The declensional categories are those defined in chapter II, §6 and note 1. MF = masculine and feminine, N = neuter, 1 = nominative, accusative, and vocative (abbreviated NAV in the text), 2 = other cases, s = singular, ρ = plural, a = first hemistich, b = second hemistich, ab = the whole pentameter. The number of instances in each category is given in ordinary type, followed by the proportion that this number constitutes of all declensional forms in the same column. Immediately beneath the number of instances another figure is given in italics for all forms in the same category, the endings of which, in the metrical conditions under which they are actually used, account for short syllables in the scansion. The italicized percentages in parentheses represent the ratio of the latter to the former (i.e. of the italicized figure to the one above it), and are referred to in the text as ‘percentages of utilization’ (cf. chapter III, note 16). E.g., there are in the pentameters of Catullus (see table I) 415 instances of masculine and feminine NAV singulars, constituting 38.3% of all declensional forms used in the same pentameters; of these, over one-third (152, or 36.6%) have endings that provide short syllables in the metrical conditions under which they are used. The total of 415 forms is divided about equally between the two hemistichs, with 51.3% in the second; but almost three-quarters (72.4%) of the forms with metrically short endings are found in the latter hemistich. To approach the matter from another point of view: although the 415 forms in question are about equally divided between the two hemistichs, with 202 in the first and 213 in the second, only one-fifth (42, or 20.8%) of the 202 forms in the first hemistich have metrically short endings, against a good one-half (110, or 51.6%) of the 213 in the second.—The total sum of masculines and feminines, of all cases and both numbers, is given after MF, the total sum of neuters after N, and of all declensional forms after MFN. The analysis of class MF Is into its component cases (nominative, accusative, and vocative) is to be found at the foot of each table. All figures with the decimal point are percentages, printed without the sign; the last place has been adjusted where necessary, in accordance with the usual principles, to effect a total of 100%. Percentages have been given throughout, even when the smallness of the numbers upon which they are based diminishes their significance.
A Mon, study studied this question.