Scansion (Latin IV-VI)

9/13/2010
Step one: Mark all elisions. Elision occurs when a wor ens in a V!"EL or in the letter
M# an the ne$t wor %e&ins in a V!"EL or a letter '. (ou will onl) *ronounce the
+owel soun startin& the secon wor (ie# the wor %e&innin& with a +owel).
E$a,*les- ./uo/ue et0 is *ronounce ./uo/uet01 .at/ue altae0 %eco,es
.at/ualtae01 an .,ultu, ille0 %eco,es .,ultille0 when *ronounce.
NB: !ccasionall) elision will not occur. 2his is calle hiatus.
Step two: Mark all s)lla%les containin& a lon& +owel (,acron) lon&.
Step three: Mark all s)lla%les containin& a i*thon& (ae# au# oe# ui# eu# ei) lon&.
Step four: Mark all s)lla%les that are 3ollowe %) 2 consonants or .$0 lon&.
NB: .i0 an .u0 are occasionall) consonants. L an 4 as a secon consonant
o3ten o not count as two consonants. (e&# .%l0# .tr0# etc are o3ten counte as 1
consonant).
Step five: 5suall) )ou0ll ,ark e+er)thin& else short. Make sure that )ou ha+e 6 3eet o3
act)ls (lon&-short-short) or s*onees (lon&-lon&). 2he 3i3th 3oot is al,ost alwa)s a
act)l an the 6
th
3oot is al,ost alwa)s a s*onee %) e3ault.
Scansion 7ractice
8r,a +iru,/ue can9# 2roiae /u: *r:,us a% 9r:s
;talia,# 3<t9 *ro3u&us# L<+:na/ue +=nit
l:tora# ,ultu, ille et terr:s iact<tus et alt9
+: su*eru, sae+ae ,e,ore, I>n9nis o% :ra,1
,ulta /uo/ue et %ell9 *assus# u, coneret ur%e,#
:n3erret/ue e9s Lati9# &enus une Lat:nu,#
8l%<n:/ue *atr=s# at/ue altae ,oenia 49,ae.