Latin scansion

Scansion is the process of reading Latin poetry according to the sound and metrical patterns. For purposes of Latin poetry, syllables can belong to one of three possible categories: long by nature, long by position, or short.

What is dactylic hexameter scansion Latin?

Dactylic hexameter consists of lines made from six (hexa) feet, each foot containing either a long syllable followed by two short syllables (a dactyl: – ˇ ˇ) or two long syllables (a spondee: – –). The first four feet may either be dactyls or spondees.

What is dactyl and spondee in Latin?

Dactyls are a very common foot in Latin poetry. A dactyl consists of a long syllable followed by two short syllables, though the two short syllables may often be replaced by one long one, making the foot a spondee.

What is elision in Latin scansion?

ELISON: If a word ends in a vowel (e.g. vento), or a vowel + m (e.g. vitam), AND the next word begins with a vowel or h, the vowel, and the m/h are not scanned and generally not pronounced. 1 This is called elision and is marked thus: vento et.

What are the exceptions of Latin scansion?

There are a few exceptions to the two-consonant rule. H is a consonant in English, but is not considered a consonant in scanning Latin. And a variety of letters (t, d, b, p, k, g) preceding l or r will not make a short syllable long. This rule is called mute (t, d, b, p, k, g) + liquid (l, r).

What is a Latin hexameter?

hexameter (countable and uncountable, plural hexameters) (countable) A line in a poem having six metrical feet. quotations ▼ (uncountable) A poetic metre in which each line has six feet.

What are the 6 types of iambic meter?

5 Common Types of Iambic Meter

iambic dimeter: two iambs per line. iambic trimeter: three iambs per line. iambic tetrameter: four iambs per line. iambic pentameter: five iambs per line.

What anapest means?

noun. an·a·pest ˈa-nə-ˌpest. : a metrical foot consisting of two short syllables followed by one long syllable or of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable (such as unaware) anapestic.

What is anapest and dactyl?

Metrical patterns in poetry are called feet. An anapest, then, is a type of foot. The other feet are: iambs, trochees, dactyls, and spondees. The opposite of an anapest is a dactyl, a metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables (as in the word "Po-e-try").

What is an anapest example?

In English, we have to speak words out loud to determine where the emphasis is placed. Say the word “unaware” out loud, and you'll notice that the first two syllables are unstressed and the last is stressed (an accented syllable)—this is an example of anapest in a single word.

What are the 6 Latin diphthongs?

Latin has six sets of diphthongs: /ae/, /au/, /ei/, /eu/, /oe/, and /ui/.

What is caesura in Latin poetry?

In Latin and Greek classical poetry, a caesura (pronounced “suh-zyur-uh”) is the space between two words contained within a metrical foot. In modern poetry, the definition of “caesura” (plural caesurae) is the natural end to a poetic phrase, especially when the phrase ends in the middle of a line of poetry.

Does Latin have diphthongs?

Syllables: Every Latin word has as many syllables as it does vowels or diphthongs. (Diphthongs are double vowels which form one sound. The most common Latin diphthongs are ae, oe, and au.) Unlike English, which has silent letters, in Latin each consonant, vowel and diphthong is pronounced separately.

Where ŋ Cannot occur in a word?

#C Of consonants ŋ does not occur at the beginning of words at all.

What is Latin poetic Metre?

Latin poetry follows a strict rhythm based on the quantity of the vowel in each syllable. Each line of poetry divides into a number of feet (analogous to the measures in music). The syllables in each foot scan as “long” or “short” according to the parameters of the meter that the poet employs.

What meter did Homer use?

The epics of Homer and of Virgil are composed in dactylic hexameter. Although the hexameter has been used in English verse by such 19th-century poets as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (notably in Evangeline), its rhythms are not readily adapted to the language, and it has never been a popular form.

What is dactylic hexameter and why is it important?

Dactylic hexameter is the oldest known form of Greek poetry and is the preeminent metre of narrative and didactic poetry in Greek and Latin, in which its position is comparable to that of iambic pentameter in English versification. The epics of Homer and of Virgil are composed in dactylic hexameter.

What is dactylic hexameter poetry?

Dactylic hexameter: A line of dactylic hexameter consists of six metrical feet with three syllables per foot. Elegiac poetry is built around dactylic verse in couplet form. An elegiac couplet generally alternates between a dactylic line in pentameter and one in hexameter.

Is Theogony in dactylic hexameter?

As the Theogony was written in Homeric Greek, it was composed in dactylic hexameter.

How do you count syllables in Latin?

Syllable Guideline

The number of syllables equals the number of vowels and/or diphthongs pronounced separately. For example, Caesar contains one vowel and one diphthong, so there are two syllables: Cae-sar. There are no silent vowels in Latin.

What is the difference between iambic pentameter and dactylic hexameter?

For example, if the feet are iambs, and if there are five feet to a line, then it is called an iambic pentameter. If the feet are primarily dactyls and there are six to a line, then it is a dactylic hexameter.

What rhythm is Iliad?

The Iliad is written in dactylic hexameter. It is as dominant in Greek and Latin poetry as iambic pentameter is in English. It is the meter of epic poetry, didactic poetry, and is one of two meters used in elegy and epigram. The measure is one long syllable followed by two short syllables.

What is an example of a dactyl?

A metrical foot consisting of an accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables; the words “poetry” and “basketball” are both dactylic. Tennyson's “The Charge of the Light Brigade” is written in dactylic meter.

What is anapest and dactyl?

What is an anapest in poetry?

A metrical foot consisting of two unaccented syllables followed by an accented syllable. The words “underfoot” and “overcome” are anapestic. Lord Byron's “The Destruction of Sennacherib” is written in anapestic meter.

What is a dactyl in Latin?

A dactyl is like a finger, having one long part followed by two short stretches. From Latin dactylus, from Ancient Greek δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “a finger”), three bones of the finger corresponding to three syllables.