SYLLABLES AND THEIR QUALITIES
Such is the number of the letters, and such are their properties. From
them are formed the so-called _syllables_. Of these syllables, those
are long which contain long vowels or variable vowels when pronounced
long, and those which end in a long letter or a letter pronounced long,
or in one of the semi-vowels and one of the mutes. Those are short
which contain a short vowel or one taken as short, and those which end
in such vowels. There is
[Page 152]
συλλαβῶν οὐ μία φύσις, ἀλλὰ καὶ μακρότεραί τινές εἰσι τῶν
μακρῶν καὶ βραχύτεραι τῶν βραχειῶν. ἔσται δὲ τοῦτο
φανερὸν ἐπὶ τῶν παραδειγμάτων.
ὁμολογεῖται δὴ βραχεῖα εἶναι συλλαβή, ἣν ποιεῖ φωνῆεν
γράμμα βραχὺ τὸ ο̄, ὡς λέγεται #ὁδός#. ταύτῃ προστεθήτω 5
γράμμα ἓν τῶν ἡμιφώνων τὸ ρ̄ καὶ γενέσθω #Ῥόδος#· μένει
μὲν ἔτι βραχεῖα ἡ συλλαβή, πλὴν οὐχ ὁμοίως, ἀλλ’ ἕξει τινὰ
παραλλαγὴν ἀκαρῆ παρὰ τὴν προτέραν. ἔτι προστεθήτω
ταύτῃ τῶν ἀφώνων γραμμάτων ἓν τὸ τ̄ καὶ γενέσθω #τρόπος#·
μείζων αὕτη τῶν προτέρων ἔσται συλλαβῶν καὶ ἔτι βραχεῖα 10
μένει. τρίτον ἔτι γράμμα τῇ αὐτῇ συλλαβῇ προστεθήτω τὸ
σ̄ καὶ γενέσθω #στρόφος#· τρισὶν αὕτη προσθήκαις ἀκουσταῖς
μακροτέρα γενήσεται τῆς βραχυτάτης μένουσα ἔτι βραχεῖα.
οὐκοῦν τέτταρες αὗται βραχείας συλλαβῆς διαφοραὶ τὴν
ἄλογον αἴσθησιν ἔχουσαι τῆς παραλλαγῆς μέτρον. ὁ δ’ αὐτὸς 15
λόγος καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς μακρᾶς. ἡ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ η̄ γινομένη συλλαβὴ
μακρὰ τὴν φύσιν οὖσα τεττάρων γραμμάτων προσθήκαις
παραυξηθεῖσα τριῶν μὲν προταττομένων, ἑνὸς δὲ ὑποταττομένου,
καθ’ ἣν λέγεται #σπλήν#, μείζων ἂν δήπου λέγοιτο εἶναι
τῆς προτέρας ἐκείνης τῆς μονογραμμάτου· μειουμένη γοῦν 20
αὖθις καθ’ ἓν ἕκαστον τῶν προστεθέντων γραμμάτων τὰς
ἐπὶ τοὔλαττον παραλλαγὰς αἰσθητὰς ἂν ἔχοι. αἰτία δὲ τίς
ἐστι τοῦ μήτε τὰς μακρὰς ἐκβαίνειν τὴν αὑτῶν φύσιν μέχρι
γραμμάτων πέντε μηκυνομένας μήτε τὰς βραχείας εἰς ἓν ἀπὸ
πολλῶν γραμμάτων συστελλομένας ἐκπίπτειν τῆς βραχύτητος, 25
ἀλλὰ κἀκείνας ἐν διπλασίῳ λόγῳ θεωρεῖσθαι τῶν βραχειῶν
καὶ ταύτας ἐν ἡμίσει τῶν μακρῶν, οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον ἐν τῷ
παρόντι σκοπεῖν. ἀρκεῖ γὰρ ὅσον εἰς τὴν παροῦσαν ὑπόθεσιν
ἥρμοττεν εἰρῆσθαι, ὅτι διαλλάττει καὶ βραχεῖα συλλαβὴ
4 δὴ] δεῖ P || βραχεῖα EM: βραχέα F: βραχεῖαν PV || συλλαβὴν PV 5
γράμμα βραχὺ EF: βραχὺ γράμμα V: γράμμα P || προστεθήτω EPV: προστιθέτω
M: τίς προσθέτω F 8 ἀκαρὴ P: ἀκαρεὶ MV: om. EF || προστεθήτω EPMV:
προσθέτω F 9 ἓν EF: om. PMV 15 ἄλογον EFV: ἀνάλογον PM 19 μείζονα
ἂν F 20 μειουμένη] μειουμένης P: μειουμένων M || γ’ οὖν αὖθις P, M:
τε οὖν αὖθις F: τε αὖ πάλιν E: δ’ αὖ πάλιν V 21 ἓν PMV: om. EF 22
τοὔλαττον] τὸ λεῖπον PM || τίς ex τί corr. F: ἣ τίς PM, V 23 αὐτῶν
F: ἑαυτῶν PMV 24 ε̄ μηκυνομένας ... (25) γραμμάτων om. F || πέντε
Uptonus, ε̄ Us.: ἑπτὰ PM: δ̄ V
2. Cp. Quintil. ix. 4. 84 “sit in hoc quoque aliquid fortasse momenti,
quod et longis longiores et brevibus sunt breviores syllabae; ut,
quamvis neque plus duobus temporibus neque uno minus habere videantur,
ideoque in metris omnes breves longaeque inter sese sint pares, lateat
tamen nescio quid, quod supersit aut desit. nam versuum propria
condicio est, ideoque in his quaedam etiam communes.”
8. =ἀκαρῆ=: cp. _de Isocr._ c. 20 ἀκαρῆ δέ τινα ... ἐνθυμήματα.
12. =τρισὶν ... προσθήκαις=: the meaning apparently is that the first
prefix increases the length by one augmentation; the second, by two;
the third, by three. αὕτη = ἡ συλλαβή =στρόφ-=.
22. =ἐπὶ τοὔλαττον=: cp. Aristot. _Eth. Nic._ ii. 7. 12 ἡ δὲ
προσποίησις ἡ μὲν ἐπὶ τὸ μεῖζον ἀλαζονεία καὶ ὁ ἔχων αὐτὴν ἀλαζών, ἡ
δ’ ἐπὶ τὸ ἔλαττον εἰρωνεία καὶ εἴρων [ὁ ἔχων], iv. 7. 14 οἱ δ’ εἴρωνες
ἐπὶ τὸ ἔλαττον λέγοντες χαριέστεροι μὲν τὰ ἤθη φαίνονται; and Long. _de
Sublim._ c. 38 αἱ δ’ ὑπερβολαὶ καθάπερ ἐπὶ τὸ μεῖζον, οὕτως καὶ ἐπὶ
τοὔλαττον.
26. =θεωρεῖσθαι= here (and in =204= 3, =210= 9) may perhaps supply a
parallel (though not a complete one) of the kind desired in _Classical
Quarterly_ i. 41 n. 1.
[Page 153]
more than one kind of length and shortness of syllables: some are
longer than the long and some shorter than the short. And this will be
made clear by consideration of the examples which I am about to adduce.
It will be admitted that a syllable is short which is formed by the
short vowel ο, as, for example, in the word ὁδός. To this let the
semi-vowel ρ be prefixed and Ῥόδος be formed. The syllable still
remains short; but not equally so, for it will show some slight
difference when compared with the former. Further, let one of the
mutes, τ, be prefixed and τρόπος be formed. This again will be longer
than the former syllables; yet it still remains short. Let still a
third letter, σ, be prefixed to the same syllable and στρόφος be
formed. This will have become longer than the shortest syllable by
three audible prefixes; and yet it still remains short. So, then,
here are four grades of short syllables, with only our instinctive
feeling for quantity as a measure of the difference. The same principle
applies to the long syllable. The syllable formed from η, though long
by nature, yet when augmented by the addition of four letters, three
prefixed and one suffixed, as in the word σπλήν, would surely be said
to be ampler than that syllable, in its original form, that consisted
of a single letter. At all events, if it were in turn deprived, one by
one, of the added letters, it would show perceptible changes in the way
of diminution. As to the reason why long syllables do not transcend
their natural quality when lengthened to five letters, nor short
syllables drop from their shortness when reduced from many letters to
one, the former being still regarded as double the shorts, and the
latter as half the longs,—this does not at present demand examination.
It is sufficient to say what is really germane to the present subject,
namely, that one short syllable
[Page 154]
βραχείας καὶ μακρὰ μακρᾶς καὶ οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχει δύναμιν
οὔτ’ ἐν λόγοις ψιλοῖς οὔτ’ ἐν ποιήμασιν ἢ μέλεσιν διὰ μέτρων
ἢ ῥυθμῶν κατασκευαζομένοις πᾶσα βραχεῖα καὶ πᾶσα μακρά.
πρῶτον μὲν δὴ θεώρημα τοῦτο τῶν ἐν ταῖς συλλαβαῖς
παθῶν· ἕτερον δὲ τοιόνδε· τῶν γραμμάτων πολλὰς ἐχόντων 5
διαφορὰς οὐ μόνον περὶ τὰ μήκη καὶ τὰς βραχύτητας ἀλλὰ
καὶ περὶ τοὺς ἤχους, ὑπὲρ ὧν ὀλίγῳ πρότερον εἴρηκα, πᾶσα
ἀνάγκη καὶ τὰς ἐκ τούτων συνισταμένας συλλαβὰς ἢ διὰ
τούτων πλεκομένας ἅμα τήν τε ἰδίαν ἑκάστου σῴζειν δύναμιν
καὶ τὴν κοινὴν ἁπάντων, ἣ γίνεται διὰ τῆς κράσεώς τε καὶ 10
παραθέσεως αὐτῶν· ἐξ ὧν μαλακαί τε φωναὶ γίνονται καὶ
σκληραὶ καὶ λεῖαι καὶ τραχεῖαι, γλυκαίνουσαί τε τὴν ἀκοὴν
καὶ πικραίνουσαι, καὶ στύφουσαι καὶ διαχέουσαι, καὶ πᾶσαν
ἄλλην κατασκευάζουσαι διάθεσιν φυσικήν· αὗται δ’ εἰσὶ μυρίαι
τὸ πλῆθος ὅσαι. 15
ταῦτα δὴ καταμαθόντες οἱ χαριέστατοι ποιητῶν τε καὶ
συγγραφέων τὰ μὲν αὐτοὶ κατασκευάζουσιν ὀνόματα συμπλέκοντες
ἐπιτηδείως ἀλλήλοις, τὰ δὲ γράμματα καὶ τὰς συλλαβὰς
οἰκείας οἷς ἂν βούλωνται παραστῆσαι πάθεσιν ποικίλως
φιλοτεχνοῦσιν, ὡς ποιεῖ πολλάκις Ὅμηρος, ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν 20
προσηνέμων αἰγιαλῶν τῇ παρεκτάσει τῶν συλλαβῶν τὸν
ἄπαυστον ἐκφαίνειν βουλόμενος ἦχον
ἠϊόνες βοόωσιν ἐρευγομένης ἁλὸς ἔξω·
1 οὐ F: οὔτε PMV 2 μέτρων ἢ ῥυθμῶν F: ῥυθμῶν ἢ μέτρων PMV 8 καὶ EF:
om. PMV 10 καὶ (posterius) EF: καὶ τῆς PMV 13 πᾶσαν EFM: πᾶσαν τὴν
PV 16 δὴ PMV: ἤδη EF 17 αὐτοὶ EF: αὐτοί τε PMV 18 τὰ δὲ FM: τὰ
EPV 19 οἰκείας F: δὲ οἰκείας E: οἰκείως PM: δὲ οἰκείως V 20 τῶν EF:
om. PMV 21 τὸν om. P 22 ἐκφαίνειν EF: ἐμφαίνειν PMV
1. H. Richards (_Classical Review_ xix. 252) suggests οὔτι, in place of
the οὔτε of PMV and the οὐ of F.
3. If this passage (from =152= 4 up to this point) be taken in
connexion with one from the scholia to Hephaestion and another from
Marius Victorinus (see Goodell’s _Greek Metric_ pp. 6, 7), we find the
following difference indicated as between the school of the _metrici_
and that of the _rhythmici_: “The metrici considered the long syllable
as always twice the length of the short; whatever variation from this
ratio the varying constitution of syllables produced was treated as
too slight to affect the general flow of verse. The rhythmici, on the
other hand, held that long syllables differed greatly from each other
in quantity, and that short syllables differed from each other in
some degree, apart from variations in tempo. The doctrine of ἀλογία
or irrationality, whereby some syllables were longer or shorter by a
small undefined amount than the complete long, was associated by some
with this theory, as in a passage of Dionysius Halic. (_C. V._ c. 17
οἱ δ’ ἀπὸ τῆς μακρᾶς ... τῶν πάνυ καλῶν οἱ ῥυθμοί: cp. c. 20 _ibid._).
Some, at least, affirmed also that a single consonant required half the
time of a short vowel, and that two consonants or a double consonant
required the same time as a short vowel; those writers accordingly set
up a scale of measurement for syllables, simply counting the number
of time-units required, on this theory, by the constituent vowels and
consonants,” Goodell _Greek Metric_ pp. 8, 9.
20. Cp. the use of the long _o_ in such passages as Virg. _Aen._ iii.
670 ff. “verum ubi nulla datur dextra adfectare potestas | nec potis
Ionios fluctus aequare sequendo, | clamorem immensum tollit, quo
pontus et omnes | contremuere undae”; v. 244 ff. “tum satus Anchisa
cunctis ex more vocatis | victorem magna praeconis voce Cloanthum |
declarat viridique advelat tempora lauro, | muneraque in navis ternos
optare iuvencos | vinaque et argenti magnum dat ferre talentum.” See
also Demetr. p. 42 for A. C. Bradley’s comments on Virgil’s line
“tendebantque manus ripae ulterioris amore.”
23. Aristotle (_Poetics_ c. 22) points out that it would be disastrous
to substitute the trivial κράζουσιν for =βοόωσιν= in this passage.—With
regard to the sound of the line cp. schol. on _Il._ xvii. 265 καὶ
ἔστιν ἰδεῖν κῦμα μέγα θαλάσσης ἐπιφερόμενον ποταμοῦ ῥεύματι καὶ τῷ
ἀνακόπτεσθαι βρυχώμενον, καὶ τὰς ἑκατέρωθεν τοῦ ποταμοῦ θαλασσίας
ἠϊόνας ἠχούσας, ὃ ἐμιμήσατο διὰ τῆς ἐπεκτάσεως τοῦ #βοόωσιν#. αὕτη
ἡ εἰκὼν Πλάτωνος ἔκαυσε τὰ ποιήματα· οὕτως ἐναργέστερον τοῦ ὁρωμένου τὸ
ἀκουόμενον παρέστησεν ... τῆς γὰρ ἐπαλλήλου τῶν ὑδάτων ἐκβολῆς ἡ τοῦ
“βοόωσιν” ἀναδίπλωσις ὁμοίαν ἀπετέλεσε συνῳδίαν.
[Page 155]
may differ from another short, and one long from another long, and that
every short and every long syllable has not the same quality either
in prose, or in poems, or in songs, whether these be metrically or
rhythmically constructed.
The foregoing is the first aspect under which we view the different
qualities of syllables. The next is as follows. As letters have
many points of difference, not only in length and shortness, but
also in sound—points of which I have spoken a little while ago—it
must necessarily follow that the syllables, which are combinations
or interweavings of letters, preserve at once both the individual
properties of each component, and the joint properties of all, which
spring from their fusion and juxtaposition. The sounds thus formed are
soft or hard, smooth or rough, sweet to the ear or harsh to it; they
make us pull a wry face, or cause our mouths to water, or bring about
any of the countless other physical conditions that are possible.
These facts the greatest poets and prose-writers have carefully noted,
and not only do they deliberately arrange their words and weave them
into appropriate patterns, but often, with curious and loving skill,
they adapt the very syllables and letters to the emotions which
they wish to represent. This is Homer’s way when he is describing a
wind-swept beach and wishes to express the ceaseless reverberation by
the prolongation of syllables:—
Echo the cliffs, as bursteth the sea-surge down on the strand.[131]
[Page 156]
ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ τετυφλωμένου Κύκλωπος τό τε τῆς ἀλγηδόνος
μέγεθος καὶ τὴν διὰ τῶν χειρῶν βραδεῖαν ἔρευναν τῆς τοῦ
σπηλαίου θύρας
Κύκλωψ δὲ στενάχων τε καὶ ὠδίνων ὀδύνῃσιν,
χερσὶ ψηλαφόων· 5
καὶ ἄλλοθί που δέησιν ἐνδείξασθαι βουλόμενος πολλὴν καὶ
κατεσπουδασμένην
οὐδ’ εἴ κεν μάλα πολλὰ πάθῃ ἑκάεργος Ἀπόλλων,
προπροκυλινδόμενος πατρὸς Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο.
μυρία ἔστιν εὑρεῖν παρ’ αὐτῷ τοιαῦτα, χρόνου μῆκος ἢ 10
σώματος μέγεθος ἢ πάθους ὑπερβολὴν ἢ στάσεως ἠρεμίαν ἢ
τῶν παραπλησίων τι δηλοῦντα παρ’ οὐδὲν οὕτως ἕτερον ἢ τὰς
τῶν συλλαβῶν κατασκευάς· καὶ ἄλλα τούτοις ἐναντίως εἰργασμένα
εἰς βραχύτητα καὶ τάχος καὶ σπουδὴν καὶ τὰ τούτοις
ὁμοιογενῆ, ὡς ἔχει ταυτί 15
ἀμβλήδην γοόωσα μετὰ δμωῇσιν ἔειπεν
καὶ
ἡνίοχοι δ’ ἔκπληγεν, ἐπεὶ ἴδον ἀκάματον πῦρ.
ἐφ’ ἧς μὲν γὰρ ἡ τοῦ πνεύματος δηλοῦται συγκοπὴ καὶ τὸ
τῆς φωνῆς ἄτακτον, ἐφ’ ὧν δ’ ἡ τῆς διανοίας ἔκστασις καὶ τὸ 20
τοῦ δείματος ἀπροσδόκητον· ποιεῖ δὲ τούτων ἑκάτερον ἡ τῶν
συλλαβῶν τε καὶ γραμμάτων ἐλάττωσις.
1 τετυφλωμένου E: τετυφωμένου F: τυφλουμένου PMV 2 τὴν διὰ EMV: διὰ
τὴν FP 8 πάθῃ EF: πάθοι PMV Hom. 10 εὑρεῖν om. F 11 ἠρεμίαν]
ὁμιλίαν FM 15 ὁμοιογενῆ F: ὁμο*γενῆ P: ὁμογενῆ MV 16 δμωιῆισιν P:
Τρῴῃσιν Hom. 18 ἔκπληγον PMV 19 ἧς F: ὧν PMV 20 ἔκστασις FM:
ἔκτασις PV 21 δείγματος PV
1. =ἀλγηδών=: a somewhat poetical word, though used by Herodotus and
Plato. Its use in a highly figurative passage of Herodotus (v. 18) is
censured in the _de Sublim._ iv. 7 καὶ τὸ Ἡροδότειον οὐ πόρρω, τὸ φάναι
τὰς καλὰς γυναῖκας “ἀλγηδόνας ὀφθαλμῶν.”
4. In these lines, and in =154= 23, the reiteration of the long ω, and
of the long η, is particularly to be noted.
9. =προπροκυλινδόμενος=: imitated by Ap. Rhod. _Argon._ i. 386
προπροβιαζόμενοι, and ii. 595 προπροκαταΐγδην. Cp. _Odyss._ xvii. 524
ἔνθεν δὴ νῦν δεῦρο τόδ’ ἵκετο πήματα πάσχων, | προπροκυλινδόμενος.
10. =χρόνου μῆκος=: cp. Virg. _Aen._ i. 272 “hic iam ter centum totos
regnabitur annos,” and iii. 284 “interea magnum sol circumvolvitur
annum.”
11. =σώματος μέγεθος=: cp. Virg. _Aen._ vii. 783 “ipse inter primos
praestanti corpore Turnus.”—=πάθους ὑπερβολήν=: cp. Virg. _Aen._ ix.
475 “at subitus miserae calor ossa reliquit, | excussi manibus radii
revolutaque pensa.”
12. A blending of (1) παρ’ οὐδὲν οὕτως ὡς, (2) παρ’ οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἤ.
16. Cp. Virg. _Aen._ ix. 477 “evolat infelix et femineo ululatu |
scissa comam muros amens atque agmina cursu | prima petit,” etc.
18. Batteux (_Réflexions_ pp. 219-21) quotes and analyzes the
well-known passage of Racine’s _Phèdre_ (v. 6) which begins: “Un
effroyable cri, sorti du fond des flots, | Des airs en ce moment a
troublé le repos.” He says: “Dans le dernier morceau de Racine qui
peint l’objet terrible, il n’y a pas un vers qui n’ait le caractère
de la chose exprimée. Ce sont des sons aigus et perçans, des syllabes
chargée de consonnes, et de consonnes épaisses: _sorti du fond des
flots; notre sang s’est glacé; L’onde approche, se brise; Son front
large est armé_. Des mots qui se heurtent: _effroyable cri; cri
redoutable; le crin s’est hérissé_. D’autres mots larges et spacieux:
_Cependant, sur le dos de la plaine liquide, S’élève à gros bouillons_
(_S’élève_ rejeté à l’autre vers comme celui-ci de Despréaux, _S’élève
un lit de plume_) _une montaigne humide; cornes menaçantes; écailles
jaunissantes; Indomptable taureau, dragon impétueux_. Des syllabes qui
se renversent les unes sur le autres: _Sa croupe se recourbe en replis
tortueux_. Ce vers, dans un poëme ancient, eût été célébré de siècle en
siècle.”
[Page 157]
Or again when, after the Cyclops has been blinded, Homer desires to
express the greatness of his anguish, and his hands’ slow search for
the door of the cavern:—
The Cyclops, with groan on groan and throes of anguish sore,
With hands slow-groping.[132]
And when in another place he wishes to indicate a long impassioned
prayer:—
Not though in an agony Phoebus the Smiter from Far should entreat
Low-grovelling at Father Zeus the Aegis-bearer’s feet.[133]
Such lines are to be found without number in Homer, representing length
of time, hugeness of body, stress of emotion, immobility of position,
or similar effects, simply by the manipulation of the syllables.
Conversely, others are framed to give the impression of abruptness,
speed, hurry, and the like. For instance,
Wailing with broken sobs amidst of her handmaids she cried,[134]
and
And scared were the charioteers, that tireless flame to behold.[135]
In the first passage the stoppage of Andromache’s breath is indicated,
and the tremor of her voice; in the second, the startled dismay of the
charioteers, and the unexpectedness of the terror. The effect in both
cases is due to the docking of syllables and letters.
[Page 158]
XVI
καὶ αὐτοὶ μὲν δὴ κατασκευάζουσιν οἱ ποιηταὶ καὶ λογογράφοι
πρὸς χρῆμα ὁρῶντες οἰκεῖα καὶ δηλωτικὰ τῶν ὑποκειμένων
τὰ ὀνόματα, ὥσπερ ἔφην· πολλὰ δὲ καὶ παρὰ τῶν
ἔμπροσθεν λαμβάνουσιν ὡς ἐκεῖνοι κατεσκεύασαν, ὅσα μιμητικὰ
τῶν πραγμάτων ἐστίν· ὡς ἔχει ταυτί 5
ῥόχθει γὰρ μέγα κῦμα ποτὶ ξερὸν ἠπείροιο.
αὐτὸς δὲ κλάγξας πέτετο πνοιῇς ἀνέμοιο.
αἰγιαλῷ μεγάλῳ βρέμεται, σμαραγεῖ δέ τε πόντος.
σκέπτετ’ ὀιστῶν τε ῥοῖζον καὶ δοῦπον ἀκόντων.
μεγάλη δὲ τούτων ἀρχὴ καὶ διδάσκαλος ἡ φύσις ἡ ποιοῦσα 10
μιμητικοὺς καὶ θετικοὺς ἡμᾶς τῶν ὀνομάτων, οἷς δηλοῦται τὰ
πράγματα κατά τινας εὐλόγους καὶ κινητικὰς τῆς διανοίας
ὁμοιότητας· ὑφ’ ἧς ἐδιδάχθημεν ταύρων τε μυκήματα λέγειν
καὶ χρεμετισμοὺς ἵππων καὶ φριμαγμοὺς τράγων πυρός τε
1 μὲν F: τε PMV 2 πρὸς χρῆμα PV: πρόσχημα PM 4 μιμητικὰ EF:
μιμητικώτατα PMV 5 πραγμάτων] γραμμάτων PM 6 ῥόγχθει F: ῥοχθεῖ PMV
8 μεγάλωι P, EM Hom.: μεγάλα F 11 καὶ θετικοὺς ἡμᾶς EF: ἡμᾶς καὶ
θετικοὺς V: καὶ θετικοὺς M: ἡμᾶς P 12 τῆς EF: om. PMV 13 ἧς P:
ὧν EFMV 14 φριμαγμοὺς EF: φριγμοὺς P: φρυαγμοὺς V: φρυμαγμοὺς M ||
τράγων] ταύρων F
2. =πρὸς χρῆμα ὁρῶντες=: for χρῆμα cp. =160= 4. The writer must,
in Matthew Arnold’s phrase, have his “eye on the object.” Cp.
Aristot. _Poet._ c. xvii. δεῖ δὲ τοὺς μύθους συνιστάναι καὶ τῇ
λέξει συναπεργάζεσθαι ὅτι μάλιστα πρὸ ὀμμάτων τιθέμενον· οὕτω γὰρ
ἂν ἐναργέστατα ὁρῶν ὥσπερ παρ’ αὐτοῖς γιγνόμενος τοῖς πραττομένοις
εὑρίσκοι τὸ πρέπον καὶ ἥκιστα ἂν λανθάνοι τὰ ὑπεναντία: and Long.
_de Sublim._ c. xv. ἆρ’ οὐκ ἂν εἴποις, ὅτι ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦ γράφοντος
συνεπιβαίνει τοῦ ἅρματος, καὶ συγκινδυνεύουσα τοῖς ἵπποις συνεπτέρωται;
οὐ γὰρ ἄν, εἰ μὴ τοῖς οὐρανίοις ἐκείνοις ἔργοις ἰσοδρομοῦσα ἐφέρετο,
τοιαῦτ’ ἄν ποτε ἐφαντάσθη.
4. =μιμητικά=: cp. Aristot. _Poet._ c. iv. τό τε γὰρ μιμεῖσθαι σύμφυτον
τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐκ παίδων ἐστί (καὶ τούτῳ διαφέρουσι τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ὅτι
μιμητικώτατόν ἐστι καὶ τὰς μαθήσεις ποιεῖται διὰ μιμήσεως τὰς πρώτας),
καὶ τὸ χαίρειν τοῖς μιμήμασι πάντας.
6. For the repeated _r_ sound cp. the passage of the _Aeneid_ (i. 108)
which begins “talia iactanti stridens Aquilone procella,” and schol. on
_Odyss._ v. 402 τῶν δὲ πεποιημένων ἡ λέξις (sc. ῥόχθει)· τραχὺ γὰρ τὸ
ρ, τὸ θ, τὸ χ.
8. Cp. schol. ad _Il._ ii. 210 συμφυῶς τῷ ὑποκειμένῳ τετράχυνται τὸ
ἔπος ταῖς ὀνοματοποιΐαις.—In this line F’s reading μεγάλα accords with
a conjecture of Bentley’s.
9. Cp. Virg. _Aen._ v. 437 “stat gravis Entellus nisuque immotus eodem
| corpore tela modo atque oculis vigilantibus exit.”
11. Not all languages, however, have the same powers in this direction:
cp. Quintil. i. 5. 72 “sed minime nobis concessa est ὀνοματοποιΐα;
quis enim ferat, si quid simile illis merito laudatis λίγξε βιός et
σίζε ὀφθαλμός fingere audeamus? Iam ne _balare_ quidem aut _hinnire_
fortiter diceremus, nisi iudicio vetustatis niterentur” (Quintilian has
just before, §§ 67 and 70, referred to Pacuvius’ _repandirostrum_ and
_incurvicervicum_: which may be compared with Ἑρμοκαϊκόξανθος, Aristot.
_Poet._ c. 21); and viii. 6. 31 “ὀνοματοποιΐα quidem, id est fictio
nominis, Graecis inter maxima habita virtutes, nobis vix permittitur
... vix illa, quae πεποιημένα vocant, quae ex vocibus in usum receptis
quocunque modo declinantur, nobis permittimus, qualia sunt _Sullaturit_
et _proscripturit_.” Greek, English and German admit onomatopoeia more
readily than Latin and French. Any undue restriction (such as that
indicated by Quintilian when defining πεποιημένα) hampers the life of a
language. Words should serve their apprenticeship, no doubt; but there
should be no lack of probationers. We feel that the language itself
is growing when Cicero uses ‘dulcescit’ of the growing and ripening
grape, or when Erasmus uses the same word to indicate that England
‘grew’ upon him the more he knew it.—For the general question of the
right of coining new words or reviving disused words see Demetr. pp.
255, 297, 298 (and cp. §§ 94, 220 _ibid._). Many of Dionysius’ remarks,
here and elsewhere, seem to concern the choice or the manufacture of
words rather than their arrangement; but, from the nature of the case,
he clearly finds it hard to draw a strict dividing-line either in this
direction or in regard to the entire λεκτικὸς τόπος as distinguished
from the πραγματικὸς τόπος.
13. In giving the singular, P seems clearly right here, and as clearly
wrong when giving the plural in =156= 19.
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