Nomen

a.d. xii Kal. Oct. MMXIII p. Chr. a. (20 Sep 2013)

R-5/R-9
IB Latin Yr 2 SL
HENDECASYLLABIC REVIEW

Catullus c.45 is a poem in the hendecasyllabic meter.

Hendecasyllabic (hen = one + deka = ten) lines consist of eleven scanned syllables following
this regular pattern.

|||||
Rarely, the first foot consists of a long-short ( ) or short-long ( ) combination.
Because there are no silent vowels in Latin, a Latin word has as many syllables as it does vowels
and diphthongs.
Below, find the summarized rules for long syllables, short syllabes, and elisions.
RULES FOR
LONG SYLLABLES

RULES FOR
SHORT SYLLABLES

1. Diphthongs are always long.

The most common diphthongs
are ae, au, and ua.

1. A vowel that is followed by one

consonant is short by position.

2. Vowels marked by a macron in

texts are called long by nature.
Examples include habre,
senatribus, and amtus.
3. Vowels followed by two
consonants are long by
position.
4. Vowels followed by the letter x
are long by position.

2. A vowel followed by another

vowel is short by position,
unless they create a diphthong.
3. If the second consonant in a
row in a word is l or r, the vowel
before it may be short or long.

RULES FOR
ELISIONS
1. When a word ends in a vowel
and the following word begins
in a vowel, the first vowel is
elided. Only the second vowel
is scanned and pronounced.
(od et = odet)
2. When a word ends in am, em,
or um and the following word
begins in a vowel, the am/em/
um is elided. Only the second
vowel is scanned and
pronounced.
(multum ille = multille)
3. When a word ends in a vowel
or am/em/um and the
following word begins in an h,
the first vowel or ending and
the h elide. Only the second
vowel is scanned and
pronounced.
(dce haec = dcaec)

REMEMBER:
1. The u in qu is never scanned. qu counts as one consonant.
2. If i makes an ih or ee sound as it does in the words inter or es, it counts as an i and should be
considered a vowel. If it makes a yuh sound as in iam or eius, it counts as a j and should be considered
a consonant.

PAPER