§1.7.1nunc, quoniam diximus, quae sit loquendi regula, dicendum, quae scribentibus custodienda, quod Graeci ὀρθογραφίαν vocant; hoc nos recte scribendi scientiam nominemus.
Now that we have finished speaking of what the rule of speaking is, we must speak of what must be observed by writers, which the Greeks call orthography; let us call this the knowledge of writing correctly.
cuius ars non in hoc posita est, ut noverimus, quibus quaeque syllaba litteris constet (nam id quidem infra grammatici officium est), sed totam, ut mea fert opinio, subtilitatem in dubiis habet.
The art of this is not placed in this, that we should know of what letters each syllable consists (for that indeed is below the duty of a grammarian), but in my opinion, it has its whole subtlety in doubtful cases.
§1.7.2ut longis syllabis omnibus apponere apicem ineptissimum est, quia plurimae natura ipsa verbi quod scribitur patent, sed interim necessarium, cum eadem littera alium atque alium intellectum, prout correpta vel producta est, facit;
For instance, to place an apex over all long syllables is extremely foolish, since most are obvious from the very nature of the word which is written; but it is sometimes necessary when the same letter makes a different meaning according as it is shortened or lengthened.
ut malus arborem significat an hominem non bonum apice distinguitur,
For example, whether malus means an apple tree or a bad man is distinguished by an apex.
§1.7.3palus aliud priore syllaba longa aliud sequenti significat, et cum eadem littera nominativo casu brevis, ablativo longa est, utrum sequamur, plerumque hac nota monendi sumus.
palus means one thing when the first syllable is long, and another when the following is long; and when the same letter is short in the nominative case and long in the ablative, we must usually be warned by this mark which we are to follow.
§1.7.4similiter putaverunt illa quoque servanda discrimina, ut ex praepositionem, si verbum sequeretur specto, adiecta secundae syllabae s littera, si pecto, remota scriberemus.
Similarly, they thought that those distinctions also should be observed, so that we should write the preposition ex with the letter s added to the second syllable if the verb specto followed, but removed if pecto followed.
§1.7.5illa quoque servata est a multis differentia, ut ad, cum esset praepositio, d litteram, cum autem coniunctio, t acciperet, itemque cum, si tempus significaret, per qu, si comitem, per c ac duas sequentes scriberetur.
That distinction also was observed by many, that ad, when it was a preposition, should take the letter d, but when a conjunction, t; and likewise cum, if it signified time, should be written with qu, but if a companion, with c and the two following letters.
§1.7.6frigidiora his alia, ut quidquid c quartam haberet, ne interrogare his videremur; et quotidie non cotidie, ut sit quot diebus.
Other things are more trifling than these, as that quidquid should have a c as its fourth letter, lest we should seem to be asking a question with these; and quotidie rather than cotidie, so that it may be from quot diebus.
verum haec iam etiam inter ipsas ineptias evanuerunt.
But these have now vanished even among trifles themselves.
§1.7.7quaeri solet, in scribendo praepositiones sonum quem iunctae efficiunt, an quem separatae, observare conveniat: ut, cum dico optinuit (secundam enim b litteram ratio poscit, §1.7.8aures magis audiunt p) et immunis, illud enim, quod veritas exigit, sequentis syllabae sono victum m gemina commutatur.
It is often asked whether, in writing prepositions, it is proper to observe the sound which they make when joined, or when separate: as when I say optinuit (for reason demands the letter b as the second, but the ears hear p rather) and immunis, for there that which truth demands, overcome by the sound of the following syllable, is changed into a double m.
§1.7.9est et in dividendis verbis observatio, mediam litteram consonantem priori an sequenti syllabae adiungas: haruspex enim, quia pars eius posterior a spectando est, s litteram tertiae dabit; abstemius, quia ex abstinentia temeti composita vox est, primae relinquet.
There is also an observation in dividing words, whether you should join a middle consonant to the preceding or to the following syllable: for haruspex, because its latter part is from spectando, will give the letter s to the third syllable; abstemius, because the word is compounded from the abstinence of temetum, will leave it to the first.
§1.7.10nam k quidem in nullis verbis utendum puto, nisi quae significant, etiam ut sola ponatur.
For indeed I think that k ought to be used in no words, except those which it signifies even when placed alone.
hoc eo non omisi, quod quidam eam, quotiens a sequatur, necessariam credunt, cum sit c littera, quae ad omnes vocales vim suam perferat.
I have not omitted this for the reason that some believe it necessary as often as a follows, though there is the letter c, which carries its force to all vowels.
§1.7.11verum orthographia quoque consuetudini servit, ideoque saepe mutata est.
But orthography also serves custom, and therefore has often been changed.
nam illa vetustissima transeo tempora, quibus et pauciores litterae nec similes his nostris earum formae fuerunt et vis quoque diversa, sicut apud Graecos o litterae, quae interim longa ac brevis ut apud nos, interim pro syllaba quam nomine suo exprimit posita est; §1.7.12ut Latinis veteribus d plurimis in verbis adiectam ultimam, quod manifestum est etiam ex columna rostrata, quae est Duilio in foro posita; interim g quoque, ut in pulvinari Solis, qui colitur iuxta aedem Quirini, vesperug, quod vesperuginem accipimus.
For I pass over those most ancient times in which there were both fewer letters and their forms were not like these of ours, and their force was also different, just as among the Greeks the letter o, which was sometimes long and short as with us, and sometimes put for the syllable which it expresses by its own name; as with the ancient Latins, d was added as the last letter in very many words, which is manifest also from the rostral column which is placed for Duilius in the forum; sometimes g also, as on the couch of Sol, who is worshipped near the temple of Quirinus, vesperug, which we understand as vesperuginem.
§1.7.13de mutatione etiam litterarum, de qua supra dixi, nihil repetere hic necesse est, fortasse enim sicut scribebant etiam loquebantur.
Concerning the change of letters also, of which I spoke above, there is no need to repeat anything here; for perhaps they even spoke just as they wrote.
§1.7.14semivocales geminare diu non fuit usitatissimi moris, atque e contrario usque ad Accium et ultra porrectas syllabas geminis, ut dixi, vocalibus scripserunt.
To double semivowels was for a long time not of very common custom, and on the contrary, up to the time of Accius and beyond, they wrote lengthened syllables with double vowels, as I have said.
§1.7.15diutius duravit, ut e et i iungendis eadem ratione qua Graeci ει uterentur; ea casibus numerisque discreta est, ut Lucilius praecipit: iam puerei venere, e postremum. facito atque i, Ut pueri plures fiant; ac deinceps idem: mendaci furique addes e, cum dare furi iusseris. §1.7.16quod quidem cum supervacuum est, quia i tam longae quam brevis naturam habet, tum incommodum aliquando.
It lasted longer that they used e and i joined in the same way as the Greeks used ει; this was distinguished by cases and numbers, as Lucilius prescribes: 'now the boys have come, make the last e and i, so that the boys may become plural'; and next the same author: 'to a liar and a thief you will add e, when you order to give to a thief.' Which indeed is not only superfluous, because i has the nature of both long and short, but also sometimes inconvenient.
nam in iis, quae proximam ab ultima litteram e habebunt et i longa terminabuntur, illam rationem sequentes utemur e gemina, qualia sunt haec aurei, argentei et his similia.
For in those words which have the letter e next to the last and end in long i, if we follow that rule, we shall use a double e, such as these, aurei, argentei, and things similar to these.
§1.7.17idque iis praecipue, qui ad lectionem instituentur, etiam impedimento erit; sicut in Graecis accidit adiectione i litterae, quam non solum dativis casibus in parte ultima ascribunt sed quibusdam etiam interponunt, ut in ΛΗΙΣΤΗΙ quia etymologia ex divisione in tris syllabas facta desideret eam litteram.
And this will be an impediment especially to those who are being instructed in reading; just as has happened among the Greeks by the addition of the letter i, which they not only write at the end in dative cases, but even insert in some words, as in ΛΗΙΣΤΗΙ, because etymology, made from the division into three syllables, requires that letter.