Strategy One: “quick and dirty” rules
- a. take the last five syllables and go — ⏝ ⏝ — —
- b. mark any elisions
- c. if it ends in an o, it’s long
- d. go through and mark all the longs (-es is always long)
- e. mark off the feet as you have them
- f. then, count up the remaining vowels and divide by 2 or 3, or see what should be in that place
Example:
| a) last 5 syllables marked off | submissoque humiles intrarunt vērtĭcĕ pōstēs |
| b) remove ue and h, as they elide | submissoq |
| c) final o is long (ignore q – not part of the word) | submissōq |
| d) long vowels marked; vowel followed by 2 consonants is long (except sometimes l, h, r, m) | sūbmīssōq |
| e) mark off feet (2 longs or a long + 2 short) | sūbmīs/sōq |
| f) see what vowels are left | sūbmīs/sōq |
| g) 3 must be long – it is between 2 longs | sūbmīs/sōq |
| h) 1 & 2 must be short, since that is all that is left and the vowel before it is long | sūbmīs/sōq |
| (Philemon & Baucis 638) | sūbmīs/sōq |
This works well with students who want rules, who are result, as opposed to process, oriented, who like the idea of math vs art. Logical thinkers like to figure it out this way.
Strategy 2: dactyl – finger
Since dactyl is the Greek word for finger, this makes sense. This is good for students who like to see and touch things in front of them.
Strategy Three: Music
Use the analogy of whole and half notes, or half notes and quarter notes. With the relative size, 2 shorts take up the same space as 1 long. This is especially good for students who sing, or understand or can read music.
By Ruth Breindel, who taught Latin, Greek, Linguistics and Mythology at Moses Brown School for 30 years.