Textkit Greek and Latin Forums

In the very first exercise, which involves division in to syllables, the answer key shows eius divided as ei-us.

Why not e-ius? Isn't i consonantal here?

It is actually ej-jus. That macron is very confusing, it signifies a doubled consonantal i. There are a few places macrons do this job: e.g. huj-jus.

Isn't "ei" a diphthong? If it is, the "i" in "ei" can't be treated as a consonant (can it?).

Sorry, I don't mean to pretend to know anything about this. I'm just confused, that's all.

Isanger, the answer given by Metrodus is correct. It is not necessarily the case that one Latin letter always corresponds to exactly a single sound. In this case, the single i actually stands in for a double i, meaning that the i makes both the preceding vowel a diphtong and serves as a consonant for the second syllable (so, e.g., ei-ius). From Allen and Greenough:

Between consonant i and a preceding a, e, o or u, an i was developed as a transient sound, thus producing a diphthong ai , ei , etc., before the consonant i. In such cases but one i was written: as, âiō (for † ai-iō ), mâius (for † mai-ius ), pêius (for † pei-ius ).

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... smythp%3D6

Also note that having two vowels together that could form a diphthong does not mean that in 100% of words that they are pronounced as a diphthong, even if that is usually a safe assumption.