Syllable weight
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In linguistics,
syllable weight is the concept that syllables pattern
together according to the number and/or duration of segments
in the rime.
In classical
poetry, both Greek
and Latin,
distinctions of syllable weight were fundamental to the
meter
of the line.
Syllable weight in linguistics
A heavy syllable is a syllable
with a branching nucleus
or a branching rime.[1]
A branching nucleus generally means the syllable has a long
vowel
or a diphthong;
this type of syllable is abbreviated CVV. A syllable with
a branching rime is a closed syllable, that is, one
with a coda
(one or more consonants at the end of the syllable); this
type of syllable is abbreviated CVC. In some languages,
both CVV and CVC syllables are heavy, while a syllable with
a short vowel as the nucleus and no coda (a CV syllable)
is a light syllable. In other languages, only CVV
syllables are heavy, while CVC and CV syllables are light.
Some languages distinguish a third type, CVVC syllables
(with both a branching nucleus and a coda) and/or CVCC syllables
(with a coda consisting of two or more consonants) as superheavy
syllables.
In moraic
theory, heavy syllables are analyzed as containing two
moras, light syllables one, and superheavy syllables three.
The distinction between heavy and light syllables plays
an important role in the phonology
of some languages, especially with regards to the assignment
of stress.
Syllable weight in classical poetry
Basic definitions
In Ancient
Greek poetry and Latin
poetry, lines followed certain metrical
patterns, based on arrangements of heavy and light syllables.
A heavy syllable was referred to as a longum and
a light as a brevis (and in the modern day, reflecting
the ancient terms, a longum is often called a "long syllable"
and a brevis a "short syllable," potentially creating confusion
between syllable length and vowel
length).
A syllable was considered heavy if it contained a long
vowel or a diphthong (and was therefore "long by nature"
— it would be long no matter what) or if it contained a
short vowel that was followed by more than one consonant
("long by position," long by virtue of its relationship
to the consonants following).
An example:
- Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
- Italiam fato profugus Laviniaque venit
- (Aeneid 1.1-2)
The first syllable of the first word ("arma") is heavy
("long by position"), because it contains a short vowel
(the A) followed by more than one consonant (R and then
M) — and if not for the consonants coming after it, it would
be light. The second syllable is light, because it contains
a short vowel (an A) followed immediately by only one consonant
(the V). The next syllable is light for the same reason.
The next syllable, the second syllable of the word "virumque,"
is heavy ("long by position"), because it contains a short
vowel followed by more than one consonant (the M and then
the Q).
But, for example, the first syllable of the word "Troiae"
is heavy ("long by nature") because it contains a diphthong,
regardless of the sounds coming after it. Likewise, the
first syllable of the second line (the first of the word
"Italiam") is heavy ("long by nature") because it contains
a long vowel, and it will be heavy no matter what sounds
come after.
Terming a syllable "long by position" is equivalent to
noting that the syllable ends with a consonant (a closed
syllable), because Latin and Greek speakers in the classical
era only pronounced a consonant as part of a preceding syllable
when it was followed by other consonants, due to the rules
of Greek and Latin syllabification.
In a consonant cluster, one consonant ends the preceding
syllable and the rest start the following syllable. For
example, Latin syllabifies volat as vo-lat
but dignus as dig-nus and monstrum
as mon-strum.
Exceptions and additions
A few exceptions to and elaborations of the above rules
of heavy and light syllables:
- The Greek letters ζ,
ξ, ψ (zeta,
xi,
and psi)
and their Roman equivalents Z and X (and PS) were pronounced
as two consonants, so they lengthen by position despite
being represented by a single character. For example,
the first syllable of gaza is heavy, despite the
short vowel followed only by one written consonant, because
the Z was pronounced as two consonants and lengthens the
syllable by position.
- The combination plosive-liquid
(usually) or plosive-nasal
(sometimes) cohered in both Latin and Greek; that is,
the two consonants were pronounced together with the speed
of one consonant. As a result, they did not lengthen by
position if the poet did not want them to (although they
could if the poet chose). For example, the first syllable
of patris is generally light, even though it has
a short vowel followed by two consonants, because the
consonants cohere (and the word is syllabified pa-tris).
However, the combination aspirate-nasal
or voiced
consonant-nasal did not cohere and always lengthened
by position.
- In Homer
and his imitators, the digamma,
a sound defunct in the standard Ionic
alphabet and lost from pronunciation by the classical
period, was still felt enough to lengthen by position,
even though it is normally not written in the Homeric
poems. For example, in the line ἦ
τοι μὲν τόδε
καλὸν ἀκουέμεν
ἐστὶν ἀοιδοῦ
(Odyssey, 9.3), the first syllable of καλὸν
is long, even though it has a short vowel followed by
only one consonant, because the word was originally καλϝὸν,
and the digamma was still felt enough to lengthen the
syllable by position. Since the digamma was being lost
during the time when the Homeric poems were composed,
recited, and written down, its effects are sometimes not
felt, so that words that would have contained a digamma
sometimes do not show its effects.
As noted above, the number and order of heavy and light
syllables in a line of poetry (together with word
breaks) articulated the meter
of the line, such as the most famous classical meter, the
epic dactylic
hexameter.
See also
References
- Charles E. Bennett. New Latin Grammar. Bolchazy-Carducci:
Wauconda, IL, 2004.
- Vergil. The Aeneid. Edited by R. Deryck Williams.
Bristol Classical Press: London, 2004.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllable_length
Published - December 2008
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