CHAPTER XIV THE LETTERS: THEIR CLASSIFICATION, QUALITIES, AND MODE OF PRODUCTION
There are in human and articulate speech a number of first-beginnings
2 χρωμένους EFMV: χρ(ω)μεν(ος) P 4 ὀλίγον F: sed cf. 154 7 7 εἶναι· εἶἑν sic P, FM: εἶεν V 8 με καὶ F: ἢ PMV 9 μὰ PMV: νὴ F 10 οὐδ’] οὐκ PV || ἡ F: om. PMV 13 οὕτω καὶ PMV: οὕτω F 14 ἑτέρα PMV: ἄρα F || σεμνός τις F: σεμνὸς PMV 15 ἔχει P: ἔχει (ἔχειν V) τινὰ FMV 16 πινόν (θ suprascripto) P: πιθανόν V: τὸ πῖνον M: πόνον F 18 δεῖν] δὴ F 20 ὀνόματα PE: ὀνόματα ταῦτα FMV 22 φωνῆς καὶ ἐνάρθρου REF: καὶ ἐνάρθρου φωνῆς αἱ PMVs
6. ὑπέρ = περί: l. 21 infra, 96 2, etc. Reiske’s ἀπό is attractive; but does ὀλίγα really = ὀλίγα θεωρήματα?
8. εἶἑν = “So!” The breathing on the last syllable (as given by the best manuscripts, here and in other authors) helps to distinguish this word from the third pers. plur. optat. of εἰμί.
9. In a negative sentence, μὰ Δία is to be preferred to νὴ Δία.
13. λέξις: μέλος (cp. l. 11 supra) is here in question. Hence Usener suggests μέλισις. Perhaps λέξις (‘the words,’ ‘the libretto’) is here felt to include the music,—‘a passage set to music’: cp. 124 22 καὶ γὰρ ἐν ταύτῃ καὶ μέλος ἔχουσιν αἱ λέξεις (‘the words’) καὶ ῥυθμὸν καὶ μεταβολὴν καὶ πρέπον, and contrast 126 20-1.
16. πίνον, ‘mellowness,’ ‘ripeness’ (see Gloss.). The readings of FPMV seem all to point in this direction. πόνον (F’s reading) might possibly mean either ‘involve trouble’ (to the author) or ‘suggest painstaking’ (to the reader). Usener conjectures τόνον.
22. Chapter xiv., which in some respects is the most interesting in the treatise, might easily be ridiculed by one of those scoffers whom Dionysius elsewhere ( 252 17) mentions with aversion. In Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (ii. 4) there is much that could serve for a parody of the C. V.—the Maître de Philosophie with his “Sans la science, la vie est presque une image de la mort” (nam sine doctrina vita est quasi mortis imago), his “tout ce qui n’est point prose est vers; et tout ce qui n’est point vers est prose,” and (particularly) his remarks on l’orthographie: “Pour bien suivre votre pensée et traiter cette matière en philosophe, il faut commencer selon l’ordre des choses, par une exacte connaissance de la nature des lettres, et de la différente manière de les prononcer toutes. Et là-dessus j’ai à vous dire que les lettres sont divisées en voyelles, ainsi dites voyelles parce qu’elles expriment les voix; et en consonnes, ainsi appelées consonnes parce qu’elles sonnent avec les voyelles, et ne font que marquer les diverses articulations des voix.” These remarks include descriptions (many of which are taken almost verbatim from De Cordemoy’s Discours physique de la parole, published in 1668) of the mode in which various letters are formed, and (incidentally) M. Jourdain’s exclamation, “A, E, I, I, I, I. Cela est vrai. Vive la science!”
μηκέτι δεχόμεναι διαίρεσιν, ἃ καλοῦμεν στοιχεῖα καὶ γράμματα·
γράμματα μὲν ὅτι γραμμαῖς τισι σημαίνεται, στοιχεῖα δὲ ὅτι
πᾶσα φωνὴ τὴν γένεσιν ἐκ τούτων λαμβάνει πρώτων καὶ τὴν
διάλυσιν εἰς ταῦτα ποιεῖται τελευταῖα. τῶν δὴ στοιχείων τε
καὶ γραμμάτων οὐ μία πάντων φύσις, διαφορὰ δὲ αὐτῶν 5
πρώτη μέν, ὡς Ἀριστόξενος ὁ μουσικὸς ἀποφαίνεται, καθ’ ἣν
τὰ μὲν φωνὰς ἀποτελεῖ, τὰ δὲ ψόφους· φωνὰς μὲν τὰ
λεγόμενα φωνήεντα, ψόφους δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ πάντα. δευτέρα δὲ
καθ’ ἣν τῶν μὴ φωνηέντων ἃ μὲν καθ’ ἑαυτὰ ψόφους ὁποίους
δή τινας ἀποτελεῖν πέφυκε, ῥοῖζον ἢ σιγμὸν ἢ μυγμὸν ἢ 10
τοιούτων τινῶν ἄλλων ἤχων δηλωτικούς· ἃ δ’ ἐστὶν ἁπάσης
ἄμοιρα φωνῆς καὶ ψόφου καὶ οὐχ οἷά τε ἠχεῖσθαι καθ’ ἑαυτά·
διὸ δὴ ταῦτα μὲν ἄφωνα τινὲς ἐκάλεσαν, θάτερα δὲ ἡμίφωνα.
οἱ δὲ τριχῇ νείμαντες τὰς πρώτας τε καὶ στοιχειώδεις τῆς
φωνῆς δυνάμεις φωνήεντα μὲν ἐκάλεσαν, ὅσα καὶ καθ’ ἑαυτὰ 15
[139]
admitting no further division which we call elements and letters: “letters” (γράμματα) because they are denoted by certain lines (γραμμαί), and “elements” (στοιχεῖα) because every sound made by the voice originates in these, and is ultimately resolvable into them. The elements and letters are not all of the same nature. Of the differences between them, the first is, as Aristoxenus the musician makes clear, that some represent vocal sounds, while others represent noises: the former being represented by the so-called “vowels,” the latter by all the other letters. A second difference is that some of the non-vowels by their nature give rise to some noise or other,—a whizzing, a hissing, a murmur, or suggestions of some such sounds, whereas others are devoid of all voice or noise and cannot be sounded by themselves. Hence some writers have called the latter “voiceless” (“mutes”), the others “semi-voiced” (“semi-vowels”). Those writers who make a threefold division of the first or elemental powers of the voice give the name of voiced (vowels) to all letters which can be uttered, either by themselves or
1 ἃ R: ἃς libri 3 πρώτων F: πρτω P: πρῶτον RMVs 4 τελευταῖα P: τελευταῖον R: τελευταῖαν FVs: τελευταίαν M 9 μὴ φωνηέντων REFM: μὲν φωνηέντων PRb: φωνηέντων Vs 10 σιγμὸν REF: συριγμὸν PMVs || μυγμὸν RE: μιγμὸν F: ποππυσμὸν P: ἀποπτυσμὸν Vs: ποππυσμὸν ἢ μυγμὸν M 11 δηλωτικούς RF: δηλωτικά EPMVs 13 διὸ δὴ REF: om. PMVs || θάτερα] καθάπερ F 14 τῆς φωνῆς RFM: φωνῆς PVs
1. The following note, given in Usener-Radermacher ii. 1, p. 48, is important for its bearing on the text of the C. V.: “Scholiasta Hermogenis Περὶ ἰδεῶν I 6 in Walzii rhet. gr. VII. p. 964, 23 (correctus ex codd. Paris. 1983 = Ra et 2977 = Rb) ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν στοιχείων ἄριστα παραδίδωσιν ὁ Διονύσιος ἐν τῷ περὶ συνθήκης ὀνομάτων συγγράμματι· λέγει γὰρ τί συμβέβηκεν ἑκάστῳ τῶν στοιχείων καὶ ποίαν μὲν δύναμιν ἔχει τὰ φωνήεντα, ποίαν δὲ τὰ σύμφωνα καὶ πάλιν αὖ τὰ ἡμίφωνα· πλὴν ἵνα τι καὶ θαυμάσωμεν τὸν ἄνδρα τῆς δεξιότητος, αὐτὴν παραθώμεθα τὴν λέξιν· Ἀρχαὶ μὲν ... εἶναι ἐκεῖνα (p. 969. 18 W.). καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ὁ Διονύσιος· οἷς προσέχων οὐκ ἂν διαμάρτοις τοῦ προσήκοντος. εἰ γὰρ σεμνὸν ποιεῖν ἐθέλεις (sic b: ἐθέλοις a Walzius) τὸν λόγον, ἐκλεξάμενος τὰ μακρὰ καὶ ὅσα τεταμένον (τεταγμένον W) λαμβάνει καὶ διηνεκῆ τὸν αὐλὸν τοῦ πνεύματος λάμβανε· φεῦγε δὲ τὰ βραχέως ἐξ ἀποκοπῆς τε λεγόμενα καὶ μιᾷ πληγῇ πνεύματος καὶ τῆς ἀρτηρίας ἐπὶ βραχὺ κινηθείσης ἐκφερόμενα· τὰ γὰρ μακρὰ τῶν φωνηέντων τῷ σεμνῷ μᾶλλον ἁρμόττει ἅτε (εἴ τε b) μηκυνόμενα κατὰ τὴν ἐκφορὰν καὶ πολὺν ἠχοῦντα χρόνον· ἀνοίκεια (Walzius: ἀνοίκειον a b) δὲ τὰ βραχέως λεγόμενα καὶ σπαδονίζοντα (σπαδωνίζοντα b σπανίζοντα Walzius) τὸν ἦχον. ἀλλ’ οὐχ ἁπλῶς οὐδὲ (οὔτε libri) τὰ μακρὰ δεῖ λαμβάνειν, ἀλλὰ τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἐκφορὰν διογκοῦντα τὸ στόμα καὶ ὅσα λέγεται τοῦ στόματος ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἀνοιγομένου καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος ἄνω φερομένου (ἀναφερομένου b) πρὸς τὸν οὐρανόν, ἢ ὅσα περιστέλλει τὰ χείλη καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα ποιεῖ περὶ τὸ ἀκροστόμιον. ὥστε δεῖ μάλιστα χρῆσθαι ταῖς λέξεσιν ὅσαι πλεονάζουσι τῷ τε ᾱ καὶ τῷ ω̄.”
2. Dionysius Thrax Ars Gramm. § 6 (Uhlig p. 9) γράμματα δὲ λέγεται διὰ τὸ γραμμαῖς καὶ ξυσμαῖς τυποῦσθαι· γράψαι γὰρ τὸ ξῦσαι παρὰ τοῖς παλαιοῖς.
3. With this passage generally cp. Aristot. Poet. c. 20 στοιχεῖον μὲν οὖν ἐστιν φωνὴ ἀδιαίρετος, οὐ πᾶσα δὲ ἀλλ’ ἐξ ἧς πέφυκε συνετὴ γίγνεσθαι φωνή· καὶ γὰρ τῶν θηρίων εἰσὶν ἀδιαίρετοι φωναί, ὧν οὐδεμίαν λέγω στοιχεῖον· ταύτης δὲ μέρη τό τε φωνῆεν καὶ τὸ ἡμίφωνον καὶ ἄφωνον. ἔστιν δὲ φωνῆεν μὲν ‹τὸ› ἄνευ προσβολῆς ἔχον φωνὴν ἀκουστήν, οἷον τὸ Σ καὶ τὸ Ρ, ἄφωνον δὲ τὸ μετὰ προσβολῆς καθ’ αὑτὸ μὲν οὐδεμίαν ἔχον φωνήν, μετὰ δὲ τῶν ἐχόντων τινὰ φωνὴν γιγνόμενον ἀκουστόν, οἷον τὸ Γ καὶ τὸ Δ. ταῦτα δὲ διαφέρει σχήμασίν τε τοῦ στόματος καὶ τόποις καὶ δασύτητι καὶ ψιλότητι καὶ μήκει καὶ βραχύτητι, ἔτι δὲ ὀξύτητι καὶ βαρύτητι καὶ τῷ μέσῳ· περὶ ὧν καθ’ ἕκαστον ἐν τοῖς μετρικοῖς προσήκει θεωρεῖν.
6. Aristoxenus, of Tarentum, the great musical theorist of Greece, lived during the times of Alexander the Great. Dionysius refers to him also in de Demosth. c. 48.
9. Cp. Sext. Empir. adv. Math. i. 102 καὶ ἡμίφωνα μὲν ὅσα δι’ αὑτῶν ῥοῖζον ἢ σιγμὸν ἢ μυγμὸν ἤ τινα παραπλήσιον ἦχον κατὰ τὴν ἐκφώνησιν ἀποτελεῖν πεφυκότα, κτλ.
10. ποππυσμόν, the reading of P, might mean ‘a popping sound.’
13. The division into vowels, consonants, and mutes appears in Plato Cratyl. 424 C ἆρ’ οὖν καὶ ἡμᾶς οὕτω δεῖ πρῶτον μὲν τὰ φωνήεντα (‘vowels’) διελέσθαι, ἔπειτα τῶν ἑτέρων κατὰ εἴδη τά τε ἄφωνα (‘consonants’) καὶ ἄφθογγα (‘mutes’); ἄφωνα seems in this passage to mean ‘consonants’; in later times σύμφωνα was often so used. In the Philebus 18 D the originator of an ‘art of grammar’ is attributed to the Egyptian
Theuth.
φωνεῖται καὶ μεθ’ ἑτέρων καὶ ἔστιν αὐτοτελῆ· ἡμίφωνα δ’ ὅσα
μετὰ μὲν φωνηέντων αὐτὰ ἑαυτῶν κρεῖττον ἐκφέρεται, καθ’
ἑαυτὰ δὲ χεῖρον καὶ οὐκ αὐτοτελῶς· ἄφωνα δ’ ὅσα οὔτε τὰς
τελείας οὔτε τὰς ἡμιτελεῖς φωνὰς ἔχει καθ’ ἑαυτά, μεθ’
ἑτέρων δ’ ἐκφωνεῖται. 5
ἀριθμὸς δὲ αὐτῶν ὅστις ἐστίν, οὐ ῥᾴδιον εἰπεῖν ἀκριβῶς,
ἐπεὶ πολλὴν παρέσχε καὶ τοῖς πρὸ ἡμῶν ἀπορίαν τὸ πρᾶγμα·
οἱ μὲν γὰρ ᾠήθησαν εἶναι τριακαίδεκα τὰ πάντα τῆς φωνῆς
στοιχεῖα, κατεσκευάσθαι δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ ἐκ τούτων· οἱ δὲ καὶ
τῶν εἰκοσιτεσσάρων οἷς χρώμεθα νῦν πλείω. ἡ μὲν οὖν ὑπὲρ 10
τούτων θεωρία γραμματικῆς τε καὶ μετρικῆς, εἰ δὲ βούλεταί
τις, καὶ φιλοσοφίας οἰκειοτέρα· ἡμῖν δὲ ἀπόχρη μήτ’ ἐλάττους
τῶν κ̅δ̅ μήτε πλείους ὑποθεμένοις εἶναι τὰς τῆς φωνῆς ἀρχὰς
τὰ συμβεβηκότα αὐτοῖς λέγειν, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τῶν φωνηέντων
ποιησαμένοις. 15
ἔστι δὴ ταῦτα τὸν ἀριθμὸν ζ̄, δύο μὲν βραχέα τό τε ε̄
καὶ τὸ ο̄, δύο δὲ μακρὰ τό τε η̄ καὶ τὸ ω̄, τρία δὲ δίχρονα
τό τε ᾱ καὶ τὸ ῑ καὶ τὸ ῡ, καὶ γὰρ ἐκτείνεται ταῦτα καὶ
συστέλλεται· καὶ αὐτὰ οἱ μὲν δίχρονα, ὥσπερ ἔφην, οἱ δὲ
μεταπτωτικὰ καλοῦσιν. φωνεῖται δὲ ταῦτα πάντα παρὰ τῆς 20
ἀρτηρίας συνηχούσης τῷ πνεύματι καὶ τοῦ στόματος ἁπλῶς
σχηματισθέντος τῆς τε γλώττης οὐδὲν πραγματευομένης ἀλλ’
[141]
together with others, and are self-sufficing; semi-vowels to all which are pronounced better in combination with vowels, worse and imperfectly when taken singly; mutes to all which by themselves admit of neither perfect nor half-perfect utterance, but are pronounced only in combination with others.
It is not easy to say exactly what the number of these elements is, and our predecessors also have felt much doubt upon the question. Some have held that there are only thirteen elements of speech all told, and that the rest are but combinations of these; others that there are more than even the twenty-four which we now recognize. The discussion of this point belongs more properly to grammar and prosody, or even, perhaps, to philosophy. It is enough for us to assume the elements of speech to be neither more nor less than twenty-four, and to specify the properties of each, beginning with the vowels.
These are seven in number: two short, viz. ε and ο; two long, viz. η and ω; and three common, viz. α, ι and υ. These last can be either long or short, and some call them “common,” as I have just done, others “variable.” All these sounds are produced from the windpipe, which resounds to the breath, while the mouth assumes a simple shape; the tongue takes no part
2 αὐτὰ ἑαυτῶν REF: om. PMVs 4 ἡμιτελεῖς REF: ἡμιτελείας PMVs 5 δὲ ἐκφωνεῖται REFMVs: δὲ καὶ φωνεῖται P 6 ἀριθμὸς RFM: ὁ ἀριθμὸς PVs 11 εἰ δὲ RF: εἰ PMVs 14 τὰ RF: καὶ τὰ PMVs || αὐτοῖς RF: αὐτὴι P, MVs 16 μὲν βραχέα τότε (τὸ R) έ καὶ τὸ ό, δύο δὲ μακρὰ F, ER: μὲν μακρὰ PMVs 18 καὶ γὰρ ἐκτείνεται ταῦτα RFE: ἃ καὶ ἐκτείνεται PMVs 19 καὶ αὐτὰ RF: ἃ PMVs || μὲν] μὲν ἤδη R 20 φωνεῖται RF: ἐκφωνεῖται EPMVs || παρὰ τῆς EF: ἀπὸ τῆς M: τῆς RPVs 21 συνηχούσης R: συνεχούσης libri || τῶι πνεύματι R: τὸ π̅ν̅ι̅ F: τὸ πνεῦμα EPMVs || στόματος] σώματος R
5. “On referring to the treatise of Aristotle περὶ ἀκουστῶν, the notion which underlies all Greek phonetics will be seen to be as follows. Breath is expelled by the lungs through the windpipe into the mouth, whence it passes out. The chief differences of speech-sounds are effected by ‘the strokes of the air’ (αἱ τοῦ ἀέρος πληγαί) and the configurations of the mouth (οἱ τοῦ στόματος σχηματισμοί). On the state of the lungs, their hardness, dryness, thickness, or softness, moistness, freedom, much stress is laid; and also on the amount and strength of the ‘stroke,’ which drives out the air forcibly (ἐκθλίβῃ τὸν ἀέρα βιαίως). Much is said of a long and short windpipe. ‘All that have long necks speak forcibly, as geese, cranes, and cocks. When the windpipe is short, the breath necessarily falls out quickly, and the stroke of the air becomes stronger, and all such persons must speak sharper (ὀξύτερον) because of the rapidity with which the breath is borne on.’ But there is not the least reference to the larynx or vocal chords, to the real organ by which voice proper is formed. No doubt Dionysius was not wiser than Aristotle in these matters. This must be well borne in mind for the full appreciation of what follows,” A. J. E. [But for λάρυγξ cp. the note on l. 21 infra.]
14. αὐτοῖς: στοιχεῖα (cp. ll. 9 and 10), rather than αἱ τῆς φωνῆς ἀρχαί, seems to determine the grammar here. The reference of αὐτά, αὐτό, τοῦτο, etc., is often very general; e.g. Aristoph. Ran. 1025 ἀλλ’ ὑμῖν αὔτ’ [sc. τὰ πολεμικά, to be supplied from τὸν πόλεμον in the previous line] ἐξῆν ἀσκεῖν, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦτ’ [sc. τὸ ἀσκεῖν] ἐτράπεσθε, and 1464 εὖ, πλήν γ’ ὁ δικαστὴς αὐτὰ [sc. τὰ χρήματα, implied in πόρος] καταπίνει μόνος; Thucyd. vii. 55 2 τὰ πρὸ αὐτῶν (‘before the late events’). Cp. also note on 198 18 infra.
Dionysius makes no specific reference, here or elsewhere in his treatise, to the diphthongs. The probable inference is that he regarded them as true diphthongs, formed from the simple vowels whose pronunciation is separately described by him.
16. See Introduction, p. 46 supra, as to Sir Thomas Smith on this passage.—It is interesting also to notice the praise which Smith, in the same treatise on Greek pronunciation (Havercamp ii. p. 537), lavishes on Dionysius’ description of various vowels: “Quis Apelles aut Parrhasius faciem hominis penicillo vel coloribus exprimere potuit felicius, differentiamque constituere inter diversos vultus, quam hic verbis vocalium naturam distinxit ac separavit?”
21. With συνεχούσης τὸ πνεῦμα the meaning would be ‘while the windpipe constricts the breath.’ But the reading given by R represents the facts with a fair degree of accuracy, and it may be compared with Aristot. Hist. An. ix. 4 τὰ μὲν οὖν φωνήεντα ἡ φωνὴ καὶ ὁ λάρυγξ ἀφίησιν, τὰ δ’ ἄφωνα ἡ γλῶττα καὶ τὰ χείλη.
ἁπλῶς σχηματισθέντος: “meaning perhaps that the mouth is not continually varied in shape,” A. J. E.
22. οὐδὲν πραγματευομένης: “that is, it does not move about, though it directs the breath,” A. J. E.
ἀλλ’ ἠρεμούσης: “meaning that it does not vibrate as for λ and ρ,” A. J. E.
ἠρεμούσης. πλὴν τὰ μὲν μακρὰ καὶ τῶν διχρόνων ἃ μακρῶς
λέγεται τεταμένον λαμβάνει καὶ διηνεκῆ τὸν αὐλὸν τοῦ πνεύματος,
τὰ δὲ βραχέα ἢ βραχέως λεγόμενα ἐξ ἀποκοπῆς τε καὶ
μιᾷ πληγῇ πνεύματος καὶ τῆς ἀρτηρίας ἐπὶ βραχὺ κινηθείσης
ἐκφέρεται. τούτων δὴ κράτιστα μέν ἐστι καὶ φωνὴν ἡδίστην 5
ἀποτελεῖ τά τε μακρὰ καὶ τῶν διχρόνων ὅσα μηκύνεται κατὰ
τὴν ἐκφοράν, ὅτι πολὺν ἠχεῖται χρόνον καὶ τὸν τοῦ πνεύματος
οὐκ ἀποκόπτει τόνον· χείρω δὲ τὰ βραχέα ἢ βραχέως λεγόμενα,
ὅτι μικρόφωνά τ’ ἐστὶ καὶ σπαδονίζει τὸν ἦχον. αὐτῶν
δὲ τῶν μακρῶν πάλιν εὐφωνότατον μὲν τὸ ᾱ, ὅταν ἐκτείνηται· 10
λέγεται γὰρ ἀνοιγομένου τε τοῦ στόματος ἐπὶ πλεῖστον καὶ
τοῦ πνεύματος ἄνω φερομένου πρὸς τὸν οὐρανόν. δεύτερον δὲ
τὸ η̄, διότι κάτω τε περὶ τὴν βάσιν τῆς γλώττης ἐρείδει τὸν
ἦχον ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἄνω, καὶ μετρίως ἀνοιγομένου τοῦ στόματος.
τρίτον δὲ τὸ ω̄· στρογγυλίζεται γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ τὸ στόμα καὶ 15
περιστέλλεται τὰ χείλη τήν τε πληγὴν τὸ πνεῦμα περὶ τὸ
ἀκροστόμιον ποιεῖται. ἔτι δ’ ἧττον τούτου τὸ ῡ· περὶ γὰρ
αὐτὰ τὰ χείλη συστολῆς γινομένης ἀξιολόγου πνίγεται καὶ
στενὸς ἐκπίπτει ὁ ἦχος. ἔσχατον δὲ πάντων τὸ ῑ· περὶ τοὺς
[143]
in the process but remains at rest. But the long vowels, and those common vowels that are pronounced long, have an extended and continuous passage of breath, while those that are short or pronounced as short are uttered abruptly, with one burst of breath, the movement of the windpipe being but brief. Of these the strongest, which also produce the most pleasing sound, are the long ones and those common ones which are lengthened in utterance, the reason being that they are sounded for a long time, and do not cut short the tension of the breath. The short ones, or those pronounced short, are inferior, because they lack sonorousness and curtail the sound. Again, of the long vowels themselves the most euphonious is α, when prolonged; for it is pronounced with the mouth open to the fullest extent, and with the breath forced upwards to the palate. η holds the second place, inasmuch as it drives the sound down against the base of the tongue and not upwards, and the mouth is fairly open. Third comes ω: in pronouncing this the mouth is rounded, the lips are contracted, and the impact of the breath is on the edge of the mouth. Still inferior to this is υ; for, through a marked contraction taking place right round the lips, the sound is strangled and comes out thin. Last of
7 ἠχεῖ R (ut videtur) 8 οὐκ ἀποκόπτει τόνον RF: οὐκ ἀποκόπτει χρόνον E: οὐ κατακόπτει τὸν τόνον PMVs 9 σπαδονίζει PMVs: σπανίζει R (sed vid. n. 138 1) EF 10 πάλιν REF: om. PMs 12 ἄνω φερομένου RaPMVs: ἀναφερομένου RbEF 13 διότι REF: ὅτι PMVs || κάτω τε F: τε κάτω R: κάτω EPMVs 14 ἀλλ’ οὐκ REF: ἀκόλουθον ἀλλ’ οὐκ PMVs || τοῦ στόματος REFM: om. PVs 16 περιστέλλεται REF: περιστέλλει PMVs 17 ἔτι RF: ἔστι EPMVs 18 γινομένης REF: γενομένης PMVs
5. With regard to the euphoniousness of the Egyptian vowels there is an interesting passage in Demetr. de Eloc. § 71: “In Egypt the priests, when singing hymns in praise of the gods, employ the seven vowels, which they utter in due succession; and the sound of these letters is so euphonious that men listen to it in preference to flute and lyre.”
9. σπαδονίζει: see Gloss., s.v.
10. For the effect of the a sound in Latin cp. Cic. Tusc. Disp. ii. 9. 22 “haec dextra Lernam taetram, mactata excetra, | placavit: haec bicorporem afflixit manum: | Erymanthiam haec vastificam abiecit beluam: | haec e Tartarea tenebrica abstractum plaga | tricipitem eduxit Hydra generatum canem” (a translation of Soph. Trach. 1094-99).
11. Cp. Le Bourg. Gent. ii. 4 “la voix A se forme en ouvrant fort la bouche”; and the rest of Molière’s comic phonetics furnish similar points of coincidence with this chapter of Dionysius.
12. “The position of the tongue has to be inferred from the presumed direction of the breath, on which many other writers besides Dionysius have laid stress; for A probably the tongue was depressed, so as to allow the breath to enter the mouth freely, and the sound was either a in ‘father,’ or, with a still more depressed tongue, the French a in ‘passer,’ which is a common Scotch pronunciation of the vowel a,” A. J. E.
13. “The description which Dionysius gives of the production of η and of ε is unfortunately not of such a kind that we can with any certainty infer the distinction of an open or closed sound,” Blass Pronunciation of Ancient Greek p. 36 (Purton’s translation).
14. The καί introduces a specification which is parallel to those which follow κάτω.
15. For the effect of the o sound (notwithstanding any differences in the two languages) cp. Cic. Cat. iv. init. “video, patres conscripti, in me omnium vestra ora atque oculos conversos. video, vos non solum de vestro ac reipublicae, verum etiam, si id depulsum sit, de meo periculo esse sollicitos.” And in Greek, the Homeric lines quoted on 154 23, 156 4 infra.—The question whether ω = ‘open’ or ‘closed’ o depends upon what position of the lips Dionysius’ description is taken to indicate.
17. ἧττον, ‘less,’ might mean inferior either in quality of tone or in the degree of opening of the mouth (A. J. E.).
τὸ ῡ: this vowel can, as in Aristoph. Plut. 895, be so pronounced as to convey the sensations of a sycophant in the presence of roasted meats:—
ἀρνεῖσθον; ἔνδον ἐστίν, ὦ μιαρωτάτω,
πολὺ χρῆμα τεμαχῶν καὶ κρεῶν ὠπτημένων.
ὒ ὗ ὒ ὗ ὒ ὗ ὒ ὗ ὒ ὗ ὒ ὗ,
where B. B. Rogers remarks: “This line [ὒ ὗ etc.], as Bentley pointed out, is naso, non ore, efferendus. It represents a succession of sniffings, produced by the nose; and not words or inarticulate sounds spoken with the mouth.”
18. Cp. scholium on Dionysius Thrax p. 691. 27 B: τὸ ῡ τὰ χείλη συστέλλει κατὰ τὴν ἐκφώνησιν. φησὶ γὰρ Διονύσιος ὁ Ἁλικαρνασσεὺς ἐν τῷ περὶ στοιχείων καὶ συλλαβῶν λόγῳ ὅτι περὶ αὐτὰ τὰ χείλη συστολῆς γινομένης ἀξιολόγου πνίγεται καὶ στενὸς ἐκπίπτει ὁ ἦχος.
19. “So far as the lips are concerned, this description would suit either the French u or the English oo, but the latter part of the description is better suited to French u, and from the Latins having at this time represented this sound by their new sign Y (the usual form of Greek Υ in inscriptions) in place of their own V (which was our oo), we may feel sure that the sound was not English oo, and, if not, that it was most probably French u, as we know that it was so subsequently,” A. J. E.
τοὺς ὀδόντας: “as the lips are not closed, there are only the teeth to limit the aperture,” A. J. E.—The position (ἔσχατον πάντων) assigned to iota is to be noticed: cp. Hermog. π. ἰδ. p. 225 (Walz Rhett. Gr. vol. iii.) τὸ ῑ ... ἥκιστα σεμνὴν ποιεῖ τὴν λέξιν πλεονάσαν.
ὀδόντας τε γὰρ ἡ κροῦσις τοῦ πνεύματος γίνεται μικρὸν
ἀνοιγομένου τοῦ στόματος καὶ οὐκ ἐπιλαμπρυνόντων τῶν
χειλῶν τὸν ἦχον. τῶν δὲ βραχέων οὐδέτερον μὲν εὔμορφον,
ἧττον δὲ δυσειδὲς τοῦ ε̄ τὸ ο̄· διίστησι γὰρ τὸ στόμα κρεῖττον
θατέρου καὶ τὴν πληγὴν λαμβάνει περὶ τὴν ἀρτηρίαν 5
μᾶλλον.
φωνηέντων μὲν οὖν γραμμάτων αὕτη φύσις· ἡμιφώνων δὲ
τοιάδε· ὀκτὼ τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὄντων αὐτῶν πέντε μέν ἐστιν ἁπλᾶ
τό τε λ̄ καὶ τὸ μ̄ καὶ τὸ ν̄ καὶ τὸ ρ̄ καὶ τὸ σ̄· διπλᾶ δὲ
τρία τό τε ζ̄ καὶ τὸ ξ̄ καὶ τὸ ψ̄. διπλᾶ δὲ λέγουσιν αὐτὰ 10
ἤτοι διὰ τὸ σύνθετα εἶναι, τὸ μὲν ζ̄ διὰ τοῦ σ̄ καὶ δ̄, τὸ δὲ
ξ̄ διὰ τοῦ κ̄ καὶ σ̄, τὸ δὲ ψ̄ διὰ τοῦ π̄ καὶ σ̄ συνεφθαρμένων
ἀλλήλοις ἰδίαν φωνὴν λαμβάνοντα, ἢ διὰ τὸ χώραν ἐπέχειν
δυεῖν γραμμάτων ἐν ταῖς συλλαβαῖς παραλαμβανόμενον ἕκαστον.
τούτων δὴ κρείττω μέν ἐστι τὰ διπλᾶ τῶν ἁπλῶν, 15
ἐπειδὴ μείζονά ἐστι τῶν ἑτέρων καὶ μᾶλλον ἐγγίζειν δοκεῖ
τοῖς τελείοις· ἥττω δὲ τὰ ἁπλᾶ διὰ τὸ εἰς βραχυτέρους
τόπους συνάγεσθαι τὸν ἦχον. φωνεῖται δ’ αὐτῶν ἕκαστον
τοιόνδε τινὰ τρόπον· τὸ μὲν λ̄ τῆς γλώττης πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν
ἱσταμένης καὶ τῆς ἀρτηρίας συνηχούσης· τὸ δὲ μ̄ τοῦ μὲν 20
στόματος τοῖς χείλεσι πιεσθέντος, τοῦ δὲ πνεύματος διὰ τῶν
ῥωθώνων μεριζομένου· τὸ δὲ ν̄ τῆς γλώττης τὴν φορὰν τοῦ
πνεύματος ἀποκλειούσης καὶ μεταφερούσης ἐπὶ τοὺς ῥώθωνας
τὸν ἦχον· τὸ δὲ ρ̄ τῆς γλώττης ἄκρας ἀπορριπιζούσης τὸ
πνεῦμα καὶ πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐγγὺς τῶν ὀδόντων ἀνισταμένης· 25
[145]
all stands ι: for the impact of the breath is on the teeth as the mouth is slightly open and the lips do not clarify the sound. Of the short vowels none has beauty, but ο is less ugly than ε: for the former parts the lips better than the latter, and receives the impact more in the region of the windpipe.
So much for the nature of the vowels. The semi-vowels are as follows. They are eight in number, and five of them are simple, viz. λ, μ, ν, ρ, and σ, while three are double, viz. ζ, ξ, ψ. They are called double either because they are composite, receiving a distinctive sound through the coalescence respectively of σ and δ into ζ, of κ and σ into ξ, and of π and σ into ψ; or because they each occupy the room of two letters in the syllables where they are found. Of these semi-vowels, the double are superior to the single, since they are ampler than the others and seem to approximate more to perfect letters. The simple ones are inferior because their sounds are confined within smaller spaces. They are severally pronounced somewhat as follows: λ by the tongue rising to the palate, and by the windpipe helping the sound; μ by the mouth being closed tight by means of the lips, while the breath is divided and passes through the nostrils; ν by the tongue intercepting the current of the breath, and diverting the sound towards the nostrils; ρ by the tip of the tongue sending forth the breath in puffs and rising to the palate
1 κροῦσις R: κρίσις EF: κρότησις PVs 2 οὐκ ἐπιλαμπρυνόντων] οὐκέτι λαμπρυνόντων P 3 εὔμορφον REF: εὔηχον PMVs 4 δυσειδὲς REF: δυσηχὲς PMVs || τοῦ ε̄ τὸ ο̄ Us.: τὸ ε̄ REFMV, τὸ ο̄ Ps 5 καὶ τὴν REF: τὴν δὲ PMVs 8 ὀκτὼ RF: ὀκτὼ γὰρ EPMVs || πέντε] ε̄ PVs 9 διπλὰ δὲ τρία F, RbE: διπλᾶ δὲ καὶ τρία Ra: τρία (γ̄ P) δὲ διπλᾶ PMVs 11 τοῦ δ̄ καὶ τοῦ σ̄ Ra: τοῦ δ̄ καὶ σ̄ Rb 13 ἰδίαν RF: καὶ ἰδίαν PMVs 14 παραλαμβανόμενον ἕκαστον RF: παραλαμβανόμενα. ἑκάστου PMVs 17 βραχυτέρους F: βαρυτέρους R: βραχυτέρους αὐτῶν E, PM 18 τόπους RFM2: τόνους EPM1Vs 20 ἱσταμένης REF: ἀνισταμένης PMVs || συνηχούσης REF: συνηχούσης τὸ πνεῦμα M: συνεχούσης τὸ πνεῦμα PVs 21 διὰ τῶν ... (23) πνεύματος REFM: om. P 22 ν̄] π̄ R 23 τοὺς ῥώθωνας RPMs: τὸν ῥώθωνα FE 24 ἀπορριπιζούσης RF: ἀπορραπιζούσης EVs: ἀποραπιζούσης (ρ alt. suprascr.) P, M
1. μικρὸν ἀνοιγομένου: “no limitation is necessary, the lips may be as open for our ee as for our ah, but they may also be slightly open from the centre to the corners, no part being in contact,” A. J. E.
2. “There can be no doubt that our ee is meant, and, although this is usually considered to be a ‘bright’ sound, it will be found that if, while singing it, and without moving the tongue, the lips be as much closed as for oo, the result, which will be French u, is much more musical. Whatever doubt may remain from this description of the precise shades of sound, there can be none that η, υ, ι had different sounds, as indeed transcripts of Greek into Latin letters and Latin into Greek letters shew that they had, partially at least, down to the 12th century A.D., although the confusion was complete in the 15th, as it has since remained. Dionysius does not describe the diphthongs ΑΥ, ΕΥ, or the digraphs ΑΙ, ΕΙ, ΟΙ, ΟΥ,” A. J. E.
5. “This would best suit our aw in awn shortened, that is, very nearly our o in on. Short ε is not referred to, nor the short sounds of α, ι, υ,” A. J. E.
11. For the pronunciation of ζ see Introduction, p. 44, and cp. Dionysius Thrax Ars Gramm. § 7 (Uhlig p. 14): ἔτι δὲ τῶν συμφώνων διπλᾶ μέν ἐστι τρία· ζ̄, ξ̄, ψ̄. διπλᾶ δὲ εἴρηται, ὅτι ἓν ἕκαστον αὐτῶν ἐκ δύο συμφώνων σύγκειται, τὸ μὲν ζ̄ ἐκ τοῦ σ̄ καὶ δ̄, τὸ δὲ ξ̄ ἐκ τοῦ κ̄ καὶ σ̄, τὸ δὲ ψ̄ ἐκ τοῦ π̄ καὶ σ̄.—For the late use of διά (with the genitive) of the means or material by or of which a thing is composed cp. 154 10 and 180 6; also Antiqq. Rom. i. ἐν ὄρεσι τὰ πολλὰ πηξαμένοις διὰ ξύλων καὶ καλάμων σκηνὰς αὐτορόφους.
17. ἥττω ... ἦχον: a true phonetic explanation.
20. For m and n in Greek and Latin (especially at the end of clauses) cp. Quintil. xii. 10. 31 “Quid? quod pleraque nos illa quasi mugiente littera cludimus M, in quam nullum Graece verbum cadit: at illi ny iucundam et in fine praecipue quasi tinnientem illius loco ponunt, quae est apud nos rarissima in clausulis.”
25. οὐρανὸν ... ὀδόντων. Demosthenes’ difficulty in pronouncing this letter (the trilled palato-dental r) is well known: e.g. Quintil. i. 11. 5 “(rho littera), qua Demosthenes quoque laboravit.”
τὸ δὲ σ̄ τῆς μὲν γλώττης προσαγομένης ἄνω πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν
ὅλης, τοῦ δὲ πνεύματος διὰ μέσων αὐτῶν φερομένου καὶ περὶ
τοὺς ὀδόντας λεπτὸν καὶ στενὸν ἐξωθοῦντος τὸ σύριγμα. τρία
δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ ἡμίφωνα μικτὸν λαμβάνει τὸν ψόφον ἐξ ἑνὸς μὲν
τῶν ἡμιφώνων τοῦ σ̄, τριῶν δὲ ἀφώνων τοῦ τε δ̄ καὶ τοῦ κ̄ 5
καὶ τοῦ π̄.
οὗτοι σχηματισμοὶ γραμμάτων ἡμιφώνων. δύναται δ’
οὐχ ὁμοίως κινεῖν τὴν ἀκοὴν ἅπαντα· ἡδύνει μὲν γὰρ αὐτὴν
τὸ λ̄, καὶ ἔστι τὼν ἡμιφώνων γλυκύτατον· τραχύνει δὲ τὸ ρ̄
καὶ ἔστι τῶν ὁμογενῶν γενναιότατον· μέσως δέ πως διατίθησι 10
τὰ διὰ τῶν ῥωθώνων συνηχούμενα τό τε μ̄ καὶ τὸ ν̄
κερατοειδεῖς ἀποτελοῦντα τοὺς ἤχους. ἄχαρι δὲ καὶ ἀηδὲς
τὸ σ̄ καὶ πλεονάσαν σφόδρα λυπεῖ· θηριώδους γὰρ καὶ
ἀλόγου μᾶλλον ἢ λογικῆς ἐφάπτεσθαι δοκεῖ φωνῆς ὁ συριγμός·
τῶν γοῦν παλαιῶν τινες σπανίως ἐχρῶντο αὐτῷ καὶ 15
[147]
near the teeth; and σ by the entire tongue being carried up to the palate and by the breath passing between tongue and palate, and emitting, round about the teeth, a light, thin hissing. The sound of the three remaining semi-voiced letters is of a mixed character, being formed of one of the semi-voiced letters (σ) and three of the voiceless letters (δ, κ and π).
Such are the formations of the semi-vowels. They cannot all affect the sense of hearing in the same way. λ falls pleasurably on it, and is the sweetest of the semi-vowels; while ρ has a rough quality, and is the noblest of its class. The ear is affected in a sort of intermediate way by μ and ν, which are pronounced with nasal resonance, and produce sounds similar to those of a horn. σ is an unattractive, disagreeable letter, positively offensive when used to excess. A hiss seems a sound more suited to a brute beast than to a rational being. At all events, some of the ancients used it sparingly and guardedly.
1 προσαγομένης R: προαγομένης EF: προσἀναγομένης P, Vs: προανοιγομένης M 2 ὅλης REF: ὅλως δὲ M: om. PVs || μέσων αὐτῶν R: μέσον αὐτῶν F: μέσουν αὐτοῦ M: μέσου αὐτοῦ EPVs 5 δ̄ καὶ τοῦ κ̄ REF: κ̄ καὶ τοῦ δ̄ PMVs 13 καὶ πλεονάσαν REF: καὶ εἰ πλεονάσαι PM: καὶ εἰ πλεονάσειε Vs 14 ἀλόγου RPMVs: ἀλάλου EF
2. Perhaps the variations in the readings here (cp. also 148 16) indicate that one or two of the words originally stood in the dual number.—διὰ μέσου αὐτοῦ (EPV) would mean ‘through the middle of the palate.’
9. As in Virgil (Aen. viii. 140: cp. v. 217), “at Maiam, auditis si quicquam credimus, Atlas, | idem Atlas generat caeli qui sidera tollit.”—The same view of l is expressed in Demetr. de Eloc. § 174 πρὸς δὲ τὴν ἀκοὴν (sc. ἡδέα ἐστι) “Καλλίστρατος, Ἀννοῶν.” ἥ τε γὰρ τῶν λάμβδα σύγκρουσις ἠχῶδές τι ἔχει, καὶ ἡ τῶν νῦ γραμμάτων (for the effect of the double l and n cp. such words as ‘bella’ and ‘donna’ in Italian).
12. It is well known that the Comic Poets make fun of Euripides’ line ἔσωσά σ’, ὡς ἴσασιν Ἑλλήνων ὅσοι (Med. 476: with Porson’s note). Pericles is said to have led the way in substituting ττ for the less pleasing σσ (see Lucian’s Iudicium Vocalium for the substitution itself). On the other hand, it has been observed (with reference to de Corona § 208 ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἔστιν, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως ἡμάρτετε, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἁπάντων ἐλευθερίας καὶ σωτηρίας κίνδυνον ἀράμενοι, μὰ τοὺς Μαραθῶνι προκινδυνεύσαντας τῶν προγόνων καὶ τοὺς ἐν Πλαταιαῖς παραταξαμένους καὶ τοὺς ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ναυμαχήσαντας καὶ τοὺς ἐπ’ Ἀρτεμισίῳ καὶ πολλοὺς ἑτέρους τοὺς ἐν τοῖς δημοσίοις μνήμασι κειμένους, ἀγαθοὺς ἄνδρας, οὓς ἅπαντας ὁμοίως ἡ πόλις τῆς αὐτῆς ἀξιώσασα τιμῆς ἔθαψεν, Αἰσχίνη, οὐχὶ τοὺς κατορθώσαντας αὐτῶν οὐδὲ τοὺς κρατήσαντας μόνους): “in defence of English we may note that this renowned passage, perhaps the most effective ever spoken by an orator, has no less than fifty sigmas in sixty-seven words” (Goodwin’s edition of Demosth. de Cor. p. 148). There is also an interesting article on “Sigmatism in Greek Dramatic Poetry” in the American Journal of Philology xxix. 1 (cp. xxxi. 1). Mr. J. A. Scott there proves by means of examples that Homer, Pindar, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes and the Comic Poets, do not avoid recurrent sigmas; and he adds that “the phrases ὁ φιλοσίγματος and ‘Euripidean sigmatism,’ which rest on the assumption that Euripides in a peculiar way marred his style by an excessive use of sigma, have no basis of truth to support them.” He further remarks, “It is Lasus of Hermione [Athen. 455 c], the so-called teacher of Pindar, who won a certain kind of fame by producing asigmatic verses; but it was evidently a species of poetic gymnastics such as was later achieved by the poets of the Ἰλιὰς λειπογράμματος and the Ὀδύσσεια λειπογράμματος, where the trick was to write the first book of each poem without α, the second without β, and so on.” In Sappho’s Hymn to Aphrodite (C. V. c. 23) there is no lack of sigmas. But we may be sure that neither Demosthenes, nor any good reader of Sappho, would be guilty of undue sibilation in the actual delivery of the speech or of the lines: it is the continual hissing that, as in English, has to be avoided. (For the pronunciation of σ, σβ, σγ, σμ, σσ see Report of Classical Association on Greek Pronunciation, p. 349 infra, and Giles’ Comparative Philology p. 115).—Instances of not unpleasant accumulations of the s sound in Latin are to be found in Virg. Aen. v. 46 “annuus exactis completur mensibus orbis”; Virg. Georg. i. 389 “et sola in sicca secum spatiatur harena”; Cic. Topic. i. 1 “maiores nos res scribere ingressos, C. Trebati, et iis libris, quos brevi tempore satis multos edidimus, digniores e cursu ipso revocavit voluntas tua.” Cp. Quintil. ix. 4. 37 “ceterum consonantes quoque, earumque praecipue quae sunt asperiores, in commissura verborum rixantur, ut si s ultima cum x proxima confligat; quarum tristior etiam, si binae collidantur, stridor est, ut ars studiorum. quae fuit causa et Servio, ut dixi, subtrahendae s litterae, quotiens ultima esset aliaque consonante susciperetur; quod reprehendit Luranius, Messala defendit.” An example of the recurrence of the s sound in English poetry is:—
O the golden sheaf, the nestling treasure-armful!
O the nutbrown tresses nodding interlaced!
George Meredith,
Love in the Valley;
or Shakespeare’s
“This precious
stone set in the silver sea;”
or many of the lines in Marlowe’s ‘smooth song’ “Come live with me, and be my love.” Of its deliberate elimination an instance is furnished by John Thelwall’s English Song without a Sibilant, entitled “The Empire of the Mind,” in which the last of the four stanzas runs:—
But when to radiant form and feature,
Internal worth and feeling join
With temper mild and gay goodnature,—
Around the willing heart, they twine
The empire of the mind.
πεφυλαγμένως, εἰσὶ δ’ οἳ καὶ ἀσίγμους ὅλας ᾠδὰς ἐποίουν·
δηλοῖ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ Πίνδαρος ἐν οἷς φησι·
πρὶν μὲν εἷρπε σχοινότενειά τ’ ἀοιδὰ διθυράμβω
καὶ τὸ σὰν κίβδηλον ἀνθρώποις.
τριῶν δὲ τῶν ἄλλων γραμμάτων ἃ δὴ διπλᾶ καλεῖται τὸ ζ̄ 5
μᾶλλον ἡδύνει τὴν ἀκοὴν τῶν ἑτέρων· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ξ̄ διὰ τοῦ
κ̄ καὶ τὸ ψ̄ διὰ τοῦ π̄ τὸν συριγμὸν ἀποδίδωσι ψιλῶν ὄντων
ἀμφοτέρων, τοῦτο δ’ ἡσυχῇ τῷ πνεύματι δασύνεται καὶ ἔστι
τῶν ὁμογενῶν γενναιότατον. καὶ περὶ μὲν τῶν ἡμιφώνων
τοσαῦτα. 10
τῶν δὲ καλουμένων ἀφώνων ἐννέα ὄντων τρία μέν ἐστι
ψιλά, τρία δὲ δασέα, τρία δὲ μεταξὺ τούτων· ψιλὰ μὲν τὸ
κ̄ καὶ τὸ π̄ καὶ τὸ τ̄, δασέα δὲ τὸ θ̄ καὶ τὸ φ̄ καὶ τὸ χ̄,
κοινὰ δὲ ἀμφοῖν τὸ β̄ καὶ τὸ γ̄ καὶ τὸ δ̄. φωνεῖται δὲ
αὐτῶν ἕκαστον τρόπον τόνδε· τρία μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν χειλῶν 15
ἄκρων, ὅταν τοῦ στόματος πιεσθέντος τὸ προβαλλόμενον
ἐκ τῆς ἀρτηρίας πνεῦμα λύσῃ τὸν δεσμὸν αὐτοῦ. καὶ
ψιλὸν μέν ἐστιν αὐτῶν τὸ π̄, δασὺ δὲ τὸ φ̄, μέσον δὲ ἀμφοῖν
τὸ β̄· τοῦ μὲν γὰρ ψιλότερόν ἐστι, τοῦ δὲ δασύτερον. μία
μὲν αὕτη συζυγία τριῶν γραμμάτων ἀφώνων ὁμοίῳ σχήματι 20
λεγομένων, ψιλότητι δὲ καὶ δασύτητι διαφερόντων. τρία δὲ
ἄλλα λέγεται τῆς γλώττης ἄκρῳ τῷ στόματι προσερειδομένης
κατὰ τοὺς μετεώρους ὀδόντας, ἔπειθ’ ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος
[149]
There are writers who used actually to compose entire odes without a sigma. Pindar shows the same feeling when he writes:—
Ere then crept in the long-drawn dithyrambic song,
And san that rang false on the speaker’s tongue.[130]
Of the three other letters which are called “double,” ζ falls more pleasurably on the ear than the others. For ξ and ψ give the hiss in combination with κ and π respectively, both of which letters are smooth, whereas ζ is softly rippled by the breath and is the noblest of its class. So much with regard to the semi-vowels.
Of the so-called “voiceless letters,” which are nine in number, three are smooth, three rough, and three between these. The smooth are κ, π, τ; the rough θ, φ, χ; the intermediate, β, γ, δ. They are severally pronounced as follows: three of them (π, θ, β) from the edge of the lips, when the mouth is compressed and the breath, being driven forward from the windpipe, breaks through the obstruction. Among these π is smooth, φ rough, and β comes between the two, being smoother than the latter and rougher than the former. This is one set of three mutes, all three spoken with a like configuration of our organs, but differing in smoothness and roughness. The next three are pronounced by the tongue being pressed hard against the extremity of the mouth near the upper teeth, then being blown
1 καὶ REF: om. PMVs || ὅλας [ὠιδὰ]ς cum litura F, E: ὅλας αὐδὰς R: ὠιδὰς ὅλας P, MVs 2 δηλοῖ ... (4) ἀνθρώποις om. R || τοῦτο καὶ EF: τοῦτο PVs 3 ἧρπε F: ἦρχε MV: ἤριπε EPs || σχοινοτενεῖ[ατα] οἶδα cum rasura F: σχοινοτονει [-τενὴς ἀδα M] φωνήεντα P, V: σχοινοτενῆ φωνήεντα Es || διθυράμβου F: διθυράμβων EPMVs: om. Athenaeus 4 κίβδηλον EF Athenaeus: κίβδαλον PMVs || ἀνθρώποις EFM: ἄνθρωποι PVs 7 καὶ τὸ ψ̄ RE: τὸ δὲ ψ̄ FPMVs 11 καλουμένων RPMVs: om. EF 14 ἐκφωνεῖται MVs 16 ἄκρων RFM: ἄκρων τὸ π̄ καὶ τὸ φ̄ καὶ τὸ β̄ EPVs || τό τε P 17 τὸ πνεῦμα P || θεσμὸν R 18 αὐτῶν] αὐτοῦ P 23 μετεώρους REF: μετεωροτέρους PMVs
1. Athenaeus quotes the lines of Pindar (ll. 3, 4 infra) in x. 455 C and in xi. 467 B. The former passage closely illustrates Dionysius’ remarks: Πίνδαρος δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἀσιγμοποιηθεῖσαν ᾠδήν, ὡς ὁ αὐτός φησι Κλέαρχος, οἱονεὶ γρίφου τινὸς ἐν μελοποιίᾳ προβληθέντος, ὡς πολλῶν τούτῳ προσκρουόντων διὰ τὸ ἀδύνατον εἶναι ἀποσχέσθαι τοῦ σίγμα καὶ διὰ τὸ μὴ δοκιμάζειν, ἐποίησε·
πρὶν μὲν εἷρπε σχοινοτένειά τ’ ἀοιδὰ
καὶ τὸ σὰν κίβδηλον ἀνθρώποις.
ταῦτα σημειώσαιτ’ ἄν τις πρὸς τοὺς νοθεύοντας Λάσου τοῦ Ἑρμιονέως τὴν ἄσιγμον ᾠδήν, ἥτις ἐπιγράφεται Κένταυροι, καὶ ὁ εἰς τὴν Δήμητρα δὲ τὴν ἐν Ἑρμιόνῃ ποιηθεὶς τῷ Λάσῳ ὕμνος ἄσιγμός ἐστιν, ὥς φησιν Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικὸς ἐν τρίτῳ περὶ μουσικῆς, οὗ ἐστιν ἀρχή·
Δάματρα μέλπω Κόραν τε Κλυμένοι’ ἄλοχον.
In Pindar’s own text the right reading possibly is:—
πρὶν μὲν ἕρπε σχοινοτένειά τ’ ἀοιδὰ
διθυράμβων καὶ τὸ σὰν κίβδηλον ἀνθρώποισιν ἀπὸ στομάτων.
Mr. P. N. Ure suggests that Pindar’s real reference was not to the sound of san but to its form, and that κίβδηλον means either ‘misleading’ with reference to the similarity in form of san to mu, or ‘spurious,’ as not being the form for the sibilant employed at Thebes, where letters were introduced into Greece.
3. σχοινοτένεια: unusual feminine of σχοινοτενής, ‘stretched out like a measuring line.’
5. “That the σ in σδ meant z appears from what Dionysius presently says, that ζ is ‘quietly roughened by the breath,’ implying that it was voiced,” A. J. E. p. 44. The statement (p. 43 ibid.) that dz was probably an impossible initial combination to a Greek may be compared with Classical Review xix. 441 as well as with more ancient evidence.
13. Dionysius’ various statements as to the aspirates are discussed in E. A. Dawes’ Pronunciation of the Greek Aspirates pp. 29 ff. (as well as in Blass’s Ancient Greek Pronunciation).
15. Dionysius does not actually use Greek equivalents for the adjectives labial, dental, and guttural; but he clearly knows the physiological facts in which those terms have their origin.
18. As illustrating Dionysius’ own love of variety, compare μέσον ἀμφοῖν here with κοινὰ ἀμφοῖν (l. 14), μεταξὺ τούτων (l. 12), μετρίως καὶ μεταξὺ ἀμφοῖν ( 150 9), μέσον δὲ καὶ ἐπίκοινον ( 150 4).
23. κατὰ τοὺς μετεώρους ὀδόντας. “The pronunciation of the Greek and Roman t by placing the tongue against the roots of the gums in lieu of the upper teeth is not one of the more serious errors [in the modern pronunciation of Greek and Latin], at least it does not strike our ears as such. But it has always seemed to me that the taunting verses of Ennius,
O Tite tute Tati tibi tanta tyranne tulisti,
as of Sophocles,
τυφλὸς τά τ’ ὦτα τόν τε νοῦν τά τ’ ὄμματ’ εἶ,
lose a good deal of their effect if the t’s are muffled behind the gums instead of being hurled out from the rampart of the teeth,” J. P. Postgate How to pronounce Latin p. 11.
ἀπορριπιζομένης καὶ τὴν διέξοδον αὐτῷ κάτω περὶ τοὺς
ὀδόντας ἀποδιδούσης· διαλλάττει δὲ ταῦτα δασύτητι καὶ
ψιλότητι· ψιλὸν μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν ἐστι τὸ τ̄, δασὺ δὲ τὸ θ̄,
μέσον δὲ καὶ ἐπίκοινον τὸ δ̄. αὕτη δευτέρα συζυγία τριῶν
γραμμάτων ἀφώνων. τρία δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν ἀφώνων λέγεται 5
μὲν τῆς γλώττης ἀνισταμένης πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐγγὺς τοῦ
φάρυγγος καὶ τῆς ἀρτηρίας ὑπηχούσης τῷ πνεύματι, οὐδὲν
οὐδὲ ταῦτα διαφέροντα τῷ σχήματι ἀλλήλων, πλὴν ὅτι τὸ
μὲν κ̄ ψιλῶς λέγεται, τὸ δὲ χ̄ δασέως, τὸ δὲ γ̄ μετρίως καὶ
μεταξὺ ἀμφοῖν. τούτων κράτιστα μέν ἐστιν ὅσα τῷ πνεύματι 10
πολλῷ λέγεται, δεύτερα δὲ ὅσα μέσῳ, κάκιστα δὲ ὅσα ψιλῷ·
ταῦτα μὲν γὰρ τὴν αὑτῶν δύναμιν ἔχει μόνην, τὰ δὲ δασέα
καὶ τὴν τοῦ πνεύματος προσθήκην, ὥστ’ ἐγγύς που τελειότερα
εἶναι ἐκείνων.
