The principles of Latin grammar; comprising the ... - Essan.org

—;LATIN GEAMMAR.1. Late* Geammae, is tlie art of speaking orwriting the Latin language with propriety.It is divided into four parts; namely, Orthography,Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody.PART FIRST.OKTHOGKAP^Y.2. Orthography treats of letters, and themode of combining them into syllables andwords.§ 1. LETTERS.3.—A Letter is a mark or character used to represent anelementary sound of the human voice.The Latin Alphabet consists of twenty-five letters, the samein name and form as those of the English Alphabet, but withoutthe w.Letters are either Vowels or Consonants.VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS.4.—A Vowel is a letter which represents a simple inarticulate soundand, in a word or syllable, may be sounded alone.The vowels are a, e, i, o, u, y. In Latin, y is never a consonant as inEnglish. *5.—The union of two vowels in one sound, is called a Diphthong.Diphthongsare of two kinds, proper and improper.1