Editing Syllable weight (section)

===Basic definition===
In [[Ancient Greek literature|Ancient Greek]] [[hexameter poetry]] and [[Latin literature]], lines followed certain [[meter (poetry)|metrical]] patterns, such as based on arrangements of heavy and light syllables. A heavy syllable was referred to as a '''{{lang|la|longum}}''' and a light as a '''{{lang|la|brevis}}''' (and in the modern day, reflecting the ancient terms, a {{lang|la|longum}} is often called a "long syllable" and a {{lang|la|brevis}} a "short syllable", potentially creating confusion between syllable length and [[vowel length]]).

Similarly, in [[Sanskrit prosody|Classical Sanskrit meter]], metrical patterns consisted of arrangements of syllable weight groups, called gaṇas (parallel to [[Foot (prosody)|Greek metrical feet]]). A heavy syllable was named '''''guru''''', and a light syllable was '''''laghu'''''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Vaidya|first=Lakshman|title=Sanskrit-English Dictionary|publisher=Sagoon Press|pages=843–856}}</ref>

A syllable was considered heavy if it contained a [[long vowel]] or a [[diphthong]] (and was therefore "long by nature"—it would be long no matter what) or if it contained a short vowel that was followed by more than one consonant ("long by position", long by virtue of its relationship to the consonants following). On the other hand, a syllable was light if it was an [[Syllable#Open and closed|open syllable]] and contained only a short vowel.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Smith|first=John D.|date=April 1978|title=Sanskrit: An introduction to the classical language. By Michael Coulson. (Teach Yourself Books.) pp. xxx, 493. London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1976. £2.95.|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0035869x00134665|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland|volume=110|issue=2|pages=177–178|doi=10.1017/s0035869x00134665|s2cid=162628684 |issn=0035-869X|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

{{Wikisource|1=Aeneid (Williams)/Book I|2=Aeneid (Book 1)}}
An example in Latin:
:{{lang|la|Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris}}
:{{lang|la|Italiam fato profugus Laviniaque venit}}
: (''[[Aeneid]]'' 1.1-2)

The first syllable of the first word (''{{lang|la|arma}}'') is heavy ("long by position") because it contains a short vowel (the A) followed by more than one consonant (R and then M)—and if not for the consonants coming after it, it would be light. The second syllable is light because it contains a short vowel (an A) followed immediately by only one consonant (the V). The next syllable is light for the same reason. The next syllable, the second syllable of the word ''{{lang|la|virumque}}'', is heavy ("long by position") because it contains a short vowel followed by more than one consonant (the M and then the Q).

But, for example, the first syllable of the word ''{{lang|la|Troiae}}'' is heavy ("long by nature") because it contains a diphthong, regardless of the sounds coming after it. Likewise, the fifth syllable of the second line (the first of the word ''{{lang|la|fato}}'') is heavy ("long by nature") because it contains a long vowel, and it will be heavy no matter what sounds come after. (The word "Italiam" is a special case, in that poets ''treat'' it as having a long-by-nature first syllable which it actually has not, in order to make it fit somehow.)

Terming a syllable "long by position" is equivalent to noting that the syllable ends with a consonant (a closed syllable), because Latin and Greek speakers in the classical era pronounced a consonant as part of a preceding syllable only when it was followed by other consonants, due to the rules of Greek and Latin [[syllabification]]. In a consonant cluster, one consonant ends the preceding syllable and the rest start the following syllable. For example, Latin syllabifies ''{{lang|la|volat}}'' as ''{{lang|la|vo-lat}}'' but ''{{lang|la|dignus}}'' as ''{{lang|la|dig-nus}}'' and ''{{lang|la|monstrum}}'' as ''{{lang|la|mon-strum}}''.