Chapter 017Allen and Greenough's Latin GrammarDickinson CollegeChristopher Francese
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The parent language showed great variation in the vowel sounds of kindred words.
This variation was not without regularity, but was confined within definite limits.
This variation is often called by the German name
Ablaut.
It has left considerable traces in the forms of Latin words, appearing sometimes as a difference of quantity in the same vowel (as,
u
,
ū
;
e
,
ē
), sometimes as a difference in the vowel itself (as,
e
,
o
;
i
,
ae
):
In Greek, however, it is more extensively preserved.
—
tegō
,
I cover
,
toga
,
a robe;pendō
,
I weigh
,
pondus
,
weight;fidēs
,
faith
,
fīdus
,
faithful
,
foedus
,
a treaty;miser
,
wretched
,
maestus
,
sad;dare
,
to give
,
dōnum
,
a gift;regō
,
I rule
,
rēx
,
a king;dux
,
a leader
,
dūcō
(for older
doucō
),
I lead.
Compare English
drive
,
drove
(
drave
),
driven; bind
,
bound
,
band; sing
,
sang
,
sung;
etc.