The Cambridge (Eng.) Philological Society, however, takes the view that “final vowels (or diphthongs) when followed by vowels (or diphthongs) were not cut off, but lightly run on to the following word, as in Italian. But if the vowel was the same the effect was that of a single sound.”
Professor Munro says:
“In respect of elision I would only say that, by comparing Plautus with Ovid, we may see how much the elaborate cultivation of the language had tended to a more distinct sounding of final syllables; and that but for Virgil’s powerful influence the elision of long vowels would have almost ceased. Clearly we must not altogether pass over the elided vowel or syllable in m, except perhaps in the case of ĕ in common words, que, neque, and the like.”
This view, held by the Cambridge Philological Society and by Professor Munro, is the one generally accepted; the practice recommended by them is the one generally in use, and that which seems safe and suitable to follow. That is: Do not altogether pass over the elided vowel or syllable in m, except in cases of very close connection, in compound words or phrases, or when the final and initial vowel are the same, or in the case of ĕ final in common words, as que, neque, and the like; but let the final vowel run lightly on to the following vowel as in Italian, and touch lightly and obscurely the final syllable in m. The o or e of proin, proinde, prout, dein, deinde, neuter, neutiquam, when not forming a distinct syllable, are to be treated as cases of elision between two words.
[ Quantity.]
In the pronunciation of Latin the observance of quantity and of pitch are the two most difficult points of attainment; and they are the crucial test of good reading.
The observance of quantity is no less important in prose than in verse. A little reflection will convince the dullest mind that the Romans did not pronounce a word one way in prose and another in verse; that we have not in poetry and prose two languages. Cicero and Quintilian both enjoin a due admixture of long and short syllables in prose as well as verse; and any one who takes delight in reading Latin will heartily agree with Professor Munro when he says: “For myself, by observing quantity, I seem to feel more keenly the beauty of Cicero’s style and Livy’s, as well as Virgil’s and Horace’s.”
Therefore until one feels at home with the quantities, let him observe the rule of beating time in reading, to make sure that the long syllables get twice the time of the short ones. In this way he will soon have the pronunciation of each word correctly fixed in mind, and will not be obliged to think of his quantities in verse more than in prose. A long step has been taken in the enjoyment of Latin poetry when the reader does not have to be thinking of the ‘feet.’
Young students particularly should be especially careful in the final syllable of the verse. Since, so far as the measure is concerned, there is no difference there between the long and the short syllable, the reader is apt to be careless as to the length of the syllable itself, and to make all final syllables long, even to the mispronouncing of the word, thereby both making a false quantity and otherwise injuring the effect of the verse, by importing into it a monotony foreign to the original. Does not Cicero himself say that a short syllable at the end of the verse is as if you ‘stood’ (came to a stand), but a long one as if you ‘sat down’?
It is, in fact, in the pronouncing of final syllables everywhere that the most serious and persistent faults are found, būs for bŭs being one of the worst and most common cases. How much of the teacher’s time might be spared, for better things, if he did not have to correct būs into bŭs!