que, ue, ne, ce

Abstract

Latin grammarians held that the enclitics que, ue, ne, and ce caused the accent of the preceding word to fall on that word’s final syllable, regardless of the quantity of that syllable. Some modern scholars have regarded the grammarians as somewhat inconsistent on this point, or have noted that relevant discussions occur only in late works. But differences of opinion have focused especially on whether to consider the grammarians’ view worth serious attention in the first place. Chapter 6 considers Latin grammarians’ discussions first and foremost on their own terms: what do grammarians actually say about que, ue, ne, and ce, and what do they mean by it? The chapter also returns to the question whether the grammarians are telling us something serious about Latin, and if so for what period of the language.