I » -ICIO

Schau mal, was Quintilian Interessantes dazu geschrieben hat:

Zitat von M. FABII QVINTILIANI INSTITVTIO ORATORIA LIBER PRIMVS auf http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/quintilia...itutio1.shtml#4
[4] VI. Ne quis igitur tamquam parva fastidiat grammatices elementa, non quia magnae sit operae consonantes a vocalibus discernere ipsasque eas in semivocalium numerum mutarumque partiri, sed quia interiora velut sacri huius adeuntibus apparebit multa rerum subtilitas, quae non modo acuere ingenia puerilia, sed exercere altissimam quoque eruditionem ac scientiam possit. VII. An cuiuslibet auris est exigere litterarum sonos? Non hercule magis quam nervorum. Aut grammatici saltem omnes in hanc descendent rerum tenuitatem, desintne aliquae nobis necessariae litterae, non cum Graeca scribimus (tum enim ab isdem duas mutuamur), sed proprie in Latinis: ut in his "servus" et "vulgus" VIII. Aeolicum digammon desideratur, et medius est quidam u et i litterae sonus (non enim sic "optimum" dicimus ut "opimum"), et in "here" neque e plane neque i auditur; IX. an rursus aliae redundent, praeter illam adspirationis, quae si necessaria est, etiam contrariam sibi poscit, et k, quae et ipsa quorundam nominum nota est, et q, cuius similis effectu specieque, nisi quod paulum a nostris obliquatur, coppa apud Graecos nunc tantum in numero manet, et nostrarum ultima, qua tam carere potuimus quam psi non quaerimus? X. Atque etiam in ipsis vocalibus grammatici est videre an aliquas pro consonantibus usus acceperit, quia "iam" sicut "etiam" scribitur et "uos" ut "tuos". At quae ut vocales iunguntur aut unam longam faciunt, ut veteres scripserunt, qui geminatione earum velut apice utebantur, aut duas: nisi quis putat etiam ex tribus vocalibus syllabam fieri si non aliquae officio consonantium fungantur. XI. Quaeret hoc etiam, quo modo duabus demum vocalibus in se ipsas coeundi natura sit, cum consonantium nulla nisi alteram frangat: atqui littera i sibi insidit ("conicit" enim est ab illo "iacit") et u, quo modo nunc scribitur "vulgus" et "servus". Sciat etiam Ciceroni placuisse "aiio" "Maiiam"que geminata i scribere: quod si est, etiam iungetur ut consonans. XII. Quare discat puer quid in litteris proprium, quid commune, quae cum quibus cognatio: nec miretur cur ex "scamno" fiat "scabillum" aut a "pinno", quod est acutum, securis utrimque habens aciem "bipennis", ne illorum sequatur errorem qui, quia a pennis duabus hoc esse nomen existimant, pennas avium dici volunt.

Zitat von Englische Übersetzung von M. FABII QVINTILIANI INSTITVTIO ORATORIA LIBER PRIMVS bei LacusCurtius
6 The elementary stages of the teaching of literature must not therefore be despised as trivial. It is of course an easy task to point out the difference between vowels and consonants, and to subdivide the latter into semivowels and mutes. But as the pupil gradually approaches the inner shrine of the sacred place, he will come to realise the intricacy of the subject, an intricacy calculated not merely to sharpen the wits of a boy, but to exercise even the most profound knowledge and erudition. 7 It is not every ear that can appreciate the correct sound of the different letters. It is fully as hard as to distinguish the different notes in music. But all teachers of literature will condescend to such minutiae: they will discuss for instance whether certain necessary letters are absent from the alphabet, not indeed when we are writing Greek words (for then we borrow two letters6 from them), but in the case of genuine Latin words: 8 for example in words such as seruus and uulgus we feel the lack of the Aeolic digamma; there is also a sound intermediate between p67u and i, for we do not pronounce optimum as we do opimum, while in here the sound is neither exactly e nor i.a 9 Again there is the question whether certain letters are not superfluous, not to mention the mark of the aspirate, to which, if it is required at all, there should be a corresponding symbol to indicate the opposite: for instance k, which is also used as an abbreviation for certain nouns, and q, which, though slanted slightly more by us, resembles both in sound and shape the Greek koppa, now used by the Greeks solely as a numerical sign:7 there is also x, the last letter of our alphabet, which we could dispense with as easily as with psi. 10 Again the teacher of literature will have to determine whether certain vowels have not been consonantalised. For instance iam and etiam are both spelt with an i, uos and tuos both with u. Vowels, however, when joined as vowels, either make one long vowel (compare the obsolete method of indicating a long vowel by doubling it as the equivalent of the circumflex),b or a diphthong, though some hold that even three vowels can form a single syllable; this however is only possible if one or more assume the role of consonants. 11 He will also inquire why it is that there are two vowels which may be repeated, while a consonant can only be followed and modified by a different consonant.8 But i can follow i (for coniicit is derived from iacit):9 so too does u, witness the modern spelling of seruus and uulgus. He should also know that Cicero preferred to write aiio and Maiiam with a double i; in that case one p69of them is consonantalised. 12 A boy must therefore learn both the peculiarities and the common characteristics of letters and must know how they are related to each other. Nor must he be surprised that scabillum is formed from scamnus or that a double-edged axe should be called bipennis from pinnus, "sharp": for I would not have him fall into the same error as those who, supposing this word to be derived from bis and pennae, think that it is a metaphor from the wings of birds.

Leider ist diese Stelle für unsere Belange nicht ergiebig genug.