LATIN GRAMMAR.
ETYMOLOGY.
Alphabet.
1. THE Latin alphabet has twenty-three letters:
A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X Y Z
Remarks.—1. The sounds represented by C and K were originally distinct, C having the sound of G, but they gradually approximated each other, until C supplanted K except in a few words, such as Kalendae, Kaesō, which were usually abbreviated, Kal., K. The original force of C is retained only in C. (for Gāius) and Cn. (for Gnaeus).
2. J, the consonantal form of I, dates from the middle ages. V represented also the vowel u in the Latin alphabet; and its resolution into two letters—V for the consonant, and U for the vowel—also dates from the middle ages. For convenience, V and U are still distinguished in this grammar.
3. Y and Z were introduced in the time of Cicero to transliterate Greek υ and ζ. In early Latin υ was represented by u (occasionally by i or oi), and ζ by ss or s. Z had occurred in the earliest times, but had been lost, and its place in the alphabet taken by G, which was introduced after C acquired the sound of K.
Note.—The Latin names for the letters were: a, be, ce, de, e, ef, ge, ha, i, ka, el, em, en, o, pe, qu (= cu), er, es, te, u, ex (ix), to be pronounced according to the rules given in 3, 7. For Y the sound was used, for Z the Greek name (zēta).
Vowels.
2. The vowels are a, e, i, o, u, (y); and are divided:
1. According to their quality (i.e., the position of the organs used in pronunciation), into
guttural (or back), a, o, u; palatal (or front), e, i, (y).
2. According to their quantity or prolongation (i. e., the time required for pronunciation), into
long, (—); short, (⌣).
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