§629. Early Prosody

The prosody of the earlier poets differs in several respects from that of the later.¹

a. At the end of words s, being only feebly sounded, does not make position with a following consonant; it sometimes disappeared altogether. This usage continued in all poets till Cicero's time (§ 15. 7).

b. A long syllable immediately preceded or followed by the ictus may be shortened (iambic shortening):—

• In a word of two syllables of which the first is short (this effect remained in a few words like pută, cavĕ,valĕ, vidĕ, egŏ, modŏ, duŏ ²):—

  • ă´bĭ (Ter. Ph. 59); bŏ´nĭ (id. 516); hŏmŏ suā´vis (id. 411).

• If it is either a monosyllable or the first syllable of a word which is preceded by a short monosyllable:—

  • sĕ´d hăs tabellās (Pl. Per. 195); quĭ´d hĭc nunc (id. Epid. 157); pĕr ĭnplū´vium (Ter. Ph. 707); ĕgoŏsténderem (id. 793).

• When preceded by a short initial syllable in a word of more than three syllables:—

  • vĕnŭstā´tis (Ter. Hec. 848); sĕnĕctū´tem (id. Ph. 434); Sy̆răcū´sās (Pl. Merc. 37); ămĭcĭ´tia (id. Ps. 1263).

c. In a few isolated words position is often disregarded.³ Such are ĭlle, ĭmmo, ĭnde, ĭste, ŏmnis, nĕmpe, quĭppe, ŭnde.

d. The original long quantity of some final syllables is retained.

• The ending -or is retained long in nouns with long stem-vowel (original r- stems or original s-stems):—

  • módo quom dícta in mēíngerē´bās ódium nō´nuxō´r erám (Pl. Asin. 927).
  • íta mī in péctoreátque córde fácitamō´rincéndiúm (id. Merc. 500).
  • átque quántō nóx fuístīlóngiō´rhāc próxumā´; (id. Am. 548).
• The termination -es (-ĭtis) is sometimes retained long, as in mīlēs, superstēs.

• All verb-endings in -r, -s, and -t may be retained long where the vowel is elsewhere long in inflection:—

  • régrediō´r audī´sse mē´; (Pl. Capt. 1023); átqueut quī´ fuerīs et quī´ nunc (id. 248); mē nō´minā´t haec (id. Epid. 4.1.8); faciā´t ut sémper (id. Poen. 2.42); īnfuscābāt, amābō (cretics, id. Cist. 1.21); quī amēt (id. Merc. 1021); utfī´t in béllō cápitur álter fī´liús (id. Capt. 25); tibisī´tad mē´ revī´sā´s (id. Truc. 2.4.79).

e. Hiatus (§ 612. g) is allowed somewhat freely, especially at a pause in the sense, or when there is a change of speaker.

Miscellaneous