145. The same stem often shows different vowels in different forms. In
most of these cases this difference was inherited from a very early
period and continued in the Latin. Such old inherited variation of the
quality of the stem-vowel is called _qualitative vowel gradation_. The
qualitative variations may be accompanied by quantitative changes (135).
Often the verb and the noun are thus distinguished by different vowels:
as, #tegō#, _I cover_, and #toga#, _a garment_, _toga_; #precor#, _I
beg_, and #procus#, _suitor_, cf. English _to sing_ and _a song_, _to
bind_, and _a bond_. The different tenses of some verbs show a like
gradation: as, #capiō#, _I take_, #cēpī#; #faciō#, _I make_, #fēcī#, cf.
English _I sing_, _I sang_; _I bring_, _I brought_. The same occurs in
derivation: as #doceō#, _I teach_, by the side of #decet#; #noceō#, _I
harm_, by the side of #nex# (#nec-s#). The two vowels which occur most
frequently in such gradation are #e# and #o#: as in stems in #-o-#,
#domine#, #dominus# (for #dominos#); as variable vowel (824); #genos#
(#genus#, 107, _c_) in the nom. sg. by the side of #*genes-# in the
oblique cases (gen. #generis# for #*genesis#, 154); #honōs# by the side
of #hones-# in #hones-tus#; #modus#, _measure_, for #*modos# (originally
a neuter #-s-# stem like #genus# (487, 491), but transferred later to
the #-o-# declension), by the side of #modes-# in #modes-tus#, _seemly_.
See 187.
(B.) CONSONANT CHANGE.
146. In a number of words which belong more or less clearly to the stem
of the pronoun #quo-# (681), #cu-# (157), the initial #c# has
disappeared before #u#: as,
#uter#, _which of the two_, #ubĭ#, _where_, #unde#, _whence_ (711). For
the conjunction #ut#, #utī#, _that_, connection with this pronominal
stem is much more doubtful. The #c-# appears in the compounds with #sī#
and #nē̆#: as, #sī-cubī# (cf. #sī-quidem#, #sī-quandō#), #sī-cunde#,
#nē-cubi#, #ne-cunde#, #ne-cuter#.
147. #d# varies in a few words with #l#: as old Latin #dacruma#, _tear_,
for later #lacrima#; #dingua#, _tongue_, for later #lingua#; #odor#,
_smell_, by the side of #oleō#, _I smell_.
148. Very rarely, before labials, final #d# of the preposition #ad#
varies with #r#: as, old Latin #arfuērunt#, _they were present_, for
later #adfuērunt# (2257); #arvorsum#, _against_, for #advorsum#. The
only instances of this in classical Latin are #arbiter#, _umpire_, and
#arcēssō# (970), _I summon_, which shows #r# before a guttural.
149. (1.) Final d after a long vowel disappeared in classical Latin:
thus, in the ablative singular of #-ā-# and #-o-# stems (426), and in
the ablative-accusative forms #mēd#, #tēd#, #sēd# (648). The
prepositions #prō# and #sē# (1417) originally ended in #-d# which is
still seen in #prōdesse#, _be of advantage_, #prōd-īre#, _go forth_;
#sēd-itiō#, _a going-apart_, _sedition_. According to the grammarians,
the negative #haud# preserved its #d# before vowels, but lost it before
consonants (1450).
(2.) Late inscriptions confuse final #-d# and #-t#: as FECID (729),
ALIVT for #aliud#. But in very old Latin #-d# in the third person
singular seems to be the remnant of a secondary ending (cf. the Greek
distinction of primary -ται and secondary -το).
150. In a number of words #f# varies dialectically with #h#. In some of
these #f# appears to have been original, in others #h#: as, old Latin
#fordeum#, _barley_, for classical #hordeum#; old Latin #haba#, _bean_,
for classical #faba#. The word #fīlum#, _thread_, appears as #*hīlum# in
#nihil#, _nothing_, for #*ne-hīlum#.
151. #h# being a weak sound (58) was often lost between two like vowels,
especially in rapid utterance: as, #nīl#, _nothing_, #prēndere#, _take_,
#vēmēns#, _rapid_, by the side of #nihil#, #prehendere#, #vehemēns#; and
always #nēmō#, _nobody_, for #*ne-hemō#, _no man_.
152. In some words #h# between two vowels is not original, but goes back
to a guttural aspirate _gh_. Before consonants this guttural appears:
as, #vehō#, _I draw_, #vectus# (953) from a stem #vegh-#, #trahō#, _I
drag_, #tractus# (953) from a stem #tragh-#.
153. (1.) #v# not infrequently disappeared between two like vowels: as,
#dītior#, _richer_, for #dīvitior#; #sīs# (Cic. _O._ 154), for #sī vīs#
(774); #lātrīna#, for #lavatrīna#; #fīnīsse#, for #fīnīvisse#;
#dēlēram#, for #dēlēveram#; and later also in perfect forms in which the
preceding and following vowel differed: as, #amāsse#, for #amāvisse#.
The abbreviated forms of the perfects in #-vī# (890) were common in
Cicero’s (_O._ 157) and Quintilian’s (1, 6, 17) time. #v# also
disappeared before #o# in #deorsum#, #seorsum#.
(2.) Old and original unsyllabic #i# (82; 83) disappeared everywhere
between vowels. Wherever unsyllabic #i# appears between vowels it
represents double #i̭i̭#, and is the result of the assimilation of #g#
to #i̭# (166, 9), or #d# to #i̭# (166, 9), or of the combination of two
#i̭#’s: as in #ei-i̭us#, #quoi̭-i̭us# (#eius#, #quoius# = #cuius#, 688).
See 23; 166, 9. In all these cases the first #i̭# joined to the
preceding vowel (83) formed with it a diphthong, and the syllable is
thus long (133, 2).
(3.) The combinations of unsyllabic (83) #ṷ# with the vowel #u# and of
unsyllabic #i̭# with the vowel #i# were avoided in classical Latin; see
52.
(4.) In composition, unsyllabic (82) #i̭# after a consonant became
syllabic in #quoniam#, _since_, for #quomi̭am# (164, 5), and #etiam#,
_also_, for #eti̭am# (both compounds with #iam#).
154. In early Latin #s# between two vowels was voiced (75), and in the
fourth century B.C. this voiced #s# changed into #r#. According to
Cicero (_Fam._ 9, 21, 2) L. Papīrius Crassus, consul in 336 B.C.,
changed his family name #Papīsius# to #Papīrius#. Old inscriptions show
frequently #s# for #r#: as, ASA, _altar_, AVSELII. This change of
intervocalic #s# to #r# plays an important part in declension,
conjugation, and derivation: as,
Nominative #iūs#, _right_, genitive #iūris#; #spērō#, _I hope_, derived
from #spēs#; #nefārius#, _wicked_, from #nefās#; #gerō#, _I carry_, from
a stem #ges-# which appears in #ges-sī#, #ges-tus# (953); #erō#, _I
shall be_, from the stem #es-# in #esse#; the subjunctive ending #-sem#
in #es-sem# appears as #-rem# after vowels: as, #stārem#; the infinitive
ending (894, 895) #-se# in #es-se# appears as #-re# after vowels: as,
#legere#, for #*legese#, _to read_, #stāre#, for #*stāse#, _to stand_.
Where all oblique cases show #-r-# and only the nominative singular
#-s#, the latter is sometimes changed to #-r# by analogy: as, #arbor#,
_tree_, #honor#, _honour_, for original #arbōs#, #honōs#, by analogy to
the oblique cases #arboris#, #arborī#, #honōris#, #honōrī#, etc. (487,
488). The final #-s# of the prefix #dis-# follows this rule: as,
#dir-imō#, _I take apart_, for #*dis-emō#; but an initial #s-# of the
second member of a compound remains unchanged: as, #dē-sinō#, _I stop_.
155. Wherever intervocalic #s# is found in classical Latin it is not
original, but the result (_a._) of earlier #-ns-#: as, #formōsus#,
_handsome_, for #formōnsus# (63); (_b._) of earlier #-ss-# (170, 7): as,
#ūsus# for #*ūssus#, _use_ (159); #causa#, _thing_, for #caussa# (Quint.
1, 7, 20); or (_c._) it occurs in borrowed words like #asinus#, _ass_.
(_d._) There are a few words in which an #r# in a neighbouring syllable
seems to have prevented the change: as #miser#, _miserable_ (173).
156. Before the #o# described in 142 #qu# changed to #c#: as, #incola#,
_inhabitant_, for #*inquola#, from #*inquela#; the stem #quel-# appears
in #in-quil-īnus#, _lodger_.
157. As #v# before #u# (107, _c_), so #qu# was not tolerated before #u#,
but changed to #c#.
Hence when, about the beginning of our era, the #o# of #quom#, _when_,
#sequontur#, _they followed_, changed to #u# (107, _c_), they became
#cum#, #secuntur#; thus #equos# but #ecus#, _horse_ (452); #reliquom#
but RELICVM, _the rest_; #loquor#, _I speak_, but #locūtus# (978). Much
later, in the second century of our era, the grammarians restored the
#qu# before #u# by analogy to those forms in the paradigm in which #qu#
came before other vowels: as, #sequuntur# for #secuntur# by analogy to
#sequor#, #sequeris#, #sequitur#, #sequimur#, #sequimini#, etc.;
#equus#, #equum#, for #ecus#, #ecum#, by analogy to #equī#, #equō#,
#eque#, #equōrum#, #equīs#, #equōs#.
158. #qu# before consonants or when final changed to #c#: as, #relictus#
from the stem #liqu-#, _leave_ (present, #linquō#, 938); #ac#, _and_,
for #*atc#, by apocope from #atque#; #nec#, _nor_, by apocope from
#neque#. See also #*torctus# (170, 3), #quīnctus# (170, 4).
159. When in the process of early word formation a #t# was followed by
another #t#, the combination #tt#, unless followed by #r#, changed to
#ss#: as, #obsessus#, _besieged_, _sat upon_, for #*obsettus#, from
#*obsed-tus# (cf. #sedeō#). After long vowels, nasals, and liquids this
double #ss# was simplified to #s# (170, 7): as, #ūsus# from #*ūt-tus#,
_used_ (cf. #ūtor#); #scānsus#, _climbed_, from #*scant-tus# for
#*scandtus# (cf. #scandō#).
In this way arose a suffix #-sus# (906, 912) for the past participle of
verbs ending in a dental, and this spread to other verbs (912): as
#mānsus#, _stayed_, from #maneō# (1000), #pulsus#, _pushed_, from
#pellō# (932). The regular participles of these two verbs still appear
in the derivative verbs #mantāre# and #pultāre#, which presuppose the
past participles #*mantus# and #*pultus# (371). If the double #tt# was
followed by #r# it changed to #st#: as, #assestrīx# from #*assettrīx#,
while #*assettor# changed to #assessor#.
160. But wherever the combination #tt# arose in historical times it
remained unchanged: as, #attineō#; #cette#, syncopated for #cé-d(i)te#,
i.e. the particle #ce# (93, 3) which is here proclitic, and the
imperative #date#, _give_.
161. Initial #dv# (_dṷ_) changed to #b#, unless the #v# (_ṷ_) was
converted into the corresponding vowel: as, #bis#, _twice_, for #*dṷis#
(cf. #duo#); #bidēns# for #*dṷidens#, by the side of old Latin #duidēns#
with vocalic #u#; #bonus#, _good_, for #dṷonus#, by the side of
trisyllabic #duonus#; #bellum#, _war_, for #*dṷellum#, by the side of
#duellum# with vocalic #u#; #bēs#, _two thirds_, for #*dṷēs# (2427).
Cicero (_O._ 153) notes that the change of #duellum# to #bellum#
affected even the proper name #Duellius# (name of the admiral who won
the naval victory over the Carthaginians in 260 B.C.) which was changed
to #Bellius#. Plautus always scans #dṷellum# disyllabic with synizesis
(2503).
[Erratum:
161 ... won the naval victory over the Carthaginians in 260 B.C.
B C.]