OTP: Lesson - The Scansion of Poetry - Elision

The Scansion of Poetry - Elision

In Latin poetry, there are situations in which two vowels will be combined to make a single syllable. The first vowel loses its sound, getting elided into the second vowel. This process is called elision and can be marked with a tilde (~). Elision happens when:

• The first word ends in a vowel and the second word starts with a vowel:
  • arma oris => arma~oris
    • The a elides into the o, with only the o making a sound so that it would be pronounced like this:
    • armoris
• The first word ends in a vowel and the second word starts with h+vowel:
  • omnia haec => omnia~haec
    • The sound of the a from omnia and the h from haec drop out, so only the -ae- will remain. It would be pronounced like this:
    • omniaec
• The first word ends in vowel+m and the second word starts with a vowel:
  • maximum est => maximum~est
    • Here, the um sound drops out. It would be pronounced like this:
    • maximest

Before you begin attempting to scan a line of poetry, checking for elision should be your first job. The most common mistake made when scanning a line is missing an elided vowel that throws off the rest of the analysis. Check for elision first!