Phonology of Classical Latin

András Cser teaches linguistics at Pázmány Péter Catholic University. Besides Latin phonology, he has published on phonological theory, morphology, diachronic linguistics and the history of linguistics (Hungarian as well as European). His works include The Typology and Modelling of Obstruent Lenition and Fortition Processes (2003). He is the editor of Acta Linguistica Academica.

• List of figuresList of tablesAbbreviations and symbolsAcknowledgements1. Introduction1.1. Aims and scope 11.2. Previous research 11.3. The language, the data and the form of writing 21.4. The framework 71.5. The structure of the book 112. The segmental inventory 132.1. Introduction 132.2. Consonants 132.2.1. General distributional regularities in simplex forms 162.2.2. The question of the labiovelar(s) 202.2.2.1. The issue of frequency 222.2.2.2. Phonetic issues 222.2.2.3. Geminates 232.2.2.4. Positional restrictions and stop + glide sequences 242.2.2.5. The question of [sw] 252.2.2.6. Verb root structure 262.2.2.7. Voicing contrast in clusters 262.2.2.8. Alternations 272.2.2.9. Ad-assimilation 302.2.2.10. Diachronic considerations 302.2.2.11. Poetic licence 302.2.2.12. Further remarks on the voiced labiovelar 312.2.2.13. Summary of the labiovelar question 322.2.3. The placeless nasal 322.3. Vowels 342.3.1. The nasal vowels 352.3.2. The question of diphthongs 372.3.3. Hiatus 432.4. The phonological representations 442.5. Conclusion 463. The phonotactics of simplex forms and resyllabification 483.1. Introduction 483.1.1. Excursus on metrical evidence 503.2. The presentation of the consonant clusters 513.3. The analysis of the consonant clusters 513.4. Syllable contact and the interaction between place of articulation and sonority 673.5. Resyllabification and extrasyllabic [s] 703.6. A note on words written with initial〈gn〉743.7. Conclusion 814. Processes affecting consonants 824.1. Introduction 824.2. Contact voice assimilation 824.2.1. Excursus: loss of [s] before voiced consonants 844.3. Total assimilation of [t] to [s] 854.4. Rhotacism 864.5. Degemination 894.5.1. General degemination 894.5.2. Degemination of [s] 914.6. Nasal place loss before fricatives 924.7. Epenthesis after [m] 924.8. Place assimilation 944.9. Dark and clear [l] 964.10. Final stop deletion 994.11. Liquid dissimilation 1004.12. Conclusion 1035. Processes affecting vowels 1045.1. Introduction 1045.2. Alternations in vowel quality 1045.2.1. The Old Latin weakening 1045.2.2. Synchronic alternations between the short vowels 1065.2.2.1. Alternation in closed vs. open syllables 1065.2.2.2. Lowering before [r] 1085.2.2.3. Word-final lowering 1105.3. Vowel–zero alternations 1115.3.1. Before stem-final [r] 1115.3.2. Prevocalic deletion of back vowels 1125.3.3. Vowel–zero alternation in suffixes 1145.4. Length alternations 1145.4.1. Shortenings 1155.4.2. Lengthening before voiced stops 1155.4.3. Coalescence with empty vowel 1185.4.4. Coalescence with placeless nasal 1195.4.5. The abies-pattern 1215.5. Conclusion 1236. The inflectional morphology of Classical Latin 1246.1. Introduction 1246.2. Allomorphy in the verbal inflection 1266.2.1. The general structure of verbal inflection 1266.2.2. Affixes immediately following the infectum stem 1276.2.3. Affixes immediately following the perfectum stem 1316.2.3.1. Classification of affixes 1316.2.3.2. The general pattern of affix alternations 1326.2.3.3. Vowel deletion after [s] 1356.2.3.4. Hiatus and i-final perfectum stems 1356.2.3.5. The non-alternating suffixes 1376.2.4. Affixes following the extended stems 1396.3. Allomorphy in the nominal inflection 1416.3.1. Introductory remarks 1416.3.2. Case endings and allomorphy: nominative and accusative singular 1436.3.2.1. Phonological alternations in the nominative singular 1446.3.2.2. Gender marking 1456.3.3. Case endings and allomorphy: the remaining cases 1466.4. Morphophonological analysis: inflectional allomorphy and the vocalic scale 1496.5. The vocalic scale and sonority 1506.6. Conclusion 1527. The phonology of prefixed forms 1537.1. Introduction 1537.2. The prefixes of Latin 1557.2.1. Vowel-final prefixes + prae 1567.2.1.1. dē- 1567.2.1.2. prō- 1567.2.1.3. sē- 1577.2.1.4. ne- 1577.2.1.5. re- 1577.2.1.6. ambi- 1587.2.1.7. ante- 1597.2.1.8. vē- 1607.2.1.9. prae- 1607.2.2. Prefixes ending in [r] 1607.2.2.1. per- 1607.2.2.2. super- 1617.2.2.3. subter- 1617.2.2.4. inter- 1617.2.2.5. por- 1617.2.3. Nasal-final prefixes 1617.2.3.1. in- 1617.2.3.2. con- 1627.2.3.3. an- 1657.2.3.4. circum- 1657.2.4. Coronal obstruent-final prefixes 1667.2.4.1. post- 1667.2.4.2. ex- 1667.2.4.3. dis- 1687.2.4.4. trans- 1697.2.4.5. ad- 1707.2.5. Prefixes ending in [b] 1727.2.5.1. ob- 1727.2.5.2. ab- 1737.2.5.3. sub- 1757.3. Generalisations 1767.3.1. Assimilations 1767.3.1.1. Voice assimilation 1767.3.1.2. Place assimilation 1767.3.1.3. Total assimilation 1777.3.2. Non-assimilatory allomorphy 1797.3.2.1. [s]-allomorphy 1797.3.2.2. Vowel-triggered allomorphy 1797.3.2.3. [b]-allomorphy 1807.3.3. On the nature of prefix-variation 1807.4. Conclusion 1838. Conclusion and conspectus of the phonological rules 184Appendix 1: The textual frequency of consonants in Classical LatinAppendix 2: Authors and works mentioned in the textReferencesIndex of Latin wordsSubject index