latin+alphabet

f., pl. rúnar: [rún, raun, reyna are all kindred words, and a lost strong verb, rúna, raun, meaning to enquire, may be presumed; the original notion is scrutiny, mystery, secret conversation; Gotb. runa, by which Ulf. several times renders the Gr. μυστήριον and συμβούλιον (once, Matth. xxvii. 1), βουλή (twice, Luke vii. 30, 1 Cor. iv. 5); A. S. rún = a ‘rowning’ mystery, but also = writing, charter; Hel. rûna = colloquium, and geruni = loquela (Schmeller); cp. Old Engl. to rown, Germ. raunen; Gr. ἐ-ρευνάω is also supposed to be a kindred word (Bugge). In Scandin. writers and poets rún is chiefly used of magical characters, then of writing, whereas the derivative word raun means trial, enquiry, and rúni and rúna = a friend or counsellor.]

B. A secret, hidden lore, mystery; frá jötna rúnum ok allra goða segðú it sannasta, Vþm. 42, 43; kenna rúnar, to teach wisdom, Rm. 33; dæma um rúnar ok regin-dóma, Hm. 112; minnask á fornar rúnar, Vsp. 59: saws, segja sannar rúnir, to tell true saws, Fas. ii. 302 (in a verse): a ‘rowning’ speech, vifs rúnir, a woman’s whispering, Bm.; heita e-n at rúnum, to consult one, Gh. 12, Skv. 3. 14, 43; hniga at rúnum, Gkv. 3. 4.

II. a Rune or written character; the earliest Runes were not writing in proper sense, but fanciful signs possessing a magical power; such Runes have, through vulgar superstition, been handed down even to the present time, for a specimen of them see Ísl. Þjóðs. i.435, 436, and Arna-Magn. Nos. 687. 4 to, and 434. 12 mo (Ísl. Þjóðs.pref. ix); the classical passages for these spell-Runes are, Hm. 133 sqq., Sdm. 5 sqq., Skm. 29, 36, Eg. ch. 44, 61, 75, Yngl. S. ch. 7, Grett. ch. 85, N. G. L. iii. 286, 300, Vsp. 59; cp. also the phrase, rísta trénið, Grág., Fs. 56. The phrase in the old Danish Ballads, kaste runer, to throw Rúnes, i. e. chips (see hlaut, hlautviðr), may be compared to the Lat. sortes, Mommsen’s Hist, of Rome, vol. i. p. 187, foot-note (Engl. Ed.), or the Sibylline leaves in the Aeneid.

2. Runes as writing;the word was first applied to the original Northern alphabet, which at an early time was derived from the common Phœnician, probably through Greek or Roman coins in the first centuries of our era. From these Runes were subsequently formed two alphabets, the old Scandinavian (whence again the Anglo-Saxon), as found on the Golden horn and the stone in Tune, and the later Scandinavian, in which the inscriptions in the greater number of the Swedish and Danish stone monuments are written, most being of the 10th (9th?) and following centuries.—A curious instance of the employment of Runes is their being written on a kefli (a round piece of wood) as messages (cp. the Gr. σκυτάλη), as is freq. recorded in the Sagas, e. g. Gísl. 45, 67, Fms. ix. 390, 490, Grett. 154 new Ed., Fb. i. 251 (of the deaf and dumb Oddny). It is doubtful whether poems were ever written in this way, for almost the only authority for such a statement is Eg. 605, where we read that the Sonatorrek was taken down on a Runic stick, the other instances being mostly from romances or fabulous Sagas, Grett. 144, Örvar Odds S.(fine). This writing on a kefli is mentioned in the Latin line, Barbara ‘fraxineis’ sculpatur runa ‘tabellis,’ Capella (5th century). In later times (from the 13th century) Runic writing was practised as a sort of curiosity; thus calendars used to be written on sticks, of which there is a specimen in the Bodl. Library in Oxford; they were also used for inscriptions on tombstones, spoons, chairs, and the like: there even exists in the Arna-Magn. Library a Runic MS. of an old Danish law, and there is a Runic letter in Sturl. (of the year 1241); Runes carved on an oar occur in Fs. 177: a hidden treasure in a chest is labelled with Runes, Fms. vi. 271, Sd. 146, cp. also the interesting record in Bs. i. 435 (sex manna bein vóru þar hjá honum ok vax ok rúnar þær er sögðu atburð lifláts þeirra).

3. the word rún is also, though rarely, applied to the Latin alphabet; ef hann er á þingi þá skal hann rísta nafn hans ef hann kann rúnar, N. G. L. i. 171; or generally, ræki ek eigi hvárt þú rítr ø þitt eðr o,  eða a, ę eða e, y eða u, en ek svara svá, eigi er þat rúnanna kostr þó at þú lesir vel eða ráðir vel at líkindum, þar sem rúnar visa óskírt, heldr er þat þinn kostr, Thorodd 162; þessi er upphaf allra hátta svá sem málrúnar eru fyrir öðrum minum, Edda (Ht.) 121.

III. in pr. names, Rún-ólfr: as the latter part in pr. names of women, Guð-rún, Sig-rún, Öl-rún, Landn., Nj., Bs., Sturl., Sæm.

COMPDS: rúnakefli, rúnamál, Rúnameistari, rúnastafr.

* * *

Latin; alfabet łaciński Roman l. Latin alphabet; krzyż łaciński rel. Latin cross; obrządek łaciński rel. Latin rite; Ameryka Łacińska geogr. Latin America.

L, l, indecl. n. or (on account of littera) f., the eleventh letter of the Latin alphabet (I and J being counted as one), in form modified from a L, like the Greek, but with the angle downward. In sound it was identical with Gr. lambda, Engl. l. L has, according to Pliny, a threefold power: the slight sound of the second l, when doubled, as in ille, Metellus; a full sound, when it ends words or syllables, or follows a consonant in the same syllable, as in sol, silva, flavus, clarus; and a middle sound in other cases, as in lectus, Prisc. 1, 7, 38 (p. 555 P.). In transcriptions of Greek words in Latin and of Latin words in Greek letters, it always corresponds to L.

In etymology it represents,

Usually an original l; cf. alius, allos; lego, legô; leo, leôn; lavo, louô, etc.—

Sometimes an r, as in lilium, leirion; balbus, barbaros; latrare, Sanscr. ra-, to bark; lateo, Sanscr. rah-, to abandon; luceo, Sanscr. ruc-, etc.; cf. also the endings in australis, corporalis, liberalis, and in stellaris, capillaris, maxillaris.—

Sometimes a d; cf. lacrima, dakruon; levir, Sanscr. dēvar, Gr. daêr; oleo, odor, Gr. ozô, odôda; uligo, udus; adeps, Sanscr lip-, to smear, Gr. aleiphar.

Before l an initial guttural or t is often dropped, as latus for tlatus, lis for stlis, lamentum from clamo; lac, cf. Gr. galakt-; and a preceding c, d, n, r, s, or x is omitted or assimilated, as sella for sedula (sed-la), corolla for coronula (coronla), prelum for prem-lum (from premo), āla = ax-la (axilla); so, libellus for liberulus (liber), alligo for ad-ligo, ullus for unulus. In the nominative of nouns the ending s is not added after l, as in consul, vigil; and l final occurs in Latin only in such words.

L stands alone,

As a numeral for 50.—

As an abbreviation, usually for Lucius; rarely for libens, locus, or libertus.

L, l, indecl. n. or (on account of littera) f., the eleventh letter of the Latin alphabet (I and J being counted as one), in form modified from a L, like the Greek, but with the angle downward. In sound it was identical with Gr. lambda, Engl. l. L has, according to Pliny, a threefold power: the slight sound of the second l, when doubled, as in ille, Metellus; a full sound, when it ends words or syllables, or follows a consonant in the same syllable, as in sol, silva, flavus, clarus; and a middle sound in other cases, as in lectus, Prisc. 1, 7, 38 (p. 555 P.). In transcriptions of Greek words in Latin and of Latin words in Greek letters, it always corresponds to L.

In etymology it represents,

Usually an original l; cf. alius, allos; lego, legô; leo, leôn; lavo, louô, etc.—

Sometimes an r, as in lilium, leirion; balbus, barbaros; latrare, Sanscr. ra-, to bark; lateo, Sanscr. rah-, to abandon; luceo, Sanscr. ruc-, etc.; cf. also the endings in australis, corporalis, liberalis, and in stellaris, capillaris, maxillaris.—

Sometimes a d; cf. lacrima, dakruon; levir, Sanscr. dēvar, Gr. daêr; oleo, odor, Gr. ozô, odôda; uligo, udus; adeps, Sanscr lip-, to smear, Gr. aleiphar.

Before l an initial guttural or t is often dropped, as latus for tlatus, lis for stlis, lamentum from clamo; lac, cf. Gr. galakt-; and a preceding c, d, n, r, s, or x is omitted or assimilated, as sella for sedula (sed-la), corolla for coronula (coronla), prelum for prem-lum (from premo), āla = ax-la (axilla); so, libellus for liberulus (liber), alligo for ad-ligo, ullus for unulus. In the nominative of nouns the ending s is not added after l, as in consul, vigil; and l final occurs in Latin only in such words.

L stands alone,

As a numeral for 50.—

As an abbreviation, usually for Lucius; rarely for libens, locus, or libertus.

O, o, the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, corresponding to the Gr. o and ô. The Latin language possessed both the sound and the sign from the earliest times; whereas the Etruscan language never possessed the o, and the Umbrian seems not to have received it as an alphabetical character till a later period. The oldest monuments of the Latin tongue frequently employ o where the classic language has u. So on the Column. Rostr. MACESTRATOS ( acc. plur.), EXFOCIONT, CONSOL, PRIMOS ( nom. sing.), CAPTOM; in the epitaphs of the Scipios, HONC OINO, COSENTIONT, DVONORO OPTVMO VIRO (bonorum optumum virum); in the S. C. de Bacch. IN OQVOLTOD al. And even in the later inscrr. and MSS., we sometimes find o for u:

POPLICO, POPOLVM, TABOLEIS, in the Tab. Bantina: FACIONDAM DEDERONT,

Inscr. Orell. 1585:

MONDO, HOC TOMOLO,

ib. 4858:

fondus, fornacatibus, solitodo, etc., in good MSS. (v. Freund,

Cic. Mil. p. 18). And, on the contrary, u for o in the old forms, fruns, funtes, for frons, fontes, v. h. vv.: RVBVSTIS for robustis, in the Cenot. Pisan.; v. Inscr. Orell. 642:

NVMENCLATOR,

Inscr. Grut. 630, 5:

CONSVBRINVS,

ib. 1107, 1:

SACERDVS,

ib. 34, 5:

VNV LOCV,

ib. 840, 1. O appears in class. Lat. particularly in connection with qu and v: quom, avos. This interchange of o and u seems to have been effected rather by dialectical and local than by organic and historical causes; just as in the modern Italian dialects a preference is shown on the one hand for o and on the other for u, and in one and the same dialect the Latin o has passed over into u and the u into o. —On the commutation of o and e, see the letter E.—We have o for au in Clodius, plodo, plostrum, sodes, etc. (also in polulum for paululum, Cato, R. R. 10, 2).— O inserted in the archaic forms:

Patricoles, Hercoles, v. Ritschl ap. Rhein. Mus. 8, p. 475 sq., and 9, p. 480. As an abbreviation, O. stands for omnis and optimus: I. O. M., Jovi Optimo Maximo: O. E. B. Q. C., ossa ejus bene quiescant condita,

Inscr. Orell. 4489; cf.:

O. I. B. Q., ossa illius bene quiescant,

ib. 4483; 4490:

O. N. F., omnium nomine faciundae,

ib. 4415:

O. T. B. Q., ossa tua bene quiescant: O. V., optimo viro,

ib. 4135;

also: optimi viri,

ib. 5037.

ō (long also before an initial vowel:

o ego,

Ov. M. 8, 51; Hor. A. P. 301;

but also short: ŏ Alexi,

Verg. E. 2, 65), interj. The commonest exclamation of joy, astonishment, [p. 1232] desire, grief, indignation, etc.; O! Oh! constr. usually with voc. or acc.; less freq. with nom., gen., utinam, si.

With voc.: o Romule, Romule die, Enn. ap. Cic. Rep. 1, 41 Vahl. (Ann. v. 115 Vahl.): o Tite, tute Tuti, id. ap. Prisc. p. 947 P. (Ann. v. 113 Vahl.); cf.: o Tite, si quid te adjuero, id. ap. Cic. Sen. 1, 1 (Ann. v. 339 Vahl.):

o mi Furni!

Cic. Fam. 10, 26, 2:

o paterni generis oblite,

id. Pis. 26, 62.—

With acc.:

o faciem pulchram... o infortunatum senem,

Ter. Eun. 2, 3, 5 and 7:

o miseras hominum mentes,

Lucr. 2, 14:

o me perditum, o me afflictum!

Cic. Fam. 14, 4, 3:

o hominem nequam!

id. Att. 4, 13, 2:

o praeclarum custodem ovium, ut aiunt, lupum!

id. Phil. 3, 11, 27:

o rem totam odiosam,

id. Att. 6, 4, 1:

o Bruti amanter seriptas, litteras,

id. ib. 15, 10.—

With nom. (rare): o pietas animi, Enn. ap. Cic. Ac. 2, 27, 88 (Ann. v. 8 Vahl.): o Patricoles, id. ap. Cic. Tusc. 2, 16, 38 (Trag. v. 14 Vahl.):

o vir fortis atque amicus!

Ter. Phorm. 2, 2, 10:

o ego ter felix,

Ov. M. 8, 51; so,

o ego,

Hor. A. P. 301:

o multum miseri,

Ov. M. 4, 155:

o qualis facies!

Juv. 10, 157.—

With utinam:

o utinam Obrutus esset!

Ov. H. 1, 5; id. M. 1, 363 al.—

With si: quamquam, o si solitae quicquam virtutis adesset! yet oh! if, etc., Verg. A. 11, 415.—

With gen.:

o nuntii beati,

Cat. 9, 5.—By poets also placed after a word:

o lux Dardaniae, spes o fidissima Teucrūm,

Verg. A. 2, 281:

quid o tua fulmina cessant!

Ov. M. 2, 279.—Three times repeated: o pater, o genitor, o sanguen dis oriundum, Enn. ap. Cic. Rep. 1, 41 (Ann. v. 117 Vahl.); cf.: o pater, o patria, o Priami domus, id. ap. Cic. Tusc. 3, 19, 44 (Trag. v. 118 Vahl.):

o soror, o conjux, o femina sola superstes,

Ov. M. 1, 351.

O, o, the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, corresponding to the Gr. o and ô. The Latin language possessed both the sound and the sign from the earliest times; whereas the Etruscan language never possessed the o, and the Umbrian seems not to have received it as an alphabetical character till a later period. The oldest monuments of the Latin tongue frequently employ o where the classic language has u. So on the Column. Rostr. MACESTRATOS ( acc. plur.), EXFOCIONT, CONSOL, PRIMOS ( nom. sing.), CAPTOM; in the epitaphs of the Scipios, HONC OINO, COSENTIONT, DVONORO OPTVMO VIRO (bonorum optumum virum); in the S. C. de Bacch. IN OQVOLTOD al. And even in the later inscrr. and MSS., we sometimes find o for u:

POPLICO, POPOLVM, TABOLEIS, in the Tab. Bantina: FACIONDAM DEDERONT,

Inscr. Orell. 1585:

MONDO, HOC TOMOLO,

ib. 4858:

fondus, fornacatibus, solitodo, etc., in good MSS. (v. Freund,

Cic. Mil. p. 18). And, on the contrary, u for o in the old forms, fruns, funtes, for frons, fontes, v. h. vv.: RVBVSTIS for robustis, in the Cenot. Pisan.; v. Inscr. Orell. 642:

NVMENCLATOR,

Inscr. Grut. 630, 5:

CONSVBRINVS,

ib. 1107, 1:

SACERDVS,

ib. 34, 5:

VNV LOCV,

ib. 840, 1. O appears in class. Lat. particularly in connection with qu and v: quom, avos. This interchange of o and u seems to have been effected rather by dialectical and local than by organic and historical causes; just as in the modern Italian dialects a preference is shown on the one hand for o and on the other for u, and in one and the same dialect the Latin o has passed over into u and the u into o. —On the commutation of o and e, see the letter E.—We have o for au in Clodius, plodo, plostrum, sodes, etc. (also in polulum for paululum, Cato, R. R. 10, 2).— O inserted in the archaic forms:

Patricoles, Hercoles, v. Ritschl ap. Rhein. Mus. 8, p. 475 sq., and 9, p. 480. As an abbreviation, O. stands for omnis and optimus: I. O. M., Jovi Optimo Maximo: O. E. B. Q. C., ossa ejus bene quiescant condita,

Inscr. Orell. 4489; cf.:

O. I. B. Q., ossa illius bene quiescant,

ib. 4483; 4490:

O. N. F., omnium nomine faciundae,

ib. 4415:

O. T. B. Q., ossa tua bene quiescant: O. V., optimo viro,

ib. 4135;

also: optimi viri,

ib. 5037.

ō (long also before an initial vowel:

o ego,

Ov. M. 8, 51; Hor. A. P. 301;

but also short: ŏ Alexi,

Verg. E. 2, 65), interj. The commonest exclamation of joy, astonishment, [p. 1232] desire, grief, indignation, etc.; O! Oh! constr. usually with voc. or acc.; less freq. with nom., gen., utinam, si.

With voc.: o Romule, Romule die, Enn. ap. Cic. Rep. 1, 41 Vahl. (Ann. v. 115 Vahl.): o Tite, tute Tuti, id. ap. Prisc. p. 947 P. (Ann. v. 113 Vahl.); cf.: o Tite, si quid te adjuero, id. ap. Cic. Sen. 1, 1 (Ann. v. 339 Vahl.):

o mi Furni!

Cic. Fam. 10, 26, 2:

o paterni generis oblite,

id. Pis. 26, 62.—

With acc.:

o faciem pulchram... o infortunatum senem,

Ter. Eun. 2, 3, 5 and 7:

o miseras hominum mentes,

Lucr. 2, 14:

o me perditum, o me afflictum!

Cic. Fam. 14, 4, 3:

o hominem nequam!

id. Att. 4, 13, 2:

o praeclarum custodem ovium, ut aiunt, lupum!

id. Phil. 3, 11, 27:

o rem totam odiosam,

id. Att. 6, 4, 1:

o Bruti amanter seriptas, litteras,

id. ib. 15, 10.—

With nom. (rare): o pietas animi, Enn. ap. Cic. Ac. 2, 27, 88 (Ann. v. 8 Vahl.): o Patricoles, id. ap. Cic. Tusc. 2, 16, 38 (Trag. v. 14 Vahl.):

o vir fortis atque amicus!

Ter. Phorm. 2, 2, 10:

o ego ter felix,

Ov. M. 8, 51; so,

o ego,

Hor. A. P. 301:

o multum miseri,

Ov. M. 4, 155:

o qualis facies!

Juv. 10, 157.—

With utinam:

o utinam Obrutus esset!

Ov. H. 1, 5; id. M. 1, 363 al.—

With si: quamquam, o si solitae quicquam virtutis adesset! yet oh! if, etc., Verg. A. 11, 415.—

With gen.:

o nuntii beati,

Cat. 9, 5.—By poets also placed after a word:

o lux Dardaniae, spes o fidissima Teucrūm,

Verg. A. 2, 281:

quid o tua fulmina cessant!

Ov. M. 2, 279.—Three times repeated: o pater, o genitor, o sanguen dis oriundum, Enn. ap. Cic. Rep. 1, 41 (Ann. v. 117 Vahl.); cf.: o pater, o patria, o Priami domus, id. ap. Cic. Tusc. 3, 19, 44 (Trag. v. 118 Vahl.):

o soror, o conjux, o femina sola superstes,

Ov. M. 1, 351.

D, d (n. indecl., sometimes f. sc. littera), the flat dental mute, corresponding in character and sound to the English d and the Greek D, was the fourth letter of the Latin alphabet, and was called de: Ter. Maur. p. 2385 P., Auson. Idyll. 12, de Litt. Monos. 14. But at the end of a syllable, or after another consonant, its sound was sharpened, so that the grammarians often discuss the question whether d or t should be written, especially in conjunctions and prepositions. Illa quoque servata est a multis differentia, ut ad cum esset praepositio, d litteram, cum autem conjunctio, t acciperet (Quint. 1, 7, 5; cf. id. 1, 4, 16). Hence we may infer that some disputed this distinction, and that the sounds of ad and at must at least have been very similar (cf. also Terent. Scaur. p. 2250, Vel. Long. p. 2230 sq., Cassiod. p. 2287, 2291). Thus also aput, it, quit, quot, aliut, set, haut are found for apud, id, quid, quod, aliud, sed, haud. It would appear from the remarks of these authors that the last two words in particular, having a proclitic character, while they distinctly retained the d sound before an initial vowel in the following word, were pronounced before a consonant almost as set, haut (Mar. Vict. p. 2462 P., Vel. Long. l. l. v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 191 sq.). The use of t for d in the middle of a word, as Alexenter for Alexander, atnato for adnato, is very rare (cf. Wordsworth, Fragm. p. 486 sq.). On the other hand, the use of d for t, which sometimes appears in MSS. and inscrr., as ed, capud, essed, inquid (all of which occur in the Cod. palimps. of Cic. Rep.), adque, quodannis, sicud, etc., fecid, reliquid, etc. (all in inscriptions after the Augustan period), is to be ascribed to a later phonetic softening (cf. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 191 sq.).

As an initial, the letter d, in pure Latin words, suffers only a vowel after it; the single consonantal compound dr being found only in borrowed words, such as drama, Drusus, Druidae, etc., and in the two onomatopees drenso and drindio. Accordingly, the d of the initial dv, from du, was rejected, and the remaining v either retained unaltered (as in v iginti for du iginti; cf. triginta) or changed into b (as in b ellum, b is, b onus, for du ellum, du is, du onus; v. those words and the letter B). So too in and after the 4th century A.D., di before vowels was pronounced like j (cf. J ovis for Dj ovis, and J anus for Di anus); and hence, as the Greek di ( di) passed into dz, i. e. z (as in z a for d ia, and z eta for di aeta), we sometimes find the same name written in two or three ways, as Diabolenus, Jabolenus, Zabolenus; Jadera, Diadora, Zara. In many Greek words, however, which originally began with a y sound, d was prefixed by an instinctive effort to avoid a disagreeable utterance, just as in English the initial j has regularly assumed the sound of dj: thus Gr. zugon, i. e. diugon = L. jugum; and in such cases the d sound has been prefixed in Greek, not lost in Latin and other languages (v. Curt. Griech. Etym. p. 608 sq.).b. As a medial, d before most consonants undergoes assimilation; v. ad, no. II.; assum, init., and cf. iccirco, quippiam, quicquam, for idcirco, quidpiam, quidquam; and in contractions like cette from cedite, pelluviae from pediluviae, sella from sedela. In contractions, however, the d is sometimes dropped and a compensation effected by lengthening the preceding vowel, as scāla for scand-la. D before endings which begin with s was suppressed, as pes from ped-s, lapis from lapid-s, frons from frond-s, rasi from radsi, risi from rid-si, lusi from lud-si, clausi from claud-si; but in the second and third roots of cedo, and in the third roots of some other verbs, d is assimilated, as cessi, cessum, fossum, etc. D is also omitted before s in composition when another consonant follows the s, as ascendo, aspicio, asto, astringo, and so also before the nasal gn in agnatus, agnitus, and agnosco, from gnatus, etc.: but in other combinations it is assimilated, as assentio, acclamo, accresco; affligo, affrico; agglomero, aggrego; applico, approbo, etc. In tentum, from tendo, d is dropped to avoid the combination ndt or ntt, since euphony forbids a consonant to be doubled after another.g. Final d stood only in ad, apud, sed, and in the neuter pronouns quid, quod, illud, istud, and aliud, anciently alid. Otherwise, the ending d was considered barbarous, Prisc. p. 686 P.

The letter d represents regularly an original Indo-Germanic d, in Greek d, but which in German becomes z, in Gothic t, and in Anglo-Saxon t: cf. Gr. hêdomai, Sanscr. svad, Germ. süss, Angl.-Sax. svēte (sweet), with Lat. suadeo; domare with Gr. damaô, Germ. zähmen, Eng. tame; domus with demô, timber, O. H. Germ. zimber; duo with duô, zwei, two. But it is also interchanged with other sounds, and thus sometimes represents—

An original t: mendax from mentior; quadraginta, quadra, etc., from quatuor.—

An original r: ar and ad; apur or apor and apud; meridies and medidies, audio and auris; cf. arbiter, from ad-beto; arcesso for ad-cesso.—

An original l: adeps, Gr. aleipha; dacrima and lacrima, dingua and lingua; cf. on the contrary, olere for odere, consilium and considere, Ulixes from Odusseus (v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 223).—

An original s: Claudius, from the Sabine Clausus, medius and misos; and, on the contrary, rosa and rhodon. —

A Greek th: fides, pistis; gaudere, gêtheô; vad-i-monium (from va-d-s, vadis), aethlon.

In the oldest period of the language d was the ending of the ablat. sing. and of the adverbs which were originally ablatives (cf. Ritschl, Neue Plaut. Excur. I.; Brix ad Plaut. Trin. Prol. 10): pu CNANDO, MARID, DICTATORED, IN ALTOD MARID, NAVALED PRAEDAD on the Col. Rostr.; DE SENATVOS SENTENTIAD (thrice) IN OQVOLTOD, IN POPLICOD, IN PREIVATOD, IN COVENTIONID, and the adverbs SVPRAD SCRIPTVM EST (thrice), EXSTRAD QVAM SEI, and even EXSTRAD VRBEM, in S. C. de Bacch. So intra-d, ultra-d, citra-d, contra-d, infra-d, supra-d; contro-d, intro-d, etc.; and probably interea-d, postea-d. Here too belongs, no doubt, the adverb FACILVMED, found in the last-mentioned inscription. But this use of the d became antiquated during the 3d century B.C., and is not found at all in any inscription after 186 B. C. Plautus seems to have used or omitted it at will (Ritschl, Neue Plaut. Excurs. p. 18: Corss. Ausspr. 1, 197; 2, 1008).

D final was also anciently found—

In the accus. sing. of the personal pronouns med, ted, sed: INTER SED CONIOVRASE and INTER SED DEDISE, for inter se conjuravisse and inter se dedisse, in the S. C. de Bacch. This usage was retained, at least as a license of verse, when the next word began with a vowel, even in the time of Plautus. But in the classic period this d no longer appears. —

In the imperative mood;

as estod,

Fest. p. 230. The Oscan language retained this ending (v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 206).—

In the preposition se-, originally identical with the conjunction sed (it is retained in the compound seditio); also in red-, prod-, antid-, postid-, etc. ( redire, prodire, etc.); and in these words, too, it is a remnant of the ancient characteristic of the ablative (v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 200 sq.; Roby, Lat. Gr. 1, 49).

As an abbreviation, D usually stands for the praenomen Decimus; also for Deus, Divus, Dominus, Decurio, etc.; over epitaphs, D. M. = Diis Manibus; over temple inscriptions, D. O. M. = Deo Optimo Maxumo; in the titles of the later emperors, D. N. = Dominus Noster, and DD. NN. = Domini Nostri. Before dates of letters, D signified dabam, and also dies; hence, a. d. = ante diem; in offerings to the gods, D. D. = dono or donum dedit; D. D. D. = dat, dicat, dedicat, etc. Cf. Orell. Inscr. II. p. 457 sq.

D, d (n. indecl., sometimes f. sc. littera), the flat dental mute, corresponding in character and sound to the English d and the Greek D, was the fourth letter of the Latin alphabet, and was called de: Ter. Maur. p. 2385 P., Auson. Idyll. 12, de Litt. Monos. 14. But at the end of a syllable, or after another consonant, its sound was sharpened, so that the grammarians often discuss the question whether d or t should be written, especially in conjunctions and prepositions. Illa quoque servata est a multis differentia, ut ad cum esset praepositio, d litteram, cum autem conjunctio, t acciperet (Quint. 1, 7, 5; cf. id. 1, 4, 16). Hence we may infer that some disputed this distinction, and that the sounds of ad and at must at least have been very similar (cf. also Terent. Scaur. p. 2250, Vel. Long. p. 2230 sq., Cassiod. p. 2287, 2291). Thus also aput, it, quit, quot, aliut, set, haut are found for apud, id, quid, quod, aliud, sed, haud. It would appear from the remarks of these authors that the last two words in particular, having a proclitic character, while they distinctly retained the d sound before an initial vowel in the following word, were pronounced before a consonant almost as set, haut (Mar. Vict. p. 2462 P., Vel. Long. l. l. v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 191 sq.). The use of t for d in the middle of a word, as Alexenter for Alexander, atnato for adnato, is very rare (cf. Wordsworth, Fragm. p. 486 sq.). On the other hand, the use of d for t, which sometimes appears in MSS. and inscrr., as ed, capud, essed, inquid (all of which occur in the Cod. palimps. of Cic. Rep.), adque, quodannis, sicud, etc., fecid, reliquid, etc. (all in inscriptions after the Augustan period), is to be ascribed to a later phonetic softening (cf. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 191 sq.).

As an initial, the letter d, in pure Latin words, suffers only a vowel after it; the single consonantal compound dr being found only in borrowed words, such as drama, Drusus, Druidae, etc., and in the two onomatopees drenso and drindio. Accordingly, the d of the initial dv, from du, was rejected, and the remaining v either retained unaltered (as in v iginti for du iginti; cf. triginta) or changed into b (as in b ellum, b is, b onus, for du ellum, du is, du onus; v. those words and the letter B). So too in and after the 4th century A.D., di before vowels was pronounced like j (cf. J ovis for Dj ovis, and J anus for Di anus); and hence, as the Greek di ( di) passed into dz, i. e. z (as in z a for d ia, and z eta for di aeta), we sometimes find the same name written in two or three ways, as Diabolenus, Jabolenus, Zabolenus; Jadera, Diadora, Zara. In many Greek words, however, which originally began with a y sound, d was prefixed by an instinctive effort to avoid a disagreeable utterance, just as in English the initial j has regularly assumed the sound of dj: thus Gr. zugon, i. e. diugon = L. jugum; and in such cases the d sound has been prefixed in Greek, not lost in Latin and other languages (v. Curt. Griech. Etym. p. 608 sq.).b. As a medial, d before most consonants undergoes assimilation; v. ad, no. II.; assum, init., and cf. iccirco, quippiam, quicquam, for idcirco, quidpiam, quidquam; and in contractions like cette from cedite, pelluviae from pediluviae, sella from sedela. In contractions, however, the d is sometimes dropped and a compensation effected by lengthening the preceding vowel, as scāla for scand-la. D before endings which begin with s was suppressed, as pes from ped-s, lapis from lapid-s, frons from frond-s, rasi from radsi, risi from rid-si, lusi from lud-si, clausi from claud-si; but in the second and third roots of cedo, and in the third roots of some other verbs, d is assimilated, as cessi, cessum, fossum, etc. D is also omitted before s in composition when another consonant follows the s, as ascendo, aspicio, asto, astringo, and so also before the nasal gn in agnatus, agnitus, and agnosco, from gnatus, etc.: but in other combinations it is assimilated, as assentio, acclamo, accresco; affligo, affrico; agglomero, aggrego; applico, approbo, etc. In tentum, from tendo, d is dropped to avoid the combination ndt or ntt, since euphony forbids a consonant to be doubled after another.g. Final d stood only in ad, apud, sed, and in the neuter pronouns quid, quod, illud, istud, and aliud, anciently alid. Otherwise, the ending d was considered barbarous, Prisc. p. 686 P.

The letter d represents regularly an original Indo-Germanic d, in Greek d, but which in German becomes z, in Gothic t, and in Anglo-Saxon t: cf. Gr. hêdomai, Sanscr. svad, Germ. süss, Angl.-Sax. svēte (sweet), with Lat. suadeo; domare with Gr. damaô, Germ. zähmen, Eng. tame; domus with demô, timber, O. H. Germ. zimber; duo with duô, zwei, two. But it is also interchanged with other sounds, and thus sometimes represents—

An original t: mendax from mentior; quadraginta, quadra, etc., from quatuor.—

An original r: ar and ad; apur or apor and apud; meridies and medidies, audio and auris; cf. arbiter, from ad-beto; arcesso for ad-cesso.—

An original l: adeps, Gr. aleipha; dacrima and lacrima, dingua and lingua; cf. on the contrary, olere for odere, consilium and considere, Ulixes from Odusseus (v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 223).—

An original s: Claudius, from the Sabine Clausus, medius and misos; and, on the contrary, rosa and rhodon. —

A Greek th: fides, pistis; gaudere, gêtheô; vad-i-monium (from va-d-s, vadis), aethlon.

In the oldest period of the language d was the ending of the ablat. sing. and of the adverbs which were originally ablatives (cf. Ritschl, Neue Plaut. Excur. I.; Brix ad Plaut. Trin. Prol. 10): pu CNANDO, MARID, DICTATORED, IN ALTOD MARID, NAVALED PRAEDAD on the Col. Rostr.; DE SENATVOS SENTENTIAD (thrice) IN OQVOLTOD, IN POPLICOD, IN PREIVATOD, IN COVENTIONID, and the adverbs SVPRAD SCRIPTVM EST (thrice), EXSTRAD QVAM SEI, and even EXSTRAD VRBEM, in S. C. de Bacch. So intra-d, ultra-d, citra-d, contra-d, infra-d, supra-d; contro-d, intro-d, etc.; and probably interea-d, postea-d. Here too belongs, no doubt, the adverb FACILVMED, found in the last-mentioned inscription. But this use of the d became antiquated during the 3d century B.C., and is not found at all in any inscription after 186 B. C. Plautus seems to have used or omitted it at will (Ritschl, Neue Plaut. Excurs. p. 18: Corss. Ausspr. 1, 197; 2, 1008).

D final was also anciently found—

In the accus. sing. of the personal pronouns med, ted, sed: INTER SED CONIOVRASE and INTER SED DEDISE, for inter se conjuravisse and inter se dedisse, in the S. C. de Bacch. This usage was retained, at least as a license of verse, when the next word began with a vowel, even in the time of Plautus. But in the classic period this d no longer appears. —

In the imperative mood;

as estod,

Fest. p. 230. The Oscan language retained this ending (v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 206).—

In the preposition se-, originally identical with the conjunction sed (it is retained in the compound seditio); also in red-, prod-, antid-, postid-, etc. ( redire, prodire, etc.); and in these words, too, it is a remnant of the ancient characteristic of the ablative (v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 200 sq.; Roby, Lat. Gr. 1, 49).

As an abbreviation, D usually stands for the praenomen Decimus; also for Deus, Divus, Dominus, Decurio, etc.; over epitaphs, D. M. = Diis Manibus; over temple inscriptions, D. O. M. = Deo Optimo Maxumo; in the titles of the later emperors, D. N. = Dominus Noster, and DD. NN. = Domini Nostri. Before dates of letters, D signified dabam, and also dies; hence, a. d. = ante diem; in offerings to the gods, D. D. = dono or donum dedit; D. D. D. = dat, dicat, dedicat, etc. Cf. Orell. Inscr. II. p. 457 sq.

G, g, indecl. n. or (on account of littera) f., had originally no place in the Latin alphabet: both the sharp and the flat guttural mutes, our k and g sounds, being represented by C; hence on the Columna Rostrata LECIONES, MACISTRATOS, EXFOCIONT, (pu)CNANDOD, PVCN(ad), CARTACINIENSIS, for legiones, etc.; hence, too, the archaic form ACETARE for agitare (v. Paul. ex Fest. p. 23 Müll. N. cr.), and the still common abbreviation of the names Gaius and Gneus in C and Cn.—At a later period (acc. to Plut. Qu. Rom. p. 277 D and 278 E, by means of a freedman of Spurius Carvilius Ruga, about the beginning of the second Punic war) a slight graphic alteration was made in the C, which introduced into the Roman orthography the letter G (on the old monuments C); thus we have in the S. C. de Bacchanal.: MAGISTER, MAGISTRATVM, FIGIER, GNOSCIER, AGRO; on the other hand, the orthography GNAIVOD PATRE PROGNATVS on the first Epitaph of the Scipios, which dates before that time, indicates either incorrectness in the copying or a later erection of the monument. When Greek words are written in Latin letters and vice versa, G always corresponds to G. Its sound was always hard, like Engl. g in gate, at least until the sixth century A. D.As an initial, g, in pure Latin words, enters into consonantal combination only with l and r; and therefore in words which, from their etymology, had the combination gn, the g was rejected in the classical period, and thus arose the class. forms nascor, natus, nosco, novi, notus, narus, navus, from the original gnascor, gnatus, gnosco, etc. (cf. the English gnaw, gnat, gnarr, etc., where the g has become silent); whereas in compounds the g again is often retained: cognatus, cognosco, ignarus, ignavus.—An initial g is dropped in lac (kindred to GALACT, gala), likewise in anser (kindred to Germ. Gans; Sanscr. hansa; Greek chên).As a medial, g combines with l, m, n, r, although it is sometimes elided before m in the course of formation; so in examen for exagmen from agmen; in contamino for contagmino (from con-TAG, tango). Before s the soft sound of g passes into the hard sound of c, and becomes blended with the s into x (v. the letter X); though sometimes the g (or c) is elided altogether, as in mulsi from mulgeo, indulsi from indulgeo; cf.: sparsus, mersus, tersus, etc. So too before t, as indultum from indulgeo. The medial g is often dropped between two vowels, and compensated for by lengthening the preced. vowel: māior from măgior, pulēium from pulēgium, āio from ăgio (root AG, Sanscr. ah, to say; cf. nego). Likewise the medial g is dropped in lēvis for legvis, Sanscr. laghn, fava for fagva, fruor for frugvor, flamma for flagma, stimulus for stigmulus, examen for exagmen; jumentum, from root jug-: sumen from sug-; cf.: umor, flamen, etc.As a final, g was only paragogic, acc. to Quint. 1, 7, 13, in the obsolete VESPERVG (for vesperu, analogous with noctu; v. Spald. ad loc.). Etymologically, g corresponds to an original Indo - European g or gh, or is weakened from c, k. Thus it stands where in Greek we have:

g, as ago, agô; ager, agros; argentum, arguros; genus, genos; fulgeo, phlegô, and so very commonly;

ch (usually before r, or in the middle of a word): ango, anchô; rigo, brechô; gratus, chairô, etc.;

k: viginti, eikosi; gubernator, kubernêtês; gummi, kommi, etc.—By assimilation, g was produced from b and d in oggero, suggero, aggero, etc., from obgero, sub-gero, ad-gero, etc.As an abbreviation, G denotes Galliarum, Gallica, gemina, Germania, genius, etc.; and sometimes Gaius (instead of the usual C); v. Inscr. Orell. 467; 1660; 4680:

G.P.R.F. genio populi Romani feliciter,

Inscr. Orell. 4957; v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 76 sqq.; Roby, Lat. Gr. 1, 38 sqq.

G, g, indecl. n. or (on account of littera) f., had originally no place in the Latin alphabet: both the sharp and the flat guttural mutes, our k and g sounds, being represented by C; hence on the Columna Rostrata LECIONES, MACISTRATOS, EXFOCIONT, (pu)CNANDOD, PVCN(ad), CARTACINIENSIS, for legiones, etc.; hence, too, the archaic form ACETARE for agitare (v. Paul. ex Fest. p. 23 Müll. N. cr.), and the still common abbreviation of the names Gaius and Gneus in C and Cn.—At a later period (acc. to Plut. Qu. Rom. p. 277 D and 278 E, by means of a freedman of Spurius Carvilius Ruga, about the beginning of the second Punic war) a slight graphic alteration was made in the C, which introduced into the Roman orthography the letter G (on the old monuments C); thus we have in the S. C. de Bacchanal.: MAGISTER, MAGISTRATVM, FIGIER, GNOSCIER, AGRO; on the other hand, the orthography GNAIVOD PATRE PROGNATVS on the first Epitaph of the Scipios, which dates before that time, indicates either incorrectness in the copying or a later erection of the monument. When Greek words are written in Latin letters and vice versa, G always corresponds to G. Its sound was always hard, like Engl. g in gate, at least until the sixth century A. D.As an initial, g, in pure Latin words, enters into consonantal combination only with l and r; and therefore in words which, from their etymology, had the combination gn, the g was rejected in the classical period, and thus arose the class. forms nascor, natus, nosco, novi, notus, narus, navus, from the original gnascor, gnatus, gnosco, etc. (cf. the English gnaw, gnat, gnarr, etc., where the g has become silent); whereas in compounds the g again is often retained: cognatus, cognosco, ignarus, ignavus.—An initial g is dropped in lac (kindred to GALACT, gala), likewise in anser (kindred to Germ. Gans; Sanscr. hansa; Greek chên).As a medial, g combines with l, m, n, r, although it is sometimes elided before m in the course of formation; so in examen for exagmen from agmen; in contamino for contagmino (from con-TAG, tango). Before s the soft sound of g passes into the hard sound of c, and becomes blended with the s into x (v. the letter X); though sometimes the g (or c) is elided altogether, as in mulsi from mulgeo, indulsi from indulgeo; cf.: sparsus, mersus, tersus, etc. So too before t, as indultum from indulgeo. The medial g is often dropped between two vowels, and compensated for by lengthening the preced. vowel: māior from măgior, pulēium from pulēgium, āio from ăgio (root AG, Sanscr. ah, to say; cf. nego). Likewise the medial g is dropped in lēvis for legvis, Sanscr. laghn, fava for fagva, fruor for frugvor, flamma for flagma, stimulus for stigmulus, examen for exagmen; jumentum, from root jug-: sumen from sug-; cf.: umor, flamen, etc.As a final, g was only paragogic, acc. to Quint. 1, 7, 13, in the obsolete VESPERVG (for vesperu, analogous with noctu; v. Spald. ad loc.). Etymologically, g corresponds to an original Indo - European g or gh, or is weakened from c, k. Thus it stands where in Greek we have:

g, as ago, agô; ager, agros; argentum, arguros; genus, genos; fulgeo, phlegô, and so very commonly;

ch (usually before r, or in the middle of a word): ango, anchô; rigo, brechô; gratus, chairô, etc.;

k: viginti, eikosi; gubernator, kubernêtês; gummi, kommi, etc.—By assimilation, g was produced from b and d in oggero, suggero, aggero, etc., from obgero, sub-gero, ad-gero, etc.As an abbreviation, G denotes Galliarum, Gallica, gemina, Germania, genius, etc.; and sometimes Gaius (instead of the usual C); v. Inscr. Orell. 467; 1660; 4680:

G.P.R.F. genio populi Romani feliciter,

Inscr. Orell. 4957; v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 76 sqq.; Roby, Lat. Gr. 1, 38 sqq.

H, h, the eighth letter of the Latin alphabet and the weakest guttural. The sign is borrowed from the Greek, in which H was the old form of the spiritus asper, corresp. to the Latin H-sound (HEKATON, hekaton, ÊOS, hos, etc.). Even some of the ancients doubted whether the Latin H was properly a letter:

si H littera est, non nota,

Quint. 1, 5, 19; cf.:

H litteram, sive illam spiritum magis quam litteram dici oportet, etc.,

Gell. 2, 3, 1. Before the fall of the republic, the sound of H before vowels became so weak that it was frequently omitted in writing; and this weakness became more marked in many words in the time of the empire; cf.: aheneus and aeneus; cohors and coörs; prehendo and prendo; vehemens and vemens, etc. (v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 96 sqq.).As an initial and medial, H may be combined with any vowel, but the orthography, in this respect, was inconstant: thus we have herus and erus; honus, honera, and onus, onera; harundo and arundo; and even hac for ac (Inscr. Orell. 23); aruspex and haruspex; ercisco, erctum, and hercisco, herctum; aheneus and aëneus; Annibal and Hannibal; Adria and Hadria, etc.; v. Gell. l. l.—As a sign for the aspiration of the consonants c, p, r, and t (as in Greek the aspirates ch, ph, th were originally designated by KH, HH, TH), H first came into use in the seventh century of Rome; cf. Cic. Or. 48, 160; and v. the letter C.— Medial h is often dropped.—As a final, h occurs only in the interjections ah and vah.In the formation of words, h was changed into c before t, as tractum from traho; vectum from veho; and coalesced with s into x, as traxi, vexi; cf. also onyx from onych-s; v. the letter X.As an abbreviation, H. denotes hic, haec, hoc, hujus, etc.; habet, heres, honor, etc. HH. heredes. H. AQ. hic acquiescit. H. B. M. heredes bene merenti. H. C. Hispania citerior or hic condiderunt. H. E. T. heres ex testamento. H. F. C. heres faciundum curavit. H. L. hunc locum. H. L. ET. M. H. N. S. hic locus et monumentum heredem non sequitur. H. M. S. D. M. hoc monumentum sine dolo malo. H. S. E. hic situs est. H. S. F. hoc sibi fecit, etc.; v. Inscr. Orell. II. p. 461 sq.

for sestertium does not strictly belong here, because H is not the letter of that shape, but the numeral II. crossed; v. sestertius init.

H, h, the eighth letter of the Latin alphabet and the weakest guttural. The sign is borrowed from the Greek, in which H was the old form of the spiritus asper, corresp. to the Latin H-sound (HEKATON, hekaton, ÊOS, hos, etc.). Even some of the ancients doubted whether the Latin H was properly a letter:

si H littera est, non nota,

Quint. 1, 5, 19; cf.:

H litteram, sive illam spiritum magis quam litteram dici oportet, etc.,

Gell. 2, 3, 1. Before the fall of the republic, the sound of H before vowels became so weak that it was frequently omitted in writing; and this weakness became more marked in many words in the time of the empire; cf.: aheneus and aeneus; cohors and coörs; prehendo and prendo; vehemens and vemens, etc. (v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 96 sqq.).As an initial and medial, H may be combined with any vowel, but the orthography, in this respect, was inconstant: thus we have herus and erus; honus, honera, and onus, onera; harundo and arundo; and even hac for ac (Inscr. Orell. 23); aruspex and haruspex; ercisco, erctum, and hercisco, herctum; aheneus and aëneus; Annibal and Hannibal; Adria and Hadria, etc.; v. Gell. l. l.—As a sign for the aspiration of the consonants c, p, r, and t (as in Greek the aspirates ch, ph, th were originally designated by KH, HH, TH), H first came into use in the seventh century of Rome; cf. Cic. Or. 48, 160; and v. the letter C.— Medial h is often dropped.—As a final, h occurs only in the interjections ah and vah.In the formation of words, h was changed into c before t, as tractum from traho; vectum from veho; and coalesced with s into x, as traxi, vexi; cf. also onyx from onych-s; v. the letter X.As an abbreviation, H. denotes hic, haec, hoc, hujus, etc.; habet, heres, honor, etc. HH. heredes. H. AQ. hic acquiescit. H. B. M. heredes bene merenti. H. C. Hispania citerior or hic condiderunt. H. E. T. heres ex testamento. H. F. C. heres faciundum curavit. H. L. hunc locum. H. L. ET. M. H. N. S. hic locus et monumentum heredem non sequitur. H. M. S. D. M. hoc monumentum sine dolo malo. H. S. E. hic situs est. H. S. F. hoc sibi fecit, etc.; v. Inscr. Orell. II. p. 461 sq.

for sestertium does not strictly belong here, because H is not the letter of that shape, but the numeral II. crossed; v. sestertius init.