Ausonius while giving the
pronunciation of most letters of the alphabet
does not afford us any information respecting
the sound of F, but Quintilian xii. 10, s. 29,
describes the pronunciation of the Roman F.
Some scholars understand him as indicating
that the Roman F had rather a rougher sound
than the English F. Others agree with Dr.
H.J. Roby, and are of opinion that Quintilian
means that the Roman F was "blown out
between the intervals of the teeth with no
sound of voice." (See Roby's Grammar of
the Latin language, 1881, xxxvi.) But Dr. A.
Bos in his "Petit Traite de prononciation
Latine," 1897, asserts that the old Latin manner
of pronouncing F was effe. Even if Dr.
A. Bos is correct it is not at all likely that effe
was a dissyllable, but most probably it would
be sounded very nearly like the Greek "[Greek: phi],"
that is as "pfe." In any case (even if it
were a dissyllable) F would, with the DI
of LUDI, form two long syllables and scan
as a spondee.
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