Brevis brevians, also known as iambic shortening or correptio iambica, is a metrical feature of early Latin verse, especially Plautus and Terence, in which a pair of syllables which are theoretically short + long (u –) can be scanned as a pair of short syllables (u u). The plural is breves breviantes.
One common type is where a two-syllable word ends in a vowel which was originally long, for example volo, ibi, ego, nisi and so on. This type is also frequently found in classical Latin. For example:
- volo scīre, sinās an nōn sinās nōs coquer(e) hīc cēnam?[1]
- "I want to know whether you will or won't allow us to cook dinner here?"
Another type, not found in classical Latin poetry, is where a closed syllable such as il- or ec- scans as a short syllable. This sometimes happens after a monosyllabic word, for example:
- quid illī locūtī sunt inter sē? dīc mihī![2]
- "What did they just say to each other? Tell me!"
It may also happen in the 2nd syllable of a 4-syllable word, for example:
- suae senectūt(ī) is ācriōr(em) hiemem parāt[3]
- "He's preparing a more bitter winter for his old age"
It is thought by many scholars that such shortenings reflect the actual pronunciation of colloquial Latin. Others, however, disagree and consider that the second type, where a closed syllable is shortened, is merely a metrical licence.