Vowels in Weak Position
Although no one can be certain what the phonological significance of vowel "length" or "value" was in ancient Greek, the rules of stress placement in literature of the Homeric and Attic eras are relatively well understood, not least through surviving commentary by the Latin grammarians. Some unstressed syllables seem to have admitted two pronunciations; in particular, the common combination of a short vowel followed by a stop and a liquid (as in the words δάκρυ, πατρός, ὅπλον, and τέκνον and the phrase τί δρᾷ) allows, but does not require, that the syllable containing the vowel be considered "long by position".
In Homeric Greek, the vowel in such a syllable was usually grammatically long, but could be grammatically short, depending on the needs of the meter (vice versa in Attic Greek). When short, such vowels are said to have, or be in, weak position.
Poetry in Classical Latin also took advantage of short vowels in weak position. The following examples show the same word scanned in two different ways in a single line (the diacritics on the relevant vowels indicate the length of the entire syllable, as required by the meter):
- quae pătribus pātres tradunt ab stirpe profecta (Lucr. 4.1222)
- gnatum ante ora pătris, pātrem qui obtruncat ad aras (Verg. A. 2.663)
- et Lycum nīgris oculis nĭgroque// crine decorum (Hor. Carm. 1.32.11f)
- et primo similis volŭcri, mox vera volūcris (Ov. Met. 13.607)
Read more about this topic: Weak Position (poetry)
Famous quotes containing the words vowels, weak and/or position:
“These equal syllables alone require,
Though oft the ear the open vowels tire;”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
“A country is strong which consists of wealthy families, every member of whom is interested in defending a common treasure; it is weak when composed of scattered individuals, to whom it matters little whether they obey seven or one, a Russian or a Corsican, so long as each keeps his own plot of land, blind in their wretched egotism, to the fact that the day is coming when this too will be torn from them.”
—Honoré De Balzac (1799–1850)
“You will belong to that minority which, according to current Washington doctrine, must be protected in its affluence lest its energy and initiative be impaired. Your position will be in contrast to that of the poor, to whom money, especially if it is from public sources, is held to be deeply damaging.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)