(4.) Of imperatives only puta, used adverbially (2438, c), ave, have (805; Quint. i, 6, 21; but Martial scans havē) as a salutation and cave, used as an auxiliary (1711), show the short final vowel in classical Latin. Elsewhere the long vowel has been restored, as amā, monē (845).
(5.) According to this rule calēfaciō, malēdīcō changed to calefaciō, maledīcō.
131. A long final vowel is shortened when an enclitic is added to the word: as siquidem from sī; quoque from quō.
132. A long vowel is regularly shortened, in the classical period, before final -t and -m and, in words of more than one syllable, also before final r and l.
Thus, soror, sister, for Plautus’s sorōr, from the stem sorōr- (487); ūtar, I may use, for Plautus’s ūtār (cf. ūtāris); bacchanal for Plautus’s bacchanāl; animal, exemplar from the stems animāl- (530) and exemplār- (537); but the long vowel is retained in the monosyllables fūr, thief, sōl, sun; pōnēbat, he placed, for Plautus’s pōnēbāt (cf. pōnēbās); iūbet, he commanded, for Plautus’s iūbēt; eram, I was, but erās; rēxerim, I may have ruled, but rēxerīs (877); -um in the genitive plural of -o- stems is for -ūm (462); mēnsam, table, for *mēnsām from the stem mensā-; rem, from rē- (rēs), spem from spē- (spēs).
133. (1.) In a few cases the length of the vowel has been transferred to the following consonant, the length of which is then indicated by doubling it (81): as, littera for lītera, LEITERAS; Iuppiter for Iūpiter; parricīda for pāri-cīda, murder of a member of the same clan (*pāro-, member of a clan, Doric πᾶός, a relative); cuppa for cūpa, barrel. The legal formula sī pāret, if it appear, was vulgarly pronounced sī parret (Festus).
(2.) Since the doubled unsyllabic i (i̭) between vowels (23; 166, 9; 153, 2) is commonly written single, the vowel preceding it is often erroneously marked long: as, āiō wrongly for aiō, i.e. ai̭i̭ō, I say; māior wrongly for maior, i.e. mai̭i̭or, greater; pēior wrongly for peior, i.e. pei̭i̭or, worse; ēius, of him, cūius, of whom, hūius, of him, all wrongly for eius, cuius, huius i.e. ei̭i̭us, cui̭i̭us, huii̭us (153, 2). In all these words the first syllable was long but not the vowel.
134. (1.) In some foreign proper names and in a very few Latin words the quantity of a vowel varied. Vergil has Sȳchaeus and Sychaeus within six verses; also Āsia and Asia, Lavīnium and Lāvīnius; so also glōmus (Lucr.), glomus (Hor.); cōturnīx (Plaut., Lucr.), coturnīx (Ov.).
(2.) Sometimes such variations in vowel quantity are only apparent: thus, the occasional long final -ē of the active infinitive (darē, prōmerē) has probably a different origin from the usual -ĕ. For metrical lengthening, see 2505.
135. The same stem often shows a long vowel in some of its forms and a short vowel in others. In most cases these variations of quantity were not developed on Latin soil but inherited from a much earlier period. Such old inherited differences in vowel quantity are called quantitative vowel gradation.
(1.) Instances of this are prō for *prōd (149; cf. prōdesse) and pro- (Greek πρό); nē and ne- in nescius; the couples regō, I rule, and rēxī; vehō, I draw, vēxī; veniō, I come, vēnī, where the long vowel is characteristic of the perfect stem (862); vocō, I call, and vōx, voice; regō, I rule, and rēx, ruler; legō, I read, and lēx, bill; sedeō, I sit, and sēdēs, seat; fidēs, confidence, and fīdō, I trust; dux (cf. ducis), leader, and dūcō, I lead, where verb and noun are differentiated by the quantity of the root vowel; and many others.
(2.) Sometimes the reduction of the vowel in certain forms amounts to complete loss, as in the adverbial ending -is- in magis (346, 363) compared with the comparative suffix -ios, -iōs (Nom. -ior, Genit. -iōris); in the oblique cases of the stem carōn- (nomin. sg. carō, 497), where the suffix becomes -n- (545), genitive car-n-is; in the suffix -ter, which becomes -tr- in all cases but the nom. sg. (pater, patris, etc., 470, 487); in the feminine -tr-ī-c- to the suffix -tor-; but the nom. sing. Caecīlis (465) for Caecīlios is probably due to syncope.
136. (1.) i before an r which goes back to an earlier voiced s (154) was changed to e: as, cineris, of ashes, for *cinisis, from the stem cinis (491); Faleriī, for *Falisiī, cf. Falis-cus; (formed like Etrūria, for *Etrūsia, cf. Etrūs-cī).
(2.) In the nominative singular of compounds like iūdex, judge (from iūs and dīcere), comes, companion (from com, with, and īre, go), the i of the second member of the compounds is changed to e (470) after the analogy of words like artifex, artisan, etc. (107, d).
137. e before -gn- became i: as, īlignus, from the stem īlec- (cf. īlex).
138. e before the guttural nasal (62) followed by a guttural mute was changed to i: as, septingentī, from septem; singulī, from the stem sem- in semel (for the assimilation of m see 164, 3); obtingō (925), I attain, for *óbtengō (104, c) from *ob-tangō (104, e).
139. A similar change took place in the group -enl- which became first -inl- and then -ill-: as, *signilum, diminutive of sīgnum (for ī, see 122, c), first changed by syncope (111) from *signilum to *sign̥lum, then to *sigenlum (172, 3), then to *siginlum, and finally to sigillum.
140. o before nc became u: as, homunculus, manikin for *homonculus, from the stem homon- (485); nūncupāre, name, for *nōn-cupāre (nōn- for nōm- (164, 3) = syncopated nōmen); hunc, him, for *honc, from hom-ce (662).
141. o before l followed by any consonant save l was changed to u: as, cultus, tilled, for *coltus, from colere; multa, fine, for old Latin molta. But o before ll is retained: as, collis, hill.
142. e before guttural l (60) was changed to o: as, solvō, I undo, from *seluō (se-, as in se-cordia, luō = Greek λύω); culmen, top, for *celmen, from *cellō in ex-cellō; volō, I wish, for *velō; but e is preserved before dental l (60): as in velle, velim (773). Before l followed by any consonant save l this o changes to u (141): as, vult.
143. In a number of words, notably in voster, your, vorsus, turned, vortex, eddy, and votāre, forbid, the forms with o were replaced, about the second century B.C. by forms with e: as, vester, versus, vertex, vetāre (Quint. 1, 7, 25).
144. In a few cases a vowel is influenced by the vowel of a neighbouring syllable: as,
nisi, unless, for *nesi; iīs, for eīs, to them (671, 674); diī, diīs, gods, for deī, deīs (450); nihil, nothing, for *nehil; homō, man, for *hemō (cf. nēmō, from ne-hemō, 118); see also 104, d; 105, i.
145. The same stem often shows different vowels in different forms. In most of these cases this difference was inherited from a very early period and continued in the Latin. Such old inherited variation of the quality of the stem-vowel is called qualitative vowel gradation. The qualitative variations may be accompanied by quantitative changes (135).
Often the verb and the noun are thus distinguished by different vowels: as, tegō, I cover, and toga, a garment, toga; precor, I beg, and procus, suitor, cf. English to sing and a song, to bind, and a bond. The different tenses of some verbs show a like gradation: as, capiō, I take, cēpī; faciō, I make, fēcī, cf. English I sing, I sang; I bring, I brought. The same occurs in derivation: as doceō, I teach, by the side of decet; noceō, I harm, by the side of nex (nec-s). The two vowels which occur most frequently in such gradation are e and o: as in stems in -o-, domine, dominus (for dominos); as variable vowel (824); genos (genus, 107, c) in the nom. sg. by the side of *genes- in the oblique cases (gen. generis for *genesis, 154); honōs by the side of hones- in hones-tus; modus, measure, for *modos (originally a neuter -s- stem like genus (487, 491), but transferred later to the -o- declension), by the side of modes- in modes-tus, seemly. See 187.
146. In a number of words which belong more or less clearly to the stem of the pronoun quo- (681), cu- (157), the initial c has disappeared before u: as,
uter, which of the two, ubĭ, where, unde, whence (711). For the conjunction ut, utī, that, connection with this pronominal stem is much more doubtful. The c- appears in the compounds with sī and nē̆: as, sī-cubī (cf. sī-quidem, sī-quandō), sī-cunde, nē-cubi, ne-cunde, ne-cuter.
147. d varies in a few words with l: as old Latin dacruma, tear, for later lacrima; dingua, tongue, for later lingua; odor, smell, by the side of oleō, I smell.
148. Very rarely, before labials, final d of the preposition ad varies with r: as, old Latin arfuērunt, they were present, for later adfuērunt (2257); arvorsum, against, for advorsum. The only instances of this in classical Latin are arbiter, umpire, and arcēssō (970), I summon, which shows r before a guttural.
149. (1.) Final d after a long vowel disappeared in classical Latin: thus, in the ablative singular of -ā- and -o- stems (426), and in the ablative-accusative forms mēd, tēd, sēd (648). The prepositions prō and sē (1417) originally ended in -d which is still seen in prōdesse, be of advantage, prōd-īre, go forth; sēd-itiō, a going-apart, sedition. According to the grammarians, the negative haud preserved its d before vowels, but lost it before consonants (1450).
(2.) Late inscriptions confuse final -d and -t: as FECID (729), ALIVT for aliud. But in very old Latin -d in the third person singular seems to be the remnant of a secondary ending (cf. the Greek distinction of primary -ται and secondary -το).
150. In a number of words f varies dialectically with h. In some of these f appears to have been original, in others h: as, old Latin fordeum, barley, for classical hordeum; old Latin haba, bean, for classical faba. The word fīlum, thread, appears as *hīlum in nihil, nothing, for *ne-hīlum.
151. h being a weak sound (58) was often lost between two like vowels, especially in rapid utterance: as, nīl, nothing, prēndere, take, vēmēns, rapid, by the side of nihil, prehendere, vehemēns; and always nēmō, nobody, for *ne-hemō, no man.
152. In some words h between two vowels is not original, but goes back to a guttural aspirate gh. Before consonants this guttural appears: as, vehō, I draw, vectus (953) from a stem vegh-, trahō, I drag, tractus (953) from a stem tragh-.
153. (1.) v not infrequently disappeared between two like vowels: as, dītior, richer, for dīvitior; sīs (Cic. O. 154), for sī vīs (774); lātrīna, for lavatrīna; fīnīsse, for fīnīvisse; dēlēram, for dēlēveram; and later also in perfect forms in which the preceding and following vowel differed: as, amāsse, for amāvisse. The abbreviated forms of the perfects in -vī (890) were common in Cicero’s (O. 157) and Quintilian’s (1, 6, 17) time. v also disappeared before o in deorsum, seorsum.
(2.) Old and original unsyllabic i (82; 83) disappeared everywhere between vowels. Wherever unsyllabic i appears between vowels it represents double i̭i̭, and is the result of the assimilation of g to i̭ (166, 9), or d to i̭ (166, 9), or of the combination of two i̭’s: as in ei-i̭us, quoi̭-i̭us (eius, quoius = cuius, 688). See 23; 166, 9. In all these cases the first i̭ joined to the preceding vowel (83) formed with it a diphthong, and the syllable is thus long (133, 2).
(3.) The combinations of unsyllabic (83) ṷ with the vowel u and of unsyllabic i̭ with the vowel i were avoided in classical Latin; see 52.
(4.) In composition, unsyllabic (82) i̭ after a consonant became syllabic in quoniam, since, for quomi̭am (164, 5), and etiam, also, for eti̭am (both compounds with iam).
154. In early Latin s between two vowels was voiced (75), and in the fourth century B.C. this voiced s changed into r. According to Cicero (Fam. 9, 21, 2) L. Papīrius Crassus, consul in 336 B.C., changed his family name Papīsius to Papīrius. Old inscriptions show frequently s for r: as, ASA, altar, AVSELII. This change of intervocalic s to r plays an important part in declension, conjugation, and derivation: as,
Nominative iūs, right, genitive iūris; spērō, I hope, derived from spēs; nefārius, wicked, from nefās; gerō, I carry, from a stem ges- which appears in ges-sī, ges-tus (953); erō, I shall be, from the stem es- in esse; the subjunctive ending -sem in es-sem appears as -rem after vowels: as, stārem; the infinitive ending (894, 895) -se in es-se appears as -re after vowels: as, legere, for *legese, to read, stāre, for *stāse, to stand. Where all oblique cases show -r- and only the nominative singular -s, the latter is sometimes changed to -r by analogy: as, arbor, tree, honor, honour, for original arbōs, honōs, by analogy to the oblique cases arboris, arborī, honōris, honōrī, etc. (487, 488). The final -s of the prefix dis- follows this rule: as, dir-imō, I take apart, for *dis-emō; but an initial s- of the second member of a compound remains unchanged: as, dē-sinō, I stop.
155. Wherever intervocalic s is found in classical Latin it is not original, but the result (a.) of earlier -ns-: as, formōsus, handsome, for formōnsus (63); (b.) of earlier -ss- (170, 7): as, ūsus for *ūssus, use (159); causa, thing, for caussa (Quint. 1, 7, 20); or (c.) it occurs in borrowed words like asinus, ass. (d.) There are a few words in which an r in a neighbouring syllable seems to have prevented the change: as miser, miserable (173).
156. Before the o described in 142 qu changed to c: as, incola, inhabitant, for *inquola, from *inquela; the stem quel- appears in in-quil-īnus, lodger.
157. As v before u (107, c), so qu was not tolerated before u, but changed to c.
Hence when, about the beginning of our era, the o of quom, when, sequontur, they followed, changed to u (107, c), they became cum, secuntur; thus equos but ecus, horse (452); reliquom but RELICVM, the rest; loquor, I speak, but locūtus (978). Much later, in the second century of our era, the grammarians restored the qu before u by analogy to those forms in the paradigm in which qu came before other vowels: as, sequuntur for secuntur by analogy to sequor, sequeris, sequitur, sequimur, sequimini, etc.; equus, equum, for ecus, ecum, by analogy to equī, equō, eque, equōrum, equīs, equōs.
158. qu before consonants or when final changed to c: as, relictus from the stem liqu-, leave (present, linquō, 938); ac, and, for *atc, by apocope from atque; nec, nor, by apocope from neque. See also *torctus (170, 3), quīnctus (170, 4).
159. When in the process of early word formation a t was followed by another t, the combination tt, unless followed by r, changed to ss: as, obsessus, besieged, sat upon, for *obsettus, from *obsed-tus (cf. sedeō). After long vowels, nasals, and liquids this double ss was simplified to s (170, 7): as, ūsus from *ūt-tus, used (cf. ūtor); scānsus, climbed, from *scant-tus for *scandtus (cf. scandō).
In this way arose a suffix -sus (906, 912) for the past participle of verbs ending in a dental, and this spread to other verbs (912): as mānsus, stayed, from maneō (1000), pulsus, pushed, from pellō (932). The regular participles of these two verbs still appear in the derivative verbs mantāre and pultāre, which presuppose the past participles *mantus and *pultus (371). If the double tt was followed by r it changed to st: as, assestrīx from *assettrīx, while *assettor changed to assessor.
160. But wherever the combination tt arose in historical times it remained unchanged: as, attineō; cette, syncopated for cé-d(i)te, i.e. the particle ce (93, 3) which is here proclitic, and the imperative date, give.
161. Initial dv (dṷ) changed to b, unless the v (ṷ) was converted into the corresponding vowel: as, bis, twice, for *dṷis (cf. duo); bidēns for *dṷidens, by the side of old Latin duidēns with vocalic u; bonus, good, for dṷonus, by the side of trisyllabic duonus; bellum, war, for *dṷellum, by the side of duellum with vocalic u; bēs, two thirds, for *dṷēs (2427). Cicero (O. 153) notes that the change of duellum to bellum affected even the proper name Duellius (name of the admiral who won the naval victory over the Carthaginians in 260 B.C.) which was changed to Bellius. Plautus always scans dṷellum disyllabic with synizesis (2503).
162. Many groups of consonants undergo changes in order to facilitate their pronunciation in rapid speech. These changes involve (a.) Assimilation of consonants; (b.) the development of consonantal glides; (c.) the loss of one member of the group; and (d.) the development of a vowel between the consonants.
163. Of two successive consonants belonging to different syllables (175), the first is, as a rule, assimilated to the second (regressive assimilation), rarely the second to the first (progressive assimilation). A consonant may be assimilated, either entirely or partially, to another consonant.
Assimilation is very common in prepositions prefixed to a verb.
164. Partial assimilation. (1.) A voiced mute before an unvoiced consonant became unvoiced: as, rēx, king, for *rēgs (cf. rēgis); rēxī, I guided, for *rēgsī (cf. regō); rēctus, guided, for *rēgtus; scrīpsī, I wrote, for *scrībsī (cf. scribō); scrīptus, written, for *scribtus; trāxī, I dragged, for *trāghsī; tractus, dragged, for *traghtus (152). The spelling did not always conform to this pronunciation: as, urbs, city, pronounced urps (54) but spelled with b by analogy to the oblique cases urbis, urbem, etc.; obtineō, I get, pronounced optineō.
(2.) An unvoiced mute before a voiced consonant became voiced. The prepositions ob, ab, sub, for *op, *ap, *sup, owe their final b to their frequent position before voiced mutes: as, obdūcō, abdīcō, sub dīvō. The forms *op (still preserved in op-eriō, I close, 1019) *ap (preserved in ap-erio, I open, 1019; cf. Greek ἀπό) and *sup (preserved in the adjective supīnus, supine) were then crowded out by ob, ab, and sub.
(3.) Nasals changed their place of articulation to that of the following consonant. Thus, dental n before the labials p and b became labial m: as, imbibō, I drink in, impendeō, I hang over. Labial m before the gutturals c and g became guttural n (62): as, prīnceps, leader, singulī, severally (the original labials appear in prīmus, semel (138)); hunc for *homce (662). Labial m before the dentals t, d, s became dental n: as, cōnsecrō, I consecrate, from com (cum) and sacrō; tantus, so great, from tam; quondam, once, from quom; tandem, at length, from tam. But sometimes the etymological spelling was retained: as, quamdiū, as long as. But m does not change to n before t or s in the inflection of verbs and nouns, where mt, ms develop into mpt, mps (167): as, sūmptus, sūmpsī, from sūmō.
(4.) p and b before n changed to m: as, somnus, sleep, for *sop-nus (cf. sopor); omnis, all, for *op-nis (cf. opēs); Samnium, for *Sabnium (cf. Sabīnī).
(5.) m before unsyllabic i (i̭) became n: as, quoniam (with vocalic i; 153, 4), since, for *quoni̭am from quom iam (1882); coniungō, I join together, for *comiungō.
(6.) c between n and l, and before m, changed to g: as, angulus, corner, with anaptyctical (172) vowel u for *anglus, from *anclus (cf. ancus); segmentum, section, from the stem sec- in secāre.
165. It appears that at a very early period the neighbourhood of a nasal changed an unvoiced mute into a voiced one: as, ē-mungō, I clean out, by the side of mūcus; pangō, I fix, by the side of pāc- in pāx, peace (gen. pāc-is).
166. Entire assimilation. (1.) One mute is assimilated to another: thus p or b to c: as, suc-currō, I assist; t or d to c: as, sic-cus, dry (cf. sit-is, thirst), accipiō, I accept; d to g: as, agglūtinō, I glue on; t or d to qu: as, quicquam, anything; t or d to p: as, appellō, I call; quippe, why? (1690).
(2.) A mute is assimilated to a spirant: thus, p to f in officīna, workshop, for *opficīna, syncopated form of *opificīna; d to f: as, afferō, I bring hither; when t is thus assimilated to s the result is ss after a short vowel, and s after a long vowel (170, 7) or when final (171); as, in the -s- perfects, concussī, I shook, for *concutsī (concutiō, 961); messuī, I mowed, for *metsuī (metō, 835); suāsī, I advised, for *suātsī (suādeō, 1000); clausī, I shut, for *clautsī (claudō, 958); haesī, I stuck, for haes-sī (868) from haerēre, stem haes- (154); in the same way possum, I can, for *potsum (cf. pot-est, 752); prōsum, I am of advantage, for *prōtsum (cf. prōd-esse); legēns, reading, for *legents (from the stem legent-, cf. genitive legent-is). An s is never assimilated to a following t: as, haustus, drained (1014), from the stem haus-, present hauriō (154). Forms like the rare hausūrus (Verg.) are made after the analogy of dental stems.
(3.) One spirant, s, is assimilated to another, f: as, difficilis, difficult, differō, I am unlike, from dis and facilis, ferō.
(4.) A mute is assimilated to a nasal: thus d to m in mamma, woman’s breast, from the stem mad- (cf. madeō, 1006); rāmus, branch, rāmentum, splinter, from the stem rād- (cf. rādō, 958) with simplification of the double m after the long vowel. d to n in mercēnārius, hireling, from the stem mercēd-, reward, (for mercennarius, see 133, 1); p to m in summus, highest, from the stem sup- (cf. super). A progressive assimilation of nd to nn belongs to the Oscan dialect, and occurs only very rarely in Latin: as, tennitur (Ter.), distennite (Plaut.) See 924; 950.
(5.) One nasal, n, is assimilated to another, m: as immōtus, unmoved. But an m before n is never assimilated: as, amnis, river.
(6.) Mutes or nasals are assimilated to liquids; thus n to l: as, homullus, manikin, for *homon-lus (cf. homun-culus); ūllus (274); d to l: as, sella, seat, for *sed-la from the stem sed- (cf. sedeō); caelum, chisel, from the stem caed- (cf. caedō) with simplification of the double l after the diphthong (170, 7); n to r: as, irruō, I rush in; and with progressive assimilation n to a preceding l: as, tollō, I lift, for *tolnō (833); fallō, I cheat (932); pellō, I push (932). But no assimilation is to be assumed for parricīda, which does not stand for patricīda (133, 1).
(7.) One liquid, r, is assimilated to another, l: as, pelliciō, I lead astray (956), for *per-liciō; agellus, small field, for *agerlos; pūllus, clean, from *pūrlos (cf. pūrus, clean).
(8.) A spirant, s, is assimilated to a preceding liquid in velle, wish, for *velse, ferre, carry, for *ferse (the infinitive ending -se appears in es-se, 895); facillimus, easiest, for *facilsimus (345); sacerrimus, holiest, for *sacersimus (344). But where ls and rs are not original but the result of lightening (170, 3; 10) they remain unchanged: as, arsī, I burnt, for *artsī from the stem ard- (cf. ardeō, 1000); alsī, I felt cold, for *alcsī from the stem alg- (cf. algeō, 1000).
(9.) g and d were assimilated to a following unsyllabic i (i̭) the result being (153, 2) ii (i̭i̭); thus peiior, worse, for *ped-i̭or, from the stem ped- (532), whence also the superlative pessimus for *petsimus (166, 2); maiior, greater, for *mag-i̭or (the stem mag- appears in magis); aiiō, I say, for *ag-i̭ō (the stem ag- appears in ad-ag-ium, prōd-ig-ium, 219). These forms were pronounced by Cicero with doubled i̭ (23), and traces of the spelling with double ii are still found (23), though in common practice only one i is written (153, 2). On the confusion of syllabic quantity with vowel quantity in these words, see 133, 2.
167. Pronunciation of two successive consonants is sometimes facilitated by the insertion of a consonant which serves as a glide. Such insertion is not frequent.
In inflection a p was thus developed between m and s, between m and l, and between m and t (elsewhere mt changed to nt, see 164, 3): as, sūmpsī, I took, sūmptus, taken, from sūmere for *sūmsī, *sūmtus; and in the corresponding forms of cōmō, dēmō, prōmō (953); exemplum, pattern, for *exemlum from the stem em-, take (cf. eximere, 103, a).
168. A word may be lightened by the disappearance of an initial, a medial, or a final consonant.
Disappearance of an initial consonant is sometimes called Aphaeresis, of a medial, Syncope, of a final, Apocope.
169. Initial disappearance. (1.) Initial tl changed to l: as, lātus, borne, for *tlātus from tollō (187, 917).
(2.) Initial gn changed to n: as, nātus, born, for earlier GNATVS from the stem gen-, gnā (187); nōscō, I find out, for gnōscō, GNOSCIER (897); nārus, knowing, for the more frequent gnārus, nāvus, active, for gnāvus. Cf. the compounds cō-gnātus, cō-gnōscō, ī-gnārus, ī-gnāvus (170, 6) which preserve the g. But Gnaeus retained its G.
(3.) Initial d when followed by consonant i (i̭), disappeared: as, Iovis, Iūpiter, for *Di̭ovis, *Di̭ūpiter. Where the i was vocalic, d was retained: as, dīus.
(4.) Initial stl- first changed to sl and then to l: as, Old Latin stlocus, place, stlīs, law-suit (Quint. 1, 4, 16), STLOC, SLIS, classical locus, līs; also lātus, wide, for *stlātus. That a form *slocus existed is proved by īlicō (698, 703) from *in-slocō, on the spot (170, 2).
170. Medial Disappearance. (1.) c, g, p, and b disappear before s followed by an unvoiced consonant: as, sescentī, six hundred, for *sexcentī from sex; illūstris, resplendent, for *illūcstris from lūceō; discō, I learn, from *dicscō for *di-tc-scō (834), a reduplicated present from the root dec- (cf. decet) like gignō (from the root gen-), and sīdō (for *si-sd-ō, 170, 2, from the root sed-, 829). Sometimes prepositions follow this rule: as, asportō, I carry off, for *absportō, suscipiō, I undertake, for *subscipiō (subs formed from sub like abs from ab; sub-cipiō gives succipiō); occasionally also ecferō, for exferō, I carry out. But more frequently prepositional compounds remain unchanged: as, obscūrus, dark; abscēdō, I withdraw. In some words the lost consonant has been restored by analogy: as, sextus, sixth, for *sestus (cf. Sēstius) after sex; textor, weaver, for *testor after texō.
(2.) s before voiced consonants was voiced (75) and is dropped. If a consonant precedes the s this is dropped also. In either case the preceding vowel is lengthened. Voiced s alone is dropped: as, prīmus, first, for *prīs-mus (cf. prīs-cus); cānus, gray, for *casnus (cf. cas-cus); adverb pōne, behind, for *posne (cf. pos, 1410); dīlābī, glide apart, for *dislābi; īdem, the same, for ISDEM (678); iūdex, judge, for iūsdex; trēdecim, thirteen, for *trēsdecim. And with subsequent shortening of the final syllable (130, 3) abin, goest thou? for abisn(e); viden, seest thou? for vidēsn(e). Voiced s with the preceding consonant is dropped: as, trādūcō, I lead across, trānō, I swim across, for trānsdūcō, trānsnō; but in these prepositional compounds the -ns was often retained: as, trānsmittō, I send across; sēnī, six each, for *secsnī; sēmēnstris, every six months, for secsmēnstris; sēvirī, the Board of Six, for secsvirī; āla, wing, for *acsla (cf. ax-illa, Cic. O. 153); māvolō (779) for magsvolō from magisvolō, 396; tōles (plural), goiter, for *tōnsles (cf. tōnsillae, tonsils); pīlum, pestle, for *pīnslum from pīnsere, crush; two consonants and voiced s are dropped in scāla, stair, for *scand-sla (cf. scandō).
(3.) c falls away when it stands between a liquid and t, s, m, or n: as, ultus, avenged, for *ulctus from ulc-iscor (980); mulsī for *mulcsī from both mulgeō, I milk, and mulceō, I stroke; similarly other stems in -c and -g (1000, 1014); quernus, oaken, for *quercnus from quercus; tortus, turned, for *torctus from torqueō (for the change of qu to c, see 158); for fortis, brave, forctis is found in old Latin.
(4.) c drops out when it stands between n and t: as, quīntus, fifth, for older quīnctus (2412), from quīnque (for the change of qu to c, see 158; for the long ī in quīnque, see 122, b). But verbs having stems in -nc or -ng retain the c in their past participles: as, vīnctus, bound, from vincīre (1014); iūnctus, joined, from iungere (954). In pāstus (965) c has dropped out between s and t.
(5.) The group -ncn- was simplified to simple -n-, and the preceding vowel was lengthened: as, quīnī, five each, for *quīnc-nī (317); cō-nīveō, wink and blink, for con-cnīveō.
(6.) n before gn was dropped and the preceding vowel lengthened: as, ī-gnōscō, I forgive, for *in-gnōscō, cō-gnōscō, I know, for *con-gnōscō. In this manner (170, 5; 6) arises a form cō- by the side of con- (122, e): as, cō-nectō, cō-nubium, cō-ligātus (Gell. 2, 17, 8).
(7.) In the imperial age, ss after long vowels and diphthongs was regularly changed to s: as, clausī, I closed; ūsus, used (166, 2); but always ēsse, to eat (769); ll changed to l after diphthongs: as, caelum, chisel (166, 6); also when preceded by ī and followed by i: as, vīlla, country-place, but vīlicus (adject.); mille, thousand, but mīlia (642). Elsewhere ll was retained after long vowels: as, pūllus (166, 7), clean; rāllum, ploughshare, from rādō with suffix -lo- (209). In Cicero’s time (Quint. 1, 7, 20) the spelling was still caussa (155, b), matter; cāssus (930), fallen; divīssiō (cf. 912), division. Vergil also, according to Quintilian, retained the doubled consonants, and the best manuscripts of both Vergil and Plautus frequently show ll and ss for later l and s, as do inscriptions: as, PROMEISSERIT, he might have promised (49 B.C.); ACCVSSASSE, to have accused.
(8.) After a long vowel d was dropped before consonant u (v): as, svāvis, sweet, for *svādvis from svād- (cf. svādeō).
(9.) r before st was dropped: as, tostus, roasted (1004) for *torstus from the stem tors- (cf. torreo with assimilated -rs-, 166, 8).
(10.) -rts- changed to -rs: as, arsī, I burnt, for *artsī (1000). -rcsc- changed to -sc-: as, poscō, I demand, for *porcscō (834).
(11.) In ipse, self, for *is-pse, an s has disappeared before -ps-
(12.) (12.) d (t) disappears between r and c: as, cor-culum for cord(i)-culum (275).
171. Final Disappearance. (1.) A word never ends in a doubled consonant: as, es for *es-s, thou art, which Plautus and Terence still scan as a long syllable; and the following cases of assimilation: ter for *terr from *ters (cf. terr-uncius, a quarter of an ās, a farthing, 1272, for *ters-uncius, 166, 8); fār, spelt, for *farr, from *fars (489); fel, gall, for *fell, from *fels (482); in mīles, soldier, for *mīless from *mīlets (cf. Gen. mīlitis, 477) the final syllable is still long in Plautus. hoc, this, for *hocc from *hod-c(e)(the neuter *hod from the stem ho-, as istud, illud (107, c) from isto-, illo-) counts as a long syllable even in classical poetry.