FIRST LESSONS IN LATIN,

UPON A NEW PLAN;

COMBINING

ABSTRACT RULES

WITH A

PROGRESSIVE SERIES OF PRACTICAL EXERCISES.

BY C. D. CLEVELAND.

Improved Stereotype Edition.

PHILADELPHIA:

MARSHALL, WILLIAMS & BUTLER.

Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1840, by

CHARLES D. CLEVELAND,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Penn

sylvania.

FIRST

LESSONS IN LATIN.

PRONUNCIATION.

Q. How is the Latin language pronounced?

A. As it is not known how the Romans pronounced it, each of the modern nations of Europe follows the rules of its own language. The English, therefore, pronounce the Latin according to the principles of the English language. Q. What does the curve mark and what does the horizontal line over the vowels mean?

A. The curve mark

over a vowel shows it to be short: the horizontal line shows it to be long.

Q. How do these marks regulate the pronunciation ? A. In words of three syllables or more than three, if the last syllable but one, which is called the penult, be long, the accent is upon it, as amābam, where the accent is upon the a: but if the penult have the short accent over it, the syllable before it, which is called the antepenult, is accented, as hóminis, where the accent is on the first syllable.

Q. When the penult is accented, has its vowel the long or short sound?

A. When the penult is accented, its vowel has the long sound when it is followed by one consonant only, or by another vowel, as, caput, rei, sermonem; but when it is followed by two consonants or the double consonant x, it has the short sound, as, frondus, regnum, penna, respondens, buxus. Q. When the antepenult is accented, how is its vowel sounded?

A. When the antepenult is accented, its vowel has, generally, the short sound, as, témporis, régibus.*

EXAMPLES TO BE PRONOUNCED AND EXPLAINED BY THE SCHOLAR.

Q. How many letters are there in the Latin language A. Twenty-five, which are the same as those in the English, with the exception of W, which the Latins do not use. Q. How many of these are vowels?

A. Six; a, e, i, o, u, y, each of which makes a distinct sound by itself. The other letters are called consonants, which do not make a perfect sound without the aid of a vowel.

PARTS OF SPEECH.

Q. How many sorts of words, or Parts of Speech, are there in the Latin language?

A. Nine: the Noun, the Adjective, the Pronoun, the Verb, the Participle, the Adverb, the Preposition, the Interjection, and the Conjunction.

*The instructer will explain the few exceptions to this rule.

†The penult i of parentium is not marked short, because it is a aniversal rule that one vowel before another vowel is short.'