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Sometimes also before two consonants (where it is usually changed into ĕ; v. supra, 2. α. β. ): tăg-, tango, contingo; păg-, pango, compingo (unchanged in some compounds, as peragro, desacro, depango, obcanto, etc.).ă is changed into ĭ in the reduplicated perfect forms: cădo, cecĭdi; căno, cecĭni; tăg-, tango, tetĭgi; păg-, pango, pepĭgi.Likewise in some roots which have ă: păg-, pignus; străg- (strangulo, στράγγω ), stringo.In words taken from the Greek: μηχανή, machĭna; πατάνη, patĭna; βυκάνη, bucĭna; τρυτάνη, trutĭna; βαλανεῖον, balĭneum; Κατάνα, Catĭna (written also Catana); ‘ Ακράγας, Agrĭgentum.Short a is changed into short or long o.Into ŏ: scăbo, scobs; păr, pars, portio; dăm-, dŏmo; Fabii, Fŏvii (v. Paul. ex Fest. p. 87); μάρμαρον, marmŏr; Mars, redupl. Marmar, Marmor (Carm. Fratr. Arv.).Into ō: dă-, dōnum, dōs; ăc-, ăcuo, ōcior (v. this art.).Short a is changed into ŭ—In the second part of compounds, particularly before l, p, and b: calco, inculco; salsus, insulsus; salto, exsulto; capio, occŭpo; răpio, surrupio and surruptus (also written surripio and surreptus); tăberna, contŭbernium; —before other consonants: quătio, conoŭtio; as, decussis; Mars, Mamŭrius, Mamŭralia; and once also condumnari (Tab. Bant. lin. 8, immediately followed by condemnatus, v. Klenze, Philol. Abhandl. tab. I., and Mommsen, Unterital. Dial. p. 149).In words of Greek origin: ‘ Εκάβη, Hecŭba; σκυτάλη, scutŭla; κραιπάλη, crapŭla; πάσσαλος, pessŭlus; ᾶφλαστον, aplustre; θρίαμβος, triumphus.ă is perhaps changed into ŭ in ulciscor, compared with alc-, ὐλέξω (arc-, arceo).Long a is sometimes changed into ē or ō.Into é: hālo, anhélo; fās-, féstus, profēstus; nām, némpe.Into ō: gnā-, gnārus, ignārus, ignōro. (But in general long a remains unchanged in composition: lābor, delūbor; gnàvus, ignūnus; fàma, infūmis.)Contrary to the mode of changing Greek α into Latin e, i, o, u (v. supra), Latin a has sometimes taken the place of other Greek vowels in words borrowed from the Greek, as: λόγχη, lancea; κύλιξ, călix; Γανυμηὀης, Caiāmitus.The repugnance of the Latin Language to the Greek combined vowels αο has caused the translocation of them in Alumento for Δαομέὸων (Paul. ex Fest. p. 18 Müll.).
Greek α is suppressed in Hercules from ‘ Ηρακλῆς (probably in consequence of the inserted u; in late Latin we find Heracla and Heracula, cf. Ritschl, in Rhein. Mus. Neue Folge, vol. 12, p. 108).Latin ă was early combined with the vowels i and u, forming the diphthongs ai and au; by changing the i into e, the diphthong ai soon became ae. So we find in the oldest inscriptions: AIDE, AIDLLIS, AIQVOM, GNAIVOD, HAICE, DVELONAI, TABELAI, DATAI, etc., which soon gave place to aedem, aedilis, aequom, Gnaeo, haec, Bellonae, tabellae, datae, etc. (the Col. Rostr. has PRAESENTE, PRAEDAD, and the S. C. de Bacch. AEDEM. The triphthong aei, found in CONQVAEISIVEI (?), is very rare; Miliar. Popil. lin. 11, v. Ritschl, l. l. p. 21). In some poets the old gen. sing. of the first decl. (-ai) is preserved, but is dissyllabic, āī. So in Ennius: Albūī Longūī, terrūī frugiferāī, frondosāī, lunāī, viāī; in Vergil: aulāī, aurāī, aquāī, pictāī; in Ausonius: herāī.ue as well as au are changed into other vowels.The sound of ae, e, and oe being very similar, these vowels are often interchanged in the best MSS., So we find caerimonia and cerimonia, caepa and cēpa, saeoulum and séculum; scaena and scēna; caelum and coelum, haedus and hoedus, macstus and moestus; cena, coena, and caena, etc.In composition and reduplications ae becomes í: aequus, iníquus; quaero, inquíro; laedo, illído; taedet, pertisum (noticed by Cic.); aestumo, exístumo; cuedo, cecídi, concído, homicida.ae is also changed into í in a Latinized word of Greek origin: Ἀχαιός (Ἀχαιϝόσ), Achíous.The diphthong au is often changed to ó and ú (the latter particularly in compounds): caudex, códex; Claudius, Clodius; lautus, lotus; plaustrum, plōstrum; plaudo, plōdo, explōdo; paululum, pōlulum; faux, suffōco; si audes (acc. to Cic. or acc. to others, si audies), sódes, etc.; claudo, inclūdo; causa, accūso. Hence in some words a regular gradation of au, o, u is found: claudo, clōdicare, clúdo; raudus, ródus, rúdus; caupo, cópa, cūpa; naugae, nōgae (both forms in the MSS. of Plautus), nūgae; fraustra, frode, frude (in MSS. of Vergil); cf. Ritschl, in Wintercatalog 1854-55, and O. Ribbeck, in Jahn's Neue Jahrb. vol. 77, p. 181 sq.—The change of au into oē and ō appears only in audio, (oboedio) obēdio.Au sometimes takes the place of av-: faveo, fautum, favitor, fautor; navis, navita, nauta; avis, auceps, auspex. So Latin aut corresponds to Sanscr. avo. (whence -vā, Lat. -ve), Osc. avti, Umbr. ute, ote; and so the Lat. preposition ab, through av, becomes au in the words aufero and aufugio (prop. av-fero, av-fugio, for ab-fero, ab-fugio). Vid. the art. ab init.In primitive roots, which have their kindred forms in the sister-languages of the Latin, the original a, still found in the Sanscrit, is in Latin either preserved or more frequently changed into other vowels.Original a preserved: Sanscr. mātri, Lat. màter; S. bhrātri, L. fràter; S. nāsā, L. nàsus and nàris; S. ap, L. aqua; S. apa, L. ab; S. nāma, L. năm; S. ćatur, L. quattuor (in Greek changed: τἑτταρες ); S. capūla, L. căput (in Greek changed: κεφαλή, etc.).Original a is changed into other Latin vowels— Into e: S. ad, L. ed (ĕdo); S. as, L. es (esse); S. pat, L. pet (peto); S. pād, L. pĕd (pès); S. dant, L. dent (dens); S. ǵan, L. gen (gigno); S. mā, L. mè-tior; S. saptan, L. septem; S. daśan, L. decem; S. śata, L. centum; S. aham, L. ŏgo; S. pāra, L. per; S. paśu, L. pŏcus; S. asva, L. ŏquus, etc. Into i: S. an-, a- (neg. part.), L. in-: S. ana (prep.), L. in; S. antar, L. inter; S. sama, L. similis; S. agni, L. ignis; S. abhra, L. imber; S. panéa, L. quinque, etc. Into o: S. avi, L. ŏvi (ovis); S. vać, L. vōc (voco); S. pra, L. pro; S. pā, L. po (pŏtum); S. nāma, L. nōmen; S. api, L. ŏb; S. navan, L. nŏvem; S. nava, L. nŏvus, etc. Into u: S. marmara, L. murmur. Into ai, ae: S. prati, L. (prai) prae; S. śaśpa, L. caespes. Into different vowels in the different derivatives: S. mā, L. mê-tior, mŏdus; S. praó, L. prŏcor, prŏcus; S. vah, L. vĕho, via. Sometimes the Latin has preserved the original a, while even the Sanscrit has changed it: Lat. pa-, pater, Sanscr. pd, pitri. As an abbreviation A. usually denotes the praenomen Aulus; A. A. = Auli duo, Inscr. Orell. 1530 (but A. A. = Aquae Aponi, the modern Abano, ib. 1643 sq.; 2620; 3011). The three directors of the mint were designated by III. VIRI A. A. A. F. F. (i. e. auro, argento, aeri flando, feriundo), ib. 569; 2242; 2379; 3134 al.; so also A. A. A., ib. 3441 (cf. Cic. Fam. 7, 13 fin., and v. the art. Triumviri); A. D. A. agris dandis adsignandis, and A. I. A. agris judicandis adsignandis; A. O. amico optimo; A. P. a populo or aediliciae potestatis; A. P. R. aerario populi Romani. —Upon the voting tablets in judicial trials A. denoted absoluo; hence A. is called littera salutaris, Cic. Mil. 6, 15; v. littera. In the Roman Comitia A. (=antiquo) denoted the rejection of the point in question; v. antiquo. In Cicero's Tusculan Disputations the A. designated one of the disputants = adulescens or auditor, opp. to M. for magister or Marcus (Cicero); but it is to be remarked that the letters A and M do not occur in the best MSS. of this treatise; cf. edd. ad Cic. Tusc. 1, 5, 9.—In dates A. D. =ante diem; v. ante; A. U. C. = anno urbis conditae; A. P. R. C. anno post Romam conditam.