Part 2 — A FEW RULES FOR THE ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION OF GREEK AND LATIN PROPER NAMES

[These rules will cover most cases, but they are not intended to exhaust the subject. The reader is referred to the Latin grammars and the English dictionaries.]

I. Quantity. The reader must first ascertain whether the second last syllable of the word is long. In general a syllable is long in quantity:

(1) If it contains a diphthong, or a long vowel: Bau-cis, Ac-tae-on, Mē-tis, O-rī-on, Flō-ra.

(2) If its vowel, whether long or short, is followed by j, x, or z, or by any two consonants except a mute and a liquid: A´-jax, Meg-a-ba´-zus, A-dras´-tus.

Note (a). Sometimes two vowels come together without forming a diphthong. In such cases the diæresis is, in this volume, used to indicate the division: e.g. Men-e-lā'-üs, Pe-nē'-üs.

Note (b). The syllable formed by a short vowel before a mute with l or r is sometimes long and sometimes short: e.g. Cle-o-pā'-tra, or Cle-op´-ă-tra; Pa-trō'-clus, or Pat´-rŏ-clus.

II. Accent.

(1) The accent may be principal, or subordinate: Hel²-les-pon´-tus.

(2) The principal accent falls on the second last syllable (penult): Am-phi-tri´-te; or on the third last syllable (antepenult): Am-phit´-ry-on.

Note (a) In words of two syllables, it falls on the penult: Cir´-ce.

Note (b) In words of more than two syllables, it falls on the penult when that syllable is long; otherwise, on the antepenult: Æ-nē'-as, Her´-cŭ-les.

(3) The subordinate accent:

Note (a) If only two syllables precede the principal accent, the subordinate accent falls on the first syllable of the word: Hip²-po-crē'ne.

Note (b) If more than two syllables precede the principal accent, the laws governing the principal accent apply to those preceding syllables: Cas²-sĭ-o-pē'-a.

Note. In the Index of this work, when the penult of a word is long, it is marked with the accent; when the penult is short, the antepenult is marked. The reader should however bear in mind that a syllable may be long even though it contain a short vowel, as by Rule I, (2), above.

III. Vowels and Consonants. These rules depend upon those of Syllabication:

(1) A vowel generally has its long English sound when it ends a syllable: He´-ro, I´-o, Ca´-cus, I-tho´-me, E-do´-ni, My-ce´-næ.

(2) A vowel generally has its short English sound in a syllable that ends in a consonant: Hel´-en, Sis´-y-phus, Pol-y-phe´-mus. But e in the termination es has its long sound: Her´mes, A-tri´-des.

(3) The vowel a has an obscure sound when it ends an unaccented syllable: A-chæ´-a; so, also, the vowel i or y, not final, after an accented syllable: Hes-per´-i-des; and sometimes i or y in an unaccented first syllable: Ci-lic´-i-a.

(4) Consonants have their usual English sounds; but c and g are soft before e, i, y, æ, and œ: Ce´-to, Ge´-ry-on, Gy´-ges; ch has the sound of k: Chi´-os; and c, s, and t, immediately preceded by the accent and standing before i followed by another vowel, commonly have the sound of sh: Sic´-y-on (but see Latin grammars and English dictionaries for exceptions).

IV. Syllabication.

(1) The penultimate syllable ends with a vowel: e.g. Pe-ne´-us, I-tho´-me, A´-treus, Hel´-e-nus;

Except when its vowel is followed by x or by two consonants (not a mute with l or r), then the vowel is joined with the succeeding consonant: Nax-os, Cir-ce, Aga-mem-non.

(2) Other syllables (not ultimate or penultimate) end with a vowel: e.g. Pi-ræ-us;

Except when (a) the vowel is followed by x or any two consonants (not a mute with l or r): e.g. Ix-i´-on, Pel-o-pon-ne´-sus; and when (b) the syllable is accented and its vowel followed by one or more consonants: e.g. An²-ax-ag´-o-ras, Am-phic´ty-on, Œd-'i-pus.

Note (a). But an accented a, e, or o before a single consonant (or a mute with l or r), followed by e, i, or y before another vowel, is not joined with the succeeding consonant, and consequently has the long sound: Pau-sā'-ni-as; De-mē'-tri-us.

Note (b). An accented u before a single consonant (or mute with l or r) is not joined with the succeeding consonant, and consequently has the long sound: Jū'-pi-ter.

(3) All words have as many syllables as they have vowels and diphthongs.