[34]
E has a
flatter, i a narrower sound, and consequently such
blemishes are less noticeable where they are concerned. It is a less serious fault to place short
vowels after long, a statement which applies even
more strongly to placing short vowels before long.
But the least unsatisfactory combination is that of
two short vowels. And in all conjunctions of vowels,
the resulting sound will be proportionately soft or
harsh according as they resemble or differ from each
other in the method of utterance.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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