Vowel Changes

The old diphthong ai became the classical ae (aedlis for old aidlis), old oi became oe or (nus for old oinos), and old ou became (dc for old douc). In compound verbs the vowel a of the simple verb often appears as i or e, and ae similarly appears as:-o faci, factum, but cnfici, cnfectum; caed, but occd, and similarly cecd, perfect of caed (cf. cad,occid;cecid, perfect of cad). This change is commonly ascribed to an accentuation on the first syllable, which seems to have been the rule in Latin before the rule given above (see 12) became established. The original Indo-European accent, however, was not limited by either of these principles; it was probably a musical accent so-called, consisting in a change of pitch, and not merely in a more forcible utterance of the accented syllable.

Two vowels coming together are often contracted:-o cg for co-ag; prm for pro-em;nl for nihil; dbe for dhibed(d-habe).

Consonant Changes

An old s regularly became rbetween two vowels (rhotacism), passing first through the sound of (English) z:-1 o eram (cf. est); generis, genitive of genus. Final ssometimes became r by analogy: as,honor (older hons), from the analogy of honris, etc.

A dental (t, d) often became s, especially when standing next to t, d, or s: as,equestris for equettris, csus for cadtus (cf. 6, below). Many instances of assimilation, partial or complete, are found:-o cess for ced-s; summus for supmus; scrptus for scrbtus(b unvoicing to p before the voiceless t); and in compound verbs (see 16). [p. 9] Dissimilation, the opposite kind of change, prevented in some cases the repetition of the same sound in successive syllables:-Thus, parlia for pallia (from Pals); merdis for meddis; ntrlis with suffix -lis (after r), but populris with -ris (after l).

Final s was in early Latin not always pronounced; as, plnu(s) fid.Traces of this pronunciation existed in Cicero's time. He speaks of the omission of final s before a word beginning with a consonant as countrified (subrsticum). A final consonant often disappears: as, virg for virgn;lac for lact; cor for cord. G, c, and h unite with a following s to form x: as, rx for rgs; dux for ducs; trx for trahs.2 G and h before t becomec: as, rctum for regtum; ctum for agtum; trctum for trahtum.3

Between m and s or mand t, a p is often developed: as, smps for sms; mptum for mtum.

In compounds with prepositions the final consonant in the preposition was often assimilated to the following consonant, but usage varied considerably. There is good authority for many complete or partial assimilations; as, for ad, acc-, agg, app-, att-, instead of adc-, adg-, etc. Before a labial consonant we find com- (comb-, comp-, comm-), but con- is the form before c, d, f, g, cons. i, q, s, t, cons. v; we find conl- or coll-, conr- or corr-; c- in cnect, cnve, cntor, cnbium. In usually changes to im- before p, b, m. Ob and sub may assimilate b to a following c, f, g, or p; before s and t the pronunciation of prepositions ending in b doubtless had p; surr-, summ-, occur for subr-, subm-. The inseparable amb- loses b before a consonant. Circum often loses its m before i. The s of dis becomes r before a vowel and is assimilated to a following f; sometimes this prefix appears as d-. Instead of ex we find ef- before f (also ecf-). The d of red and sd is generally lost before a consonant. The preposition is better left unchanged in most other cases.

A similar change can be seen in English: as, were (cf. was), lorn (cf. lose). Really for traghs. The hof trah represents an older palatal sound (see 19). Really for traghtum. These are cases of partial assimilation (cf. 6, above).

Vowel Variations The parent language showed great variation in the vowel sounds of kindred words.1 This variation is often called by the German name Ablaut. It has left considerable traces in the forms of Latin words, appearing sometimes as a difference of quantity in the same vowel (as, u, ; e, ), sometimes as a difference in the vowel itself (as, e, o; i, ae):2 -

teg, I cover, toga, a robe; pend, I weigh, pondus, weight; fids, faith, fdus, faithful, foedus, a treaty; miser, wretched, maestus, sad; dare, to give, dnum, a gift; reg, I rule, rx, a king; dux, a leader, dc (for older douc), I lead. Compare English drive, drove (drave), driven; bind, bound, band; sing, sang, sung; etc. [p. 10]

This variation was not without regularity, but was confined within definite limits. In Greek, however, it is more extensively preserved.