([5.]) A dental mute before final s is dropped: as, hērēs, heir, for *hērēds ([475]); virtūs, virtue, for *virtūts ([477]); nox, night, for *nocts ([533]); a labial or guttural mute is retained: as, fornāx (x = cs), furnace, from the stem fornāc- ([531]); lēx, law, from the stem leg- ([472]); urbs, city, from the stem urb- ([480]); ops from the stem op-, help ([480]).
[DEVELOPMENT OF AN ANAPTYCTICAL VOWEL.]
[172]. Certain consonant groups, notably those containing a liquid, are sometimes eased by the insertion of a vowel which develops between the consonants. This is called Anaptyxis (Greek ἀναπτύσσειν, unfold). It is the opposite of syncope of vowels ([110], [111]).
([1.]) The suffix -clo- ([242]), changed to -culo-, being thus no longer distinguishable from the diminutive suffix -culo- ([267]): as, pōculum, cup, for pōclum (Plaut.); vehiculum, carriage, for vehiclum (Plaut.). But -clo- is more common in Plautus than -culo-, especially after long vowels. The suffixes -blo- ([245]), and -bli- ([294]) always show the anaptyctical vowel. Its colour depends on the nature of the l ([60]): as, stabulum, resting-place; stabilis, steady. The group -ngl- also changes to -ngul-: as, angulus ([164, 6]).
([2.]) In words borrowed from the Greek an unfamiliar sequence of consonants was so lightened; as, mina, mina, for *mna (μνᾶ); and in Old Latin drachuma (Plaut.) for later drachma, drachma (δραχμή); techina, trick, from Greek τέχνη; Tecumēssa for Tecmēssa (Τέκμησσα).
([3.]) Before syllabic ([83]) l and r a vowel is developed ([111, b]): as, íncertus, uncertain, for *íncr̥tus; fácultās, capability, for fácl̥tās. Likewise before syllabic n ([139]).
[173]. (1.) To avoid the repetition of the same liquid in successive syllables l is sometimes changed to r: as, caeruleus, sky-blue, for *caeluleus, from caelum; Parīlia, by the side of Palīlia, from Palēs; the suffix -clo- appears as -cro- after an l: as, lavācrum, bath, simulācrum, image ([241]); the suffix -āli- under like conditions changes to -āri-; as, molāre, of a mill ([313]), but augurāle, of an augur.
([2.]) In a few cases repetition is avoided by dropping the sound once: as, praestīgiae, jugglery, for praestrīgiae. This also applies to the spirant s followed by a consonant, a combination which is not tolerated in successive syllables: as in the reduplicated perfects stetī, for *stestī; spopondī, for *spospondī ([859]), where the second syllable, and in quisquiliae, sweepings, for *squisquiliae, where the first syllable was lightened.