SCANSION Breaking down meter Meter Meter Latin metrum

SCANSION Breaking down meter…

Meter • Meter (Latin: metrum, -i n. measure) is like the time signature in written music. It tells us how many feet (beats) or units (measures) of rhythm there are in the line • The rhythm centers on whether or not the vowels in the line are long or short

Long v. Short • Long vowels have a macron above • Short vowels have the breve mark above them

Quantity of Vowels • LONG by NATURE – The vowel has a long mark on it naturally. • A dictionary is helpful for figuring this out if you are stuck – There is a diphthong: ae, oe, ei, ui, au, eu • These letter combinations are marked as one syllable, not two because they make only one sound.

Quantity of Vowels • LONG by POSITION – If the vowel is followed by a double consonant combination, the vowel is marked long I know it seems simplistic, but if the vowel is not long, that’s how we know it is short!

Elision • Elision acts like a slur does in music. It causes you to blend two syllables together that would ordinarily be separate in prose – Word ends with a vowel, dipthong, or M is followed by a word starting with a vowel or H – Take off the first vowel, dipthong, or M

Elision • Example: – Multum ille = multille • Exceptions: If a word ends with an M is followed by EST, the “e” of est is elided instead of the M – Example: multum est = multumst

HIATUS • Rare instance in which a word ending in a vowel and starts with an H does NOT elide • Easy to recognize because the meterical requirements do not allow the elision to actually occur

Idiosyncrasies • Some vowels don’t count for scansion… – “qu” = one letter, the “u” is not scanned • Example: nequiquam has 3 vowels to scan – “gu” = one letter, the “u” is not scanned • Example: sanguinis has 3 vowels to scan • Liquid consonants: l and r – MIGHT be considered either a double or single consonant--try it out and see!

Idiosyncrasies • The letters x and z – Double consonants • The letter y – Always a vowel

Dactyl v. Spondee • Dactyl - has one long vowel and two short • Spondee- has two long vowels

Syllable Division • A single consonant is pronounced with the following vowel – Example: divinum = di/vi/num • Two or more consonants between vowels, the first is pronounced with the preceding vowel and the remaining consonants with the following vowel – Example: transferro = trans/fer/ro • Compound words are divided according to their components – Example: abest = ab/est

To Scan a Line… Let’s look at BOOK 1, Line 1. • Look to see if there any elisions. • Determine the final two syllables and mark them appropriately. (spondaic) • Indicate the last food with the metrical marker / /. • Mark the 5 th foot appropriately and indicate the foot markers. (dactylic)

BOOK I, LINE 1 • Mark the first syllable of the line LONG. • Mark all syllables that are long by nature (dipthongs, etc. ) • Determine which syllables are long by position (followed by 2 consonants or x/z) • Mark the remaining syllables short. • Divide the rest of the line into feet (using the rules of syllable division)--each foot must contain a dactyl or spondee. • Count the feet to make sure you have six!