Cause I have to know it and I don’t like it.
Syllable Length (Prosody)
By nature - long vowel or diphthong ae, au, oe
By position - followed by two or more consonants, which can be part of different words
Muta cum Liquida - two consonants: a stop (muta) p, t, c, b, d, g, followed by a liquid l, r can be short or long
x and z count as two consonants cause they come from c+s and d+z
qu counts as one consonant, no vowel
h gets ignored at the beginning of a word
i followed by another vowel is like a “j” so it’s a consonant, not a vowel
eu is a diphthong in Greek names but not in Latin words
when there are two vowels next to each other but not a diphthong, the first one is probably short, but it’s not a hard rule
some vowel combinations can be diphthongs but aren’t if one is part of the words stem and the second one is part of the ending!
a word ending on a vowel (and maybe an m) followed by a word starting with a vowel (ignore h)
the vowel (+m) is elided - not pronounced
Hiatus a variation of this, where both words keep their natural length; is avoided
If you can’t remember how this is supposed to look:
–⏕ | –⏕ | –⏕ | –⏕ | –⏑⏑ | –X
hex means six, so you need six metrical feet
one foot is either a Dactyl or a Spondee
Dactyl means finger. Look at your left index finger:
long, short, short - Dactyl
two short feet can be substituted by a long foot –> Spondee
the sixth foot has two syllables (trochee) and the last one is long-short (anceps) often marked with an x above
the fifth foot is a Dactyl 90% of the time
It’s a break after the first long syllable in a foot, most likely the first, second or third foot. It’s often in form of the end of a word, clause, sentence or another pause of speech.
count. your. feet. there should be six, if there aren’t start again
mark with a pencil so you can erase
mark the obvious stuff: lengths, Elisions, Muta cum Liquida, the second to last syllable being long etc.
then work from the back. I mean it. Work from the back. You know the most stuff about the end of the verse, take advantage of it.
the sixth foot is long and an Anceps, the fifth is most likely a Dactyl
if there are two long syllables with a single syllable between there is Spondee somewhere here
the shorter the verse, the more Spondees
A note on reading out loud: marking the first, stressed syllable of each foot only and clearly. I do it with a highlighter and it really helps to focus.