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]).