε· ὀκτὼ τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὄντων αὐτῶν πέντε μέν ἐστιν ἁπλᾶ
τό τε λ̄ καὶ τὸ μ̄ καὶ τὸ ν̄ καὶ τὸ ρ̄ καὶ τὸ σ̄· διπλᾶ δὲ
τρία τό τε ζ̄ καὶ τὸ ξ̄ καὶ τὸ ψ̄. διπλᾶ δὲ λέγουσιν αὐτὰ 10
ἤτοι διὰ τὸ σύνθετα εἶναι, τὸ μὲν ζ̄ διὰ τοῦ σ̄ καὶ δ̄, τὸ δὲ
ξ̄ διὰ τοῦ κ̄ καὶ σ̄, τὸ δὲ ψ̄ διὰ τοῦ π̄ καὶ σ̄ συνεφθαρμένων
ἀλλήλοις ἰδίαν φωνὴν λαμβάνοντα, ἢ διὰ τὸ χώραν ἐπέχειν
δυεῖν γραμμάτων ἐν ταῖς συλλαβαῖς παραλαμβανόμενον ἕκαστον.
τούτων δὴ κρείττω μέν ἐστι τὰ διπλᾶ τῶν ἁπλῶν, 15
ἐπειδὴ μείζονά ἐστι τῶν ἑτέρων καὶ μᾶλλον ἐγγίζειν δοκεῖ
τοῖς τελείοις· ἥττω δὲ τὰ ἁπλᾶ διὰ τὸ εἰς βραχυτέρους
τόπους συνάγεσθαι τὸν ἦχον. φωνεῖται δ’ αὐτῶν ἕκαστον
τοιόνδε τινὰ τρόπον· τὸ μὲν λ̄ τῆς γλώττης πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν
ἱσταμένης καὶ τῆς ἀρτηρίας συνηχούσης· τὸ δὲ μ̄ τοῦ μὲν 20
στόματος τοῖς χείλεσι πιεσθέντος, τοῦ δὲ πνεύματος διὰ τῶν
ῥωθώνων μεριζομένου· τὸ δὲ ν̄ τῆς γλώττης τὴν φορὰν τοῦ
πνεύματος ἀποκλειούσης καὶ μεταφερούσης ἐπὶ τοὺς ῥώθωνας
τὸν ἦχον· τὸ δὲ ρ̄ τῆς γλώττης ἄκρας ἀπορριπιζούσης τὸ
πνεῦμα καὶ πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐγγὺς τῶν ὀδόντων ἀνισταμένης· 25
1 κροῦσις R: κρίσις EF: κρότησις PVs 2 οὐκ ἐπιλαμπρυνόντων] οὐκέτι
λαμπρυνόντων P 3 εὔμορφον REF: εὔηχον PMVs 4 δυσειδὲς REF: δυσηχὲς
PMVs || τοῦ ε̄ τὸ ο̄ Us.: τὸ ε̄ REFMV, τὸ ο̄ Ps 5 καὶ τὴν REF: τὴν
δὲ PMVs 8 ὀκτὼ RF: ὀκτὼ γὰρ EPMVs || πέντε] ε̄ PVs 9 διπλὰ δὲ τρία
F, R^bE: διπλᾶ δὲ καὶ τρία R^a: τρία (γ̄ P) δὲ διπλᾶ PMVs 11 τοῦ
δ̄ καὶ τοῦ σ̄ R^a: τοῦ δ̄ καὶ σ̄ R^b 13 ἰδίαν RF: καὶ ἰδίαν PMVs
14 παραλαμβανόμενον ἕκαστον RF: παραλαμβανόμενα. ἑκάστου PMVs 17
βραχυτέρους F: βαρυτέρους R: βραχυτέρους αὐτῶν E, PM 18 τόπους RFM^2:
τόνους EPM^1Vs 20 ἱσταμένης REF: ἀνισταμένης PMVs || συνηχούσης REF:
συνηχούσης τὸ πνεῦμα M: συνεχούσης τὸ πνεῦμα PVs 21 διὰ τῶν ... (23)
πνεύματος REFM: om. P 22 ν̄] π̄ R 23 τοὺς ῥώθωνας RPMs: τὸν ῥώθωνα
FE 24 ἀπορριπιζούσης RF: ἀπορραπιζούσης EVs: ἀποραπιζούσης (ρ alt.
suprascr.) P, M
1. =μικρὸν ἀνοιγομένου=: “no limitation is necessary, the lips may be
as open for our _ee_ as for our _ah_, but they may also be slightly
open from the centre to the corners, no part being in contact,” A. J. E.
2. “There can be no doubt that our _ee_ is meant, and, although this
is usually considered to be a ‘bright’ sound, it will be found that
if, while singing it, and without moving the tongue, the lips be as
much closed as for _oo_, the result, which will be French _u_, is much
more musical. Whatever doubt may remain from this description of the
precise shades of sound, _there can be none that η, υ, ι had different
sounds_, as indeed transcripts of Greek into Latin letters and Latin
into Greek letters shew that they had, partially at least, down to the
12th century A.D., although the confusion was complete in the 15th, as
it has since remained. Dionysius does not describe the diphthongs ΑΥ,
ΕΥ, or the digraphs ΑΙ, ΕΙ, ΟΙ, ΟΥ,” A. J. E.
5. “This would best suit our _aw_ in _awn_ shortened, that is, very
nearly our _o_ in _on_. Short ε is not referred to, nor the short
sounds of α, ι, υ,” A. J. E.
11. For the pronunciation of =ζ= see Introduction, p. 44, and cp.
Dionysius Thrax _Ars Gramm._ § 7 (Uhlig p. 14): ἔτι δὲ τῶν συμφώνων
διπλᾶ μέν ἐστι τρία· ζ̄, ξ̄, ψ̄. διπλᾶ δὲ εἴρηται, ὅτι ἓν ἕκαστον αὐτῶν
ἐκ δύο συμφώνων σύγκειται, τὸ μὲν ζ̄ ἐκ τοῦ σ̄ καὶ δ̄, τὸ δὲ ξ̄ ἐκ
τοῦ κ̄ καὶ σ̄, τὸ δὲ ψ̄ ἐκ τοῦ π̄ καὶ σ̄.—For the late use of =διά=
(with the genitive) of the means or material by or of which a thing is
composed cp. =154= 10 and =180= 6; also _Antiqq. Rom._ i. ἐν ὄρεσι τὰ
πολλὰ πηξαμένοις διὰ ξύλων καὶ καλάμων σκηνὰς αὐτορόφους.
17. =ἥττω ... ἦχον=: a true phonetic explanation.
20. For _m_ and _n_ in Greek and Latin (especially at the end of
clauses) cp. Quintil. xii. 10. 31 “Quid? quod pleraque nos illa quasi
mugiente littera cludimus =M=, in quam nullum Graece verbum cadit: at
illi ny iucundam et in fine praecipue quasi tinnientem illius loco
ponunt, quae est apud nos rarissima in clausulis.”
25. =οὐρανὸν ... ὀδόντων.= Demosthenes’ difficulty in pronouncing this
letter (the trilled palato-dental _r_) is well known: e.g. Quintil. i.
11. 5 “(rho littera), qua Demosthenes quoque laboravit.”
[Page 145]
all stands ι: for the impact of the breath is on the teeth as the mouth
is slightly open and the lips do not clarify the sound. Of the short
vowels none has beauty, but ο is less ugly than ε: for the former parts
the lips better than the latter, and receives the impact more in the
region of the windpipe.
So much for the nature of the vowels. The semi-vowels are as follows.
They are eight in number, and five of them are simple, viz. λ, μ,
ν, ρ, and σ, while three are double, viz. ζ, ξ, ψ. They are called
double either because they are composite, receiving a distinctive
sound through the coalescence respectively of σ and δ into ζ, of κ
and σ into ξ, and of π and σ into ψ; or because they each occupy the
room of two letters in the syllables where they are found. Of these
semi-vowels, the double are superior to the single, since they are
ampler than the others and seem to approximate more to perfect letters.
The simple ones are inferior because their sounds are confined within
smaller spaces. They are severally pronounced somewhat as follows: λ
by the tongue rising to the palate, and by the windpipe helping the
sound; μ by the mouth being closed tight by means of the lips, while
the breath is divided and passes through the nostrils; ν by the tongue
intercepting the current of the breath, and diverting the sound towards
the nostrils; ρ by the tip of the tongue sending forth the breath in
puffs and rising to the palate
[Page 146]
τὸ δὲ σ̄ τῆς μὲν γλώττης προσαγομένης ἄνω πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν
ὅλης, τοῦ δὲ πνεύματος διὰ μέσων αὐτῶν φερομένου καὶ περὶ
τοὺς ὀδόντας λεπτὸν καὶ στενὸν ἐξωθοῦντος τὸ σύριγμα. τρία
δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ ἡμίφωνα μικτὸν λαμβάνει τὸν ψόφον ἐξ ἑνὸς μὲν
τῶν ἡμιφώνων τοῦ σ̄, τριῶν δὲ ἀφώνων τοῦ τε δ̄ καὶ τοῦ κ̄ 5
καὶ τοῦ π̄.
οὗτοι σχηματισμοὶ γραμμάτων ἡμιφώνων. δύναται δ’
οὐχ ὁμοίως κινεῖν τὴν ἀκοὴν ἅπαντα· ἡδύνει μὲν γὰρ αὐτὴν
τὸ λ̄, καὶ ἔστι τὼν ἡμιφώνων γλυκύτατον· τραχύνει δὲ τὸ ρ̄
καὶ ἔστι τῶν ὁμογενῶν γενναιότατον· μέσως δέ πως διατίθησι 10
τὰ διὰ τῶν ῥωθώνων συνηχούμενα τό τε μ̄ καὶ τὸ ν̄
κερατοειδεῖς ἀποτελοῦντα τοὺς ἤχους. ἄχαρι δὲ καὶ ἀηδὲς
τὸ σ̄ καὶ πλεονάσαν σφόδρα λυπεῖ· θηριώδους γὰρ καὶ
ἀλόγου μᾶλλον ἢ λογικῆς ἐφάπτεσθαι δοκεῖ φωνῆς ὁ συριγμός·
τῶν γοῦν παλαιῶν τινες σπανίως ἐχρῶντο αὐτῷ καὶ 15
1 προσαγομένης R: προαγομένης EF: προσἀναγομένης P, Vs: προανοιγομένης
M 2 ὅλης REF: ὅλως δὲ M: om. PVs || μέσων αὐτῶν R: μέσον αὐτῶν F:
μέσουν αὐτοῦ M: μέσου αὐτοῦ EPVs 5 δ̄ καὶ τοῦ κ̄ REF: κ̄ καὶ τοῦ δ̄
PMVs 13 καὶ πλεονάσαν REF: καὶ εἰ πλεονάσαι PM: καὶ εἰ πλεονάσειε Vs
14 ἀλόγου RPMVs: ἀλάλου EF
2. Perhaps the variations in the readings here (cp. also =148= 16)
indicate that one or two of the words originally stood in the dual
number.—διὰ μέσου αὐτοῦ (EPV) would mean ‘through the middle of the
palate.’
9. As in Virgil (_Aen._ viii. 140: cp. v. 217), “at Maiam, auditis
si quicquam credimus, Atlas, | idem Atlas generat caeli qui sidera
tollit.”—The same view of _l_ is expressed in Demetr. _de Eloc._ § 174
πρὸς δὲ τὴν ἀκοὴν (sc. ἡδέα ἐστι) “Καλλίστρατος, Ἀννοῶν.” ἥ τε γὰρ
τῶν λάμβδα σύγκρουσις ἠχῶδές τι ἔχει, καὶ ἡ τῶν νῦ γραμμάτων (for the
effect of the double _l_ and _n_ cp. such words as ‘bella’ and ‘donna’
in Italian).
12. It is well known that the Comic Poets make fun of Euripides’ line
ἔσωσά σ’, ὡς ἴσασιν Ἑλλήνων ὅσοι (_Med._ 476: with Porson’s note).
Pericles is said to have led the way in substituting ττ for the less
pleasing σσ (see Lucian’s _Iudicium Vocalium_ for the substitution
itself). On the other hand, it has been observed (with reference to
_de Corona_ § 208 ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἔστιν, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως ἡμάρτετε, ἄνδρες
Ἀθηναῖοι, τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἁπάντων ἐλευθερίας καὶ σωτηρίας κίνδυνον
ἀράμενοι, μὰ τοὺς Μαραθῶνι προκινδυνεύσαντας τῶν προγόνων καὶ τοὺς
ἐν Πλαταιαῖς παραταξαμένους καὶ τοὺς ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ναυμαχήσαντας καὶ
τοὺς ἐπ’ Ἀρτεμισίῳ καὶ πολλοὺς ἑτέρους τοὺς ἐν τοῖς δημοσίοις μνήμασι
κειμένους, ἀγαθοὺς ἄνδρας, οὓς ἅπαντας ὁμοίως ἡ πόλις τῆς αὐτῆς
ἀξιώσασα τιμῆς ἔθαψεν, Αἰσχίνη, οὐχὶ τοὺς κατορθώσαντας αὐτῶν οὐδὲ
τοὺς κρατήσαντας μόνους): “in defence of English we may note that
this renowned passage, perhaps the most effective ever spoken by an
orator, has no less than fifty sigmas in sixty-seven words” (Goodwin’s
edition of Demosth. _de Cor._ p. 148). There is also an interesting
article on “Sigmatism in Greek Dramatic Poetry” in the _American
Journal of Philology_ xxix. 1 (cp. xxxi. 1). Mr. J. A. Scott there
proves by means of examples that Homer, Pindar, Aeschylus, Sophocles,
Euripides, Aristophanes and the Comic Poets, do not avoid recurrent
sigmas; and he adds that “the phrases ὁ φιλοσίγματος and ‘Euripidean
sigmatism,’ which rest on the assumption that Euripides in a peculiar
way marred his style by an excessive use of sigma, have no basis of
truth to support them.” He further remarks, “It is Lasus of Hermione
[Athen. 455 C], the so-called teacher of Pindar, who won a certain
kind of fame by producing asigmatic verses; but it was evidently a
species of poetic gymnastics such as was later achieved by the poets
of the Ἰλιὰς λειπογράμματος and the Ὀδύσσεια λειπογράμματος, where
the trick was to write the first book of each poem without α, the
second without β, and so on.” In Sappho’s _Hymn to Aphrodite_ (_C. V._
c. 23) there is no lack of sigmas. But we may be sure that neither
Demosthenes, nor any good reader of Sappho, would be guilty of undue
sibilation in the actual delivery of the speech or of the lines: it is
the continual hissing that, as in English, has to be avoided. (For the
pronunciation of σ, σβ, σγ, σμ, σσ see _Report of Classical Association
on Greek Pronunciation_, p. 349 _infra_, and Giles’ _Comparative
Philology_ p. 115).—Instances of not unpleasant accumulations of the _s_
sound in Latin are to be found in Virg. _Aen._ v. 46 “annuus exactis
completur mensibus orbis”; Virg. _Georg._ i. 389 “et sola in sicca
secum spatiatur harena”; Cic. _Topic._ i. 1 “maiores nos res scribere
ingressos, C. Trebati, et iis libris, quos brevi tempore satis multos
edidimus, digniores e cursu ipso revocavit voluntas tua.” Cp. Quintil.
ix. 4. 37 “ceterum consonantes quoque, earumque praecipue quae sunt
asperiores, in commissura verborum rixantur, ut si _s_ ultima cum
_x_ proxima confligat; quarum tristior etiam, si binae collidantur,
stridor est, ut _ars studiorum_. quae fuit causa et Servio, ut dixi,
subtrahendae _s_ litterae, quotiens ultima esset aliaque consonante
susciperetur; quod reprehendit Luranius, Messala defendit.” An example
of the recurrence of the _s_ sound in English poetry is:—
O the golden _sh_eaf, the ne_s_tling trea_s_ure-armful!
O the nutbrown tre_ss_es nodding interla_c_ed!
George Meredith,
_Love in the Valley_;
or Shakespeare’s
“Thi_s_ pre_c_iou_s_ _s_tone _s_et in the _s_ilver _s_ea;”
or many of the lines in Marlowe’s ‘smooth song’ “Come live with me, and
be my love.” Of its deliberate elimination an instance is furnished by
John Thelwall’s _English Song without a Sibilant_, entitled “The Empire
of the Mind,” in which the last of the four stanzas runs:—
But when to radiant form and feature,
Internal worth and feeling join
With temper mild and gay goodnature,—
Around the willing heart, they twine
The empire of the mind.
[Page 147]
near the teeth; and σ by the entire tongue being carried up to the
palate and by the breath passing between tongue and palate, and
emitting, round about the teeth, a light, thin hissing. The sound of
the three remaining semi-voiced letters is of a mixed character, being
formed of one of the semi-voiced letters (σ) and three of the voiceless
letters (δ, κ and π).
Such are the formations of the semi-vowels. They cannot all affect the
sense of hearing in the same way. λ falls pleasurably on it, and is the
sweetest of the semi-vowels; while ρ has a rough quality, and is the
noblest of its class. The ear is affected in a sort of intermediate
way by μ and ν, which are pronounced with nasal resonance, and produce
sounds similar to those of a horn. σ is an unattractive, disagreeable
letter, positively offensive when used to excess. A hiss seems a sound
more suited to a brute beast than to a rational being. At all events,
some of the ancients used it sparingly and guardedly.
[Page 148]
πεφυλαγμένως, εἰσὶ δ’ οἳ καὶ ἀσίγμους ὅλας ᾠδὰς ἐποίουν·
δηλοῖ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ Πίνδαρος ἐν οἷς φησι·
πρὶν μὲν εἷρπε σχοινότενειά τ’ ἀοιδὰ διθυράμβω
καὶ τὸ σὰν κίβδηλον ἀνθρώποις.
τριῶν δὲ τῶν ἄλλων γραμμάτων ἃ δὴ διπλᾶ καλεῖται τὸ ζ̄ 5
μᾶλλον ἡδύνει τὴν ἀκοὴν τῶν ἑτέρων· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ξ̄ διὰ τοῦ
κ̄ καὶ τὸ ψ̄ διὰ τοῦ π̄ τὸν συριγμὸν ἀποδίδωσι ψιλῶν ὄντων
ἀμφοτέρων, τοῦτο δ’ ἡσυχῇ τῷ πνεύματι δασύνεται καὶ ἔστι
τῶν ὁμογενῶν γενναιότατον. καὶ περὶ μὲν τῶν ἡμιφώνων
τοσαῦτα. 10
τῶν δὲ καλουμένων ἀφώνων ἐννέα ὄντων τρία μέν ἐστι
ψιλά, τρία δὲ δασέα, τρία δὲ μεταξὺ τούτων· ψιλὰ μὲν τὸ
κ̄ καὶ τὸ π̄ καὶ τὸ τ̄, δασέα δὲ τὸ θ̄ καὶ τὸ φ̄ καὶ τὸ χ̄,
κοινὰ δὲ ἀμφοῖν τὸ β̄ καὶ τὸ γ̄ καὶ τὸ δ̄. φωνεῖται δὲ
αὐτῶν ἕκαστον τρόπον τόνδε· τρία μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν χειλῶν 15
ἄκρων, ὅταν τοῦ στόματος πιεσθέντος τὸ προβαλλόμενον
ἐκ τῆς ἀρτηρίας πνεῦμα λύσῃ τὸν δεσμὸν αὐτοῦ. καὶ
ψιλὸν μέν ἐστιν αὐτῶν τὸ π̄, δασὺ δὲ τὸ φ̄, μέσον δὲ ἀμφοῖν
τὸ β̄· τοῦ μὲν γὰρ ψιλότερόν ἐστι, τοῦ δὲ δασύτερον. μία
μὲν αὕτη συζυγία τριῶν γραμμάτων ἀφώνων ὁμοίῳ σχήματι 20
λεγομένων, ψιλότητι δὲ καὶ δασύτητι διαφερόντων. τρία δὲ
ἄλλα λέγεται τῆς γλώττης ἄκρῳ τῷ στόματι προσερειδομένης
κατὰ τοὺς μετεώρους ὀδόντας, ἔπειθ’ ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος
1 καὶ REF: om. PMVs || ὅλας [ὠιδὰ]ς cum litura F, E: ὅλας αὐδὰς R:
ὠιδὰς ὅλας P, MVs 2 δηλοῖ ... (4) ἀνθρώποις om. R || τοῦτο καὶ EF:
τοῦτο PVs 3 ἧρπε F: ἦρχε MV: ἤριπε EPs || σχοινοτενεῖ[ατα] οἶδα cum
rasura F: σχοινοτονει [-τενὴς ἀδα M] φωνήεντα P, V: σχοινοτενῆ φωνήεντα
Es || διθυράμβου F: διθυράμβων EPMVs: om. Athenaeus 4 κίβδηλον EF
Athenaeus: κίβδαλον PMVs || ἀνθρώποις EFM: ἄνθρωποι PVs 7 καὶ τὸ
ψ̄ RE: τὸ δὲ ψ̄ FPMVs 11 καλουμένων RPMVs: om. EF 14 ἐκφωνεῖται
MVs 16 ἄκρων RFM: ἄκρων τὸ π̄ καὶ τὸ φ̄ καὶ τὸ β̄ EPVs || τό τε P
17 τὸ πνεῦμα P || θεσμὸν R 18 αὐτῶν] αὐτοῦ P 23 μετεώρους REF:
μετεωροτέρους PMVs
1. Athenaeus quotes the lines of Pindar (ll. 3, 4 _infra_) in x. 455
C and in xi. 467 B. The former passage closely illustrates Dionysius’
remarks: Πίνδαρος δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἀσιγμοποιηθεῖσαν ᾠδήν, ὡς ὁ αὐτός φησι
Κλέαρχος, οἱονεὶ γρίφου τινὸς ἐν μελοποιίᾳ προβληθέντος, ὡς πολλῶν
τούτῳ προσκρουόντων διὰ τὸ ἀδύνατον εἶναι ἀποσχέσθαι τοῦ σίγμα καὶ διὰ
τὸ μὴ δοκιμάζειν, ἐποίησε·
πρὶν μὲν εἷρπε σχοινοτένειά τ’ ἀοιδὰ
καὶ τὸ σὰν κίβδηλον ἀνθρώποις.
ταῦτα σημειώσαιτ’ ἄν τις πρὸς τοὺς νοθεύοντας Λάσου τοῦ Ἑρμιονέως τὴν
ἄσιγμον ᾠδήν, ἥτις ἐπιγράφεται Κένταυροι, καὶ ὁ εἰς τὴν Δήμητρα δὲ τὴν
ἐν Ἑρμιόνῃ ποιηθεὶς τῷ Λάσῳ ὕμνος ἄσιγμός ἐστιν, ὥς φησιν Ἡρακλείδης ὁ
Ποντικὸς ἐν τρίτῳ περὶ μουσικῆς, οὗ ἐστιν ἀρχή·
Δάματρα μέλπω Κόραν τε Κλυμένοι’ ἄλοχον.
In Pindar’s own text the right reading possibly is:—
πρὶν μὲν ἕρπε σχοινοτένειά τ’ ἀοιδὰ
διθυράμβων καὶ τὸ σὰν κίβδηλον ἀνθρώποισιν ἀπὸ στομάτων.
Mr. P. N. Ure suggests that Pindar’s real reference was not to
the sound of san but to its form, and that κίβδηλον means either
‘misleading’ with reference to the similarity in form of san to mu, or
‘spurious,’ as not being the form for the sibilant employed at Thebes,
where letters were introduced into Greece.
3. =σχοινοτένεια=: unusual feminine of σχοινοτενής, ‘stretched out like
a measuring line.’
5. “That the σ in σδ meant _z_ appears from what Dionysius presently
says, that ζ is ‘quietly roughened by the breath,’ implying that it was
voiced,” A. J. E. p. 44. The statement (p. 43 _ibid._) that _dz_ was
probably an impossible initial combination to a Greek may be compared
with _Classical Review_ xix. 441 as well as with more ancient evidence.
13. Dionysius’ various statements as to the aspirates are discussed in
E. A. Dawes’ _Pronunciation of the Greek Aspirates_ pp. 29 ff. (as well
as in Blass’s _Ancient Greek Pronunciation_).
15. Dionysius does not actually use Greek equivalents for the
adjectives _labial_, _dental_, and _guttural_; but he clearly knows the
physiological facts in which those terms have their origin.
18. As illustrating Dionysius’ own love of variety, compare =μέσον
ἀμφοῖν= here with κοινὰ ἀμφοῖν (l. 14), μεταξὺ τούτων (l. 12), μετρίως
καὶ μεταξὺ ἀμφοῖν (=150= 9), μέσον δὲ καὶ ἐπίκοινον (=150= 4).
23. =κατὰ τοὺς μετεώρους ὀδόντας.= “The pronunciation of the Greek and
Roman _t_ by placing the tongue against the roots of the gums in lieu
of the upper teeth is not one of the more serious errors [in the modern
pronunciation of Greek and Latin], at least it does not strike our ears
as such. But it has always seemed to me that the taunting verses of
Ennius,
O _T_i_t_e _t_u_t_e _T_a_t_i _t_ibi _t_an_t_a _t_yranne _t_ulis_t_i,
as of Sophocles,
=τ=υφλὸς =τ=ά =τ=’ ὦ=τ=α =τ=όν =τ=ε νοῦν =τ=ά =τ=’ ὄμμα=τ=’ εἶ,
lose a good deal of their effect if the _t_’s are muffled behind the
gums instead of being hurled out from the rampart of the teeth,” J. P.
Postgate _How to pronounce Latin_ p. 11.
[Page 149]
There are writers who used actually to compose entire odes without a
sigma. Pindar shows the same feeling when he writes:—
Ere then crept in the long-drawn dithyrambic song,
And _san_ that rang false on the speaker’s tongue.[130]
Of the three other letters which are called “double,” ζ falls more
pleasurably on the ear than the others. For ξ and ψ give the hiss
in combination with κ and π respectively, both of which letters are
smooth, whereas ζ is softly rippled by the breath and is the noblest of
its class. So much with regard to the semi-vowels.
Of the so-called “voiceless letters,” which are nine in number, three
are smooth, three rough, and three between these. The smooth are κ, π,
τ; the rough θ, φ, χ; the intermediate, β, γ, δ. They are severally
pronounced as follows: three of them (π, θ, β) from the edge of the
lips, when the mouth is compressed and the breath, being driven forward
from the windpipe, breaks through the obstruction. Among these π is
smooth, φ rough, and β comes between the two, being smoother than the
latter and rougher than the former. This is one set of three mutes, all
three spoken with a like configuration of our organs, but differing in
smoothness and roughness. The next three are pronounced by the tongue
being pressed hard against the extremity of the mouth near the upper
teeth, then being blown
[Page 150]
ἀπορριπιζομένης καὶ τὴν διέξοδον αὐτῷ κάτω περὶ τοὺς
ὀδόντας ἀποδιδούσης· διαλλάττει δὲ ταῦτα δασύτητι καὶ
ψιλότητι· ψιλὸν μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν ἐστι τὸ τ̄, δασὺ δὲ τὸ θ̄,
μέσον δὲ καὶ ἐπίκοινον τὸ δ̄. αὕτη δευτέρα συζυγία τριῶν
γραμμάτων ἀφώνων. τρία δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν ἀφώνων λέγεται 5
μὲν τῆς γλώττης ἀνισταμένης πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐγγὺς τοῦ
φάρυγγος καὶ τῆς ἀρτηρίας ὑπηχούσης τῷ πνεύματι, οὐδὲν
οὐδὲ ταῦτα διαφέροντα τῷ σχήματι ἀλλήλων, πλὴν ὅτι τὸ
μὲν κ̄ ψιλῶς λέγεται, τὸ δὲ χ̄ δασέως, τὸ δὲ γ̄ μετρίως καὶ
μεταξὺ ἀμφοῖν. τούτων κράτιστα μέν ἐστιν ὅσα τῷ πνεύματι 10
πολλῷ λέγεται, δεύτερα δὲ ὅσα μέσῳ, κάκιστα δὲ ὅσα ψιλῷ·
ταῦτα μὲν γὰρ τὴν αὑτῶν δύναμιν ἔχει μόνην, τὰ δὲ δασέα
καὶ τὴν τοῦ πνεύματος προσθήκην, ὥστ’ ἐγγύς που τελειότερα
εἶναι ἐκείνων.
XV
ἐκ δὴ τῶν γραμμάτων τοσούτων τε ὄντων καὶ δυνάμεις 15
τοιαύτας ἐχόντων αἱ καλούμεναι γίνονται συλλαβαί. τούτων
δὲ εἰσὶ μακραὶ μὲν ὅσαι συνεστήκασιν ἐκ τῶν φωνηέντων
τῶν μακρῶν ἢ τῶν διχρόνων ὅταν μακρῶς ἐκφέρηται, καὶ
ὅσαι λήγουσιν εἰς μακρὸν ἢ μακρῶς λεγόμενον γράμμα ἢ εἴς
τι τῶν ἡμιφώνων τε καὶ ἀφώνων· βραχεῖαι δὲ ὅσαι συνεστήκασιν 20
ἐκ βραχέος φωνήεντος ἢ βραχέως λαμβανομένου,
καὶ ὅσαι λήγουσιν εἰς ταῦτα. μήκους δὲ καὶ βραχύτητος
1 ἀποῤῥιπιζομένης RF: ἀπορραπιζομένης E: ἀποραπιζομένης P:
ὑποραπιζομένης M: ὑπορραπιζομένης Vs || αὐτῶν κάτω E: κάτω RF: αὐτῶν
PM: αὐτῷ Vs 2 ἀποδιδούσης RF: ἀποδιδούσης τὸ τ̄ καὶ τὸ θ̄ καὶ τὸ δ̄
PMVs 4 τριῶν RFM: om. PVs 6 πρὸς REF: κατὰ PMVs || τοῦ φάρυγγος
REF: τῆς φάρυγγος PMVs 7 πνεύματι RF: πνεύματι τὸ κ̄ καὶ τὸ χ̄ καὶ τὸ
γ̄ EPMVs || οὐδὲν οὐδὲ Us.: οὐδὲν δὲ οὐδὲ R: οὐδὲν δὲ οὐ F: οὐδενὶ PMVs
10 ἀμφοῖν. τούτων κράτιστα μέν ἐστιν F [E]: ἀμφοῖν τούτοιν (τούτων
b)· κράτιστα μὲν οὖν ἐστιν R: τούτων. κράτιστα μὲν οὖν ἐστιν PMVs 11
δὲ REPMVs: δ’ F || μέσω EPMV,s: μ[έσωι] cum rasura F: μέσα R || κάκιστα
REF: κακίω PMVs || ψιλῷ] ψιλῶι P, EMVs: ψιλῶ F: ψιλῶς R^a: ψιλά R^b
13 ἐγγύς που R: ἐγγὺς τοῦ libri || τελειότερα REF: τελειότερον P:
τελειότατα MVs 14 ἐκείνων P: ἐκεῖνα RFMs, V: om. E 19 ἢ εἴς τι] εἴς
τι F: ἤ τι EP: ἤτοι MV 20 τε καὶ EF: ἢ PMV 21 ἢ βραχέος V
11. Usener seems to carry his faith in F to excess when, in one and
the same line, he prints δ’ ὅσα and δὲ ὅσα. Dionysius can hardly have
extended his love for μεταβολή so far as that.
20. Batteaux (p. 208), when comparing French with the ancient languages
in relations to long and short syllables, has the following interesting
remarks: “Il n’est pas question de prouver ici que nous avons des
syllabes brèves: nous sommes presque persuadés que toutes nos syllabes
le sont, tant nous sommes pressés quand nous parlons. Nous traitons
de même les syllabes latines; nous les faisons presque toutes brèves,
quand nous lisons: il n’y a guère que le ω et les η grecs que nous
allongions en lisant. Selon toute apparence, les Grecs and les Italiens
anciens, qui, à en juger par les modernes, n’étaient pas moins vifs
que nous, ne devaient guère se donner plus de temps pour peser sur
leurs syllabes longues. Aussi n’était-ce pas dans la conversation
qu’ils mesuraient leurs syllabes; c’était dans les discours oratoires,
et encore plus dans leurs vers; c’était là qu’on pouvait observer les
longues et les brèves, et c’est là aussi que nous les devons observer
dans notre langue.”
[Page 151]
back by the breath, and affording it an outlet downwards round the
teeth. These differ in roughness and smoothness, τ being the smoothest
of them, θ the roughest, and δ medial or common. This is the second set
of three mutes. The three remaining mutes are spoken with the tongue
rising to the palate near the throat, and the windpipe echoing to the
breath. These, again, differ in no way from one another as regards
formation; but κ is pronounced smoothly, χ roughly, γ moderately and
between the two. Of these the best are those which are uttered with
a full breath; next those with moderate breath; worst those with
smooth breath, since they have their own force alone, while the rough
letters have the breath also added, so that they are somewhere nearer
perfection than the others.