Benjamin L D'Ooge

Latin For Beginners Benjamin L D'Ooge

A Latin word has as many syllables as it has vowels and diphthongs. Thus aes-t?´-t? has three syllables, au-d?-?n´-d?s has four. Two vowels with a consonant between them never make one syllable, as is so often the case in English. Compare English inside with Latin ?n-s?´-d?. Words are divided into syllables as follows: A single consonant between two vowels goes with the second. Thus ?-m?´-b?-l?s, m?-m?´-r?-?, ?n-t?´-r?-?, ?´-b?st, p?-r?´-g?t. In writing and printing it is customary to divide the parts of a compound, as inter-e?, ab-est, sub-?ctus, per-?git, contrary to the correct phonetic rule. Combinations of two or more consonants: A consonant followed by l or r goes with the l or r. Thus p?´-bl?-c?s, ?´-gr?. Exception. Prepositional compounds of this nature, as also ll and rr, follow rule b. Thus ?b´-l?-?, ?b-r?m´-p?, ?l´-l?, f?r´-r?m.