Substitution through insertion or omission of syllable
Very commonly the substituted word differs from the genuine word in the insertion of a syllable.
Thus
infamia becomes
in familia (e.g. in MSS. of
Livy
xlv. 38. 10),
consido becomes
considero. We must
excuse such mistakes when we consider that a mediaeval scribe was in the habit of finding in his
originals contractions like
aia for
anima, and syllables
like
er, us etc. expressed by shorthand signs (see
ch. vii. § 1) which were often very faint and hardly
discernible. The opposite error, of omitting a syllable,
by which, for example,
periratus has become
piratus in
Truc. 656, has been already mentioned in
ch. iii. § 10.
Diminutives, it should be noticed, are often confused
with the simple word; e.g.
servolus becomes
servus
(
Asin. Arg. 4),
primulo becomes
primo
(
Cas. 40),
saccum becomes
sacculum (
Capt. 90). Similarly frequentatives with
simple verbs, e.g.
clamito and
clamo (cf.
Most. 6); and
2nd singular with 2nd plural imperative, e.g.
intercludite for
interclude
(
Mil. 223; see Leo's note).