Book 1
7.26
My own teachers spelt seruus and ceruus with a uo, in order that the repetition of the vowel might not lead to the coalescence and confusion of the two sounds: to-day however we write these words with a double u on the principle which I have already stated: neither spelling however exactly expresses the pronunciation. It was not without reason that Claudius introduced the Aeolic digamma to represent this sound. cp. I. iv. 8. It is a distinct improvement that to-day we spell cui as I have written it:
7.27
when I was a boy it used to be spelt quoi, giving it a very full sound, merely to distinguish it from qui.
7.28
Again, what of words whose spelling is at variance with their pronunciation? For instance C is used as an abbreviation for Gaius, and when inverted stands for a woman, for as we know from the words of the marriage service women used to be called Gaiae, just as men were called Gaii. The bride used the formula ubi tu Gaius, ibi ego Gaia. Gnaeus
7.29
too in the abbreviation indicating the praenomen is spelt in a manner which does not agree with its pronunciation. We also find columnas columa is mentioned by the grammarian Pompeius as a barbarism in the fifth century. cp. dimin. columella. Consul is abbreviated cos. and consul spelt without an n, while Subura when indicated by three letters is spelt Suc. The original name was Sucusa. I could quote many other examples of this, but I fear that I have already said too much on so trivial a theme.
