Arsis. The syllable which receives the ictus is called the
thesis; the rest of the foot is called the arsis.

7. Elision. Final syllables ending in a vowel, a diphthong, or -m are
regularly elided before a word beginning with a vowel or h. In reading, we
omit the elided syllable entirely. This may be indicated as follows:
corpor^e in uno; mult^um ill^e et; monstr^um horrendum; caus^ae irarum.

a. Omission of elision is called Hiatus. It occurs especially before and
after monosyllabic interjections; as, O et praesidium.

8. The ending of a word within a foot is called a Caesura (_cutting_) Every
verse usually has one prominent caesura. The ending of a word and foot
together within the verse is called a diaeresis.

9. Verses are distinguished as Catalectic or Acatalectic. A Catalectic
verse is one in which the last foot is not complete, but lacks one or more
syllables; an Acatalectic verse has its last foot complete.

10. At the end of a verse a slight pause occurred. Hence the final syllable
may be either long or short (syllaba anceps), and may terminate in a vowel
or m, even though the next verse begins with a vowel.

11. Iambic, Trochaic, and Anapaestic verses are further designated as
dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, according to _the number of dipodies_ (pairs
of feet) which they contain. Dactylic verses are measured _by single feet_,
and are designated as tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter, accordingly.

SPECIAL PECULIARITIES.

367. 1. Synizesis (synaeresis). Two successive vowels in the interior of a
word are often united into a long syllable; as,--

aur{ei}s, d{ei}nde, ant{ei}re, d{ee}sse.

2. Diastole. A syllable usually short is sometimes long; as,--

videt, audit.

3. Systole. A syllable usually long is sometimes short; as,--

steterunt.

a. Diastole and Systole are not mere arbitrary processes. They usually
represent an earlier pronunciation which had passed out of vogue in the
ordinary speech.

4. After a consonant, i and u sometimes become j and v. The preceding
syllable then becomes long; as,--

abjete for abiete; genva for genua.

5. Sometimes v becomes u; as,--

silua for silva; dissoluo for dissolvo.

6. Sometimes a verse has an extra syllable. Such a verse is called an
Hypermeter. The extra syllable ends in a vowel or -m, and is united with
the initial vowel or h of the next verse by Synapheia. Thus:--

... ignar^i hominumque locorum^que
erramus.