12
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Was elision specific to verse in classical Latin?
First, though it is indicated by an apostrophe in modern texts, elision also occurs in ancient Greek poetry. The rules were different from Latin, though. I quote Smyth for them:
Elision is ...
cmw♦
- 40.9k
10
votes
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When can I perform an elision?
Elision of a vowel (or vowel + m) occurs when it's at the end of the word, and the next word starts with either a vowel or h + vowel.
At the discretion of the poet, the last vowel of a word can be ...
- 3,307
8
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Is it possible that elision is sometimes just attraction?
I think hardly anyone uses reconstructed Classical Latin pronunciation for plainchant, so I'm not sure you need the "even" in "even if only in ecclesiastical or medieval Latin".
It ...
- 21.7k
8
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Do Crashing Vowels Disqualify Words?
I need to contradict the notion of "elision requirement" postulated in one of the comments on the previous question. In written Latin there is no elision. You write quite simply "contra audacem", "mea ...
- 15.9k
6
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How were elided vowels pronounced by the Romans?
This is discussed in great detail in Allen’s classic Vox Latina ch. 4. His conclusion is (briefly) that a final short vowel followed by another vowel in the next word was elided (elisio), but a long ...
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5
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Is it possible that elision is sometimes just attraction?
The main modern source I can think of on this topic is Allen's Vox Latina chapter 4, which takes most of its evidence from Sturtevant's Elision and Hiatus in Latin Prose and Verse, so that's what this ...
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5
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What is the behaviour of liaisons and elisions over a caesura?
Let me discuss your second example first. If I understand it correctly, your question is: “OK, caesura can only happen at the end of a word, but is it admissible that it happens one syllable earlier, ...
- 2,914
5
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Did poets elide across consonants?
The literature that I've viewed so far suggests that in Plautine Latin, forms like domust for domus est could be found, but not forms like dom'et for domus et.
Terence and the Verb 'To Be' in Latin, ...
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4
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Were the rules for elision in old Latin more lenient than in classical Latin?
Elision in Latin is a complicated topic and I only know basic information about it.
I think it is normal in any period to elide final -ae, as in meae, before a following vowel.
András Cser ("...
- 21.7k
3
votes
Which words never elide?
It appears this phenomenon is not unique to the O interjection. The The Elements of Latin Grammar, etc p.175 notes:
Ah, O, hei, heu, pro, si, vae, vah, and also most other monosyllables are seldom ...
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3
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Why is elision more common than synizesis?
I haven't read any linguist's comments on this matter, so my post is just a collection of guesses.
Perhaps for grammatical reasons
Elision frequently deletes vowels that are part of grammatical ...
- 21.7k
3
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Omission of elision in Aeneis I.405?
It's a hiatus because it's located at the principle caesura:
et vera | inces|su patu|it dea. || Ille ubi | matrem
In fact, Lodge specifically references this line in the section on hiatus, as I'm ...
cmw♦
- 40.9k
3
votes
When did elision fall out of use?
(Partial answer).
It seems to have been a long process, but apparently there was was a trend towards using less elision that started before the end of Classical Latin.
The article Elision and Hiatus ...
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2
votes
Why is "atque" preferred over "ac" before a vowel?
The shorter ac is not the same thing as atque with elision.
The former is a short (light) syllable, the latter a long (heavy) one.
Latin seems to want to preserve syllable length in sound changes, so ...
- 104k
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