Society for Pure English Tract 4 | Page 7

do verses, whether they could or not, there were always some who could read and yet forget.
Although these usages did not precede but followed the pronunciation of words already borrowed from Latin, we may use them to classify the changes of quantity. We shall see that although there are some exceptions for which it is difficult to give a reason, yet most of the exceptions fall under two classes. When words came to us through French, the pronunciation was often affected by the French form of the word. Thus the adjective 'present' would, if it had come direct from Latin, have had a long vowel in the first syllable. To an English ear 'pr[)e]sent' seemed nearer than 'pr[=e]sent' to the French 'présent'. The _N.E.D._ says that 'gladiator' comes straight from the Latin 'gladiatorem'. Surely in that case it would have had its first vowel long, as in 'radiator' and 'mediator'. In any case its pronunciation must have been affected by 'gladiateur'. The other class of exceptions consists of words deliberately introduced by writers at a late period. Thus 'adorable' began as a penman's word. Following 'inéxorable' and the like it should have been 'ádorable'. Actually it was formed by adding _-able_ to 'adóre', like 'laughable'. It is now too stiff in the joints to think of a change, and must continue to figure with the other sins of the Restoration.
Before dealing with the words as classified by their formation, we may make short lists of typical words to show that for the pronunciation of English derivatives it is idle to refer to the classical quantities.
From _[=?]_: [)e]difice, [)e]mulate, c[)e]rulean, qu[)e]stion.
From _[=oe]_: [)e]conomy, [)e]cumenical, conf[)e]derate.
From _[=a]_,: don[)a]tive, n[)a]tural, cl[)a]mour, [)a]verse.
From _[)a]_: [=a]lien, st[=a]tion, st[=a]ble, [=a]miable.
From _[=e]_: [)e]vident, Quadrag[)e]sima, pl[)e]nitude, s[)e]gregate.
From _[)e]_: s[=e]ries, s[=e]nile, g[=e]nus, g[=e]nius.
From _[=i]_: lasc[)i]vious, erad[)i]cate, d[)i]vidend, f[)i]lial, susp[)i]cion.
From _[)i]_: l[=i]bel, m[=i]tre, s[=i]lex.
From _[=o]_: [)o]rator, pr[)o]minent, pr[)o]montory, s[)o]litude.
From _[)o]_: b[=o]vine, l[=o]cal, f[=o]rum, coll[=o]quial.
From _[=u]_: fig[)u]rative, script[)u]ral, sol[)u]ble.
From _[)u]_: n[=u]merous, C[=u]pid, all[=u]vial, cer[=u]lean.
The _N.E.D._ prefers the spelling 'oecumenical'; but Newman wrote naturally 'ecumenical', and so does Dr. J.B. Bury. Dublin scholarship has in this matter been markedly correct.
_CLASSIFICATION OF WORDS ACCORDING TO THEIR LATIN STEMS._
In classification it seems simplest to take the words according to their Latin stems. We must, however, first deal with a class of adjectives borrowed bodily from the Latin nominative masculine with the insertion of a meaningless o before the final _-us_.[1] These of course follow the rules given above. In words of more than two syllables the antepenultimate and stressed vowel is shortened, as '[)e]mulous' from _?mulus_ and in 'fr[)i]volous' from _fr[=i]volus_, except where by the 'alias' rule it is long, as in 'egr[=e]gious' from _egr[)e]gius_. Words coined on this analogy also follow the rules. Thus 'glabrous' and 'fibrous' have the vowels long, as in the traditional pronunciation of glabrum and _fibrum_, where the vowels in classical Latin were short. The stressed u being always long we have 'lug[=u]brious' and 'sal[=u]brious', the length being independent of the 'alias' rule. Some words ending in _-ous_ are not of this class. Thus 'odorous' and 'clamorous' appear in Italian as odoroso and clamoroso. Milton has
Sonórous mettal blowing Martial sounds.
The Italian is _sonoro_, and our word was simply the Latin sonorus borrowed bodily at a somewhat late period. Hence the stress remains on the penultima. Skeat thought that the word would at last become 'sónorous'. It maybe hoped that Milton's line will save it from the effect of a false analogy.
[Footnote 1: I regard this statement as inaccurate. The _-ous_ in these words does not come from the nominative ending _-us_, but is the ordinary _-ous_ from L. _-osus_ (through Fr.). It was added to many Latin adjective stems, because the need of a distinctly adjectival ending was felt. Similarly in early French _-eux_ was appended to adjectives when they were felt to require a termination, as in pieux from _pi-us_. Compare the English _capacious_, _veracious_, _hilarious_, where _-ous_ is added to other stems than those in o. Other suffixes of Latin origin are used in the same way: e.g. _-al_ in _aerial_, ethereal.--H.B.]
In classifying by stems it will be well to add, where possible, words of Greek origin. Except in some late introductions Greek words, except when introduced bodily, have been treated as if they came through Latin, and some of the bodily introductions are in the same case. Thus 'an?sthetic' is spelt with the Latin diphthong and the Latin c. Even 'skeleton' had a c to start with, while the modern and wholly abominable 'kaleidoscope' is unprincipled on the face of it.
STEMS ENDING IN -ANT AND -ENT. These are participles or words formed as such. Our words have shed a syllable, thus regentem has become 'regent'. Disyllables follow the 'apex' rule and lengthen the first vowel, as 'agent', 'decent', 'potent'. Exceptions are 'clement' and 'present', perhaps under