2481. For elision within a word, see 119.
2482. In verse a final vowel is generally elided before a vowel or #h#:
as,
#quidve moror, s(ī) omnīs ūn(ō) ōrdin(e) habētis Achīvōs#, V. 2, 102.
Such a vowel was probably faintly sounded, not dropped altogether.
2483. Elision is frequent in most of the early poets; but writers of the
Augustan and succeeding ages regarded it with increasing disfavour. The
elision of a long vowel before a short was in general avoided; but there
are numerous exceptions.
2484. Monosyllabic interjections do not suffer elision.
2485. Monosyllables ending in a diphthong seldom suffer elision before a
short vowel.
2486. Diphthongs arising from Synizesis (2499) are sometimes elided in
early Latin verse, but not in verse of the classical period.
2487. The monosyllables #quī# (plural), #dō#, #stō#, #rē#, #spē#, are
thought never to suffer elision before a short vowel.
2488. The dactylic poets very rarely elide the final syllable of an
iambic (⏑ -) or Cretic (- ⏑ -) word before a short vowel.
2489. Elision seldom occurs if the syllable to be elided is immediately
preceded by a vowel: as in #de(am) et#.
2490. The final syllable of a Greek word is rarely elided.
2491. Elision is more common toward the beginning of a verse than toward
the end.
2492. Elision rarely occurs in the first syllable or last syllable of a
verse; but see under Synapheia (2510), and for the elision of the
enclitic #-que# or #-ve# at the end of a dactylic hexameter, see 2568.
2493. ECTHLIPSIS (Gr. ἔκθλιψις, _a squeezing out_). Final #m# and a
preceding short vowel are usually elided before a vowel or #h#: as,
mōnstr(um) horrend(um) īnform(e) ingēns, cui lūmen ademptum,
V. 3, 658.
In such cases the ending was probably not cut off altogether, but was
given a faint nasal sound.
2494. Sometimes a monosyllable ending in a short vowel and #m# is not
elided before a vowel: as #quắm ego# (Ter.); #súnt cŭm odōre# (Lucr.).
Such unelided monosyllables are most frequent in the early dramatists,
and in them usually fall under the verse-ictus. See 61.
2495. The monosyllables #dem#, #stem#, #rem#, #spem#, #sim#, are thought
never to be elided before a short vowel.
2496. After a word ending with a vowel, #-m#, or #-us#, the verb #est#
often loses its #e#: as, #bonast#, #bonumst#, #bonust#, #vīsust#. So,
too, #es# sometimes loses its vowel: as #homo’s#, #adeptus’#. This usage
reflects the actual pronunciation of common speech.
2497. SEMI-HIATUS OR SEMI-ELISION. A long final vowel is sometimes
shortened before a vowel. This may occur either in the arsis (2520), or
in a resolved thesis: as, #án quĭ amant# (Verg.); #léctulŏ ērudītulī#
(Cat.); #nam quĭ́ aget# (Ter.).
This kind of shortening is not frequent except in the early dramatists,
who often shorten under the verse-ictus a monosyllable ending in a long
vowel and followed by an initial vowel (as in the third example above).
2498. SYNALOEPHA (Greek συναλοιφή, _a smearing together_) is a general
term used to denote the means of avoiding hiatus. It includes elision
and synizesis, though some grammarians use it in the same sense as
synizesis.
2499. #Synizesis# (Greek συνίζεσις, _a settling together_). Two vowels
(or a vowel and a diphthong) which belong to different syllables
sometimes coalesce so as to form one syllable. This is called
_Synizesis_, and is especially common in the early dramatists. Examples
are: #me͡o#, #e͡adem#, #cu͡ius#, #aure͡i#. See 117.
Some grammarians would include under Synizesis only cases in which a
short vowel is subordinated to a following long; as #tu͡o#.
2500. The term _Synaeresis_ (Greek συναίρεσις, _a taking together_) is
sometimes used as a synonym for Synizesis. The ancient grammarians,
however, used it in the sense of Contraction (118).
2501. DIALYSIS (Greek διάλυσις, _a breaking up_). Conversely, two vowels
which usually form a diphthong are sometimes separated so as to form two
syllables: as #coëpī# (Lucr.) for #coepī#.
This, however, is really the survival of the original forms (120).
2502. The name DIAERESIS (Greek διαίρεσις, _a separating_) is sometimes
used as a synonym for Dialysis; but it is better to restrict it to the
meaning defined in 2542.
2503. HARDENING. A vocalic #i# or #u# is sometimes made consonantal
before another vowel: as, #abi͡ete#, #ari͡ete# (Verg.); #cōnsili͡um#
(Hor.); #omni͡a# (Lucr.). See 117 and 83.
This usage is sometimes included under Synizesis (2499), while some
grammarians term it Synaeresis (2500).
2504. SOFTENING. Conversely, a consonantal #i# or #u# sometimes becomes
vocalized before a vowel, thus giving an additional syllable: as,
#silüae# for #silvae# (Hor.); #ēvolüisse# for #ēvolvisse# (Ov.). See 52.
This usage is sometimes included under the name Dialysis (2501).
2505. DIASTOLÉ (Greek διαστολή, _a drawing asunder_). A syllable which
in verse of the classical period is generally short is sometimes used as
long for metrical convenience. The syllable so employed generally falls
under the verse-ictus, and in most cases is immediately followed by the
principal caesura, or by a pause in the sense. Examples are:
terga fatīgāmūs hastā, nec tarda senectus,
V. 9, 610.
tum sīc Mercurium adloquitūr ac tālia mandat,
V. 4, 222.
caeca timēt aliunde fāta,
H. 2, 13, 16.
In many such cases this lengthening is not arbitrary, but the
“lengthened” syllable is one that was originally long (see 132).
2506. The enclitic #-que# is sometimes lengthened under the ictus when
another #-que# precedes or follows in the arsis: as, #cālōnēs famulīque
metallīquḗ caculaeque# (Accius).
2507. SYSTOLÉ (Greek συστολή, _a drawing together_). Conversely a
syllable which in verse is regularly long is sometimes shortened for
metrical convenience: as, #dedĕrunt# (Hor.), #nūllĭus# (Hor.), imperat.
#commodă# (Cat.).
In most cases this shortening is not arbitrary, but represents a
pronunciation which was in actual use, especially among the common
people.
2508. SYNCOPÉ (Greek συγκοπή, _a cutting short_). A short vowel is often
dropped between two consonants: as, #surpite# for #surripite# (Hor.),
#repostum# for #repositum# (Verg.).
This usage doubtless reflects the common pronunciation; see 110, 111.
2509. TMESIS (Greek τμῆσις, _a cutting_) is the separation of the parts
of a word: as, #septem subiecta triōnī# = #septemtriōnī subiecta#
(Verg.).
This usually occurs only in compounds; but early poets sometimes divided
other words: as, #saxō cere comminuit brum# for #saxō cerebrum
comminuit# (Ennius).
2510. SYNAPHEIA (Greek συνάφεια, _a joining together_) is the linking
together of two verses belonging to the same system. Here elision or
word division may occur at the end of the first verse: as,
Iōve nōn probante u-
xōrius amnis,
H. 1, 2, 19.
Iam licet veniās marīt(e),
uxor in thalamō tibī̆ est,
Cat. 61, 191.
[Errata:
2496 ... as #homo’s#, #adeptus’#
text unchanged; error for adeptu’s (adeptus es)?
2499. #Synizesis#
printed as shown: expected small capitals instead of boldface]