32 Elision is dropping or slighting a final short vowel before
an initial vowel. The slighted vowel is replaced in writing by
an apostrophe (ʼ): ἀλλʼ ἐγώ for ἀλλὰ ἐγώ.
But between the parts of a compound word no apostrophe
is written.
For consonant changes see [42](file:///x:/Departments/Classics_Texts/schoolgrammarofa00goodrich_porson/HTML%20Files/Chapter-042.html).
- a. Verse inscriptions show that the ancients did not much
care whether they wrote or omitted the elided vowel.