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In languages with quantitative poetic [[Meter (poetry)|metres]], such as [[Greek language|Ancient Greek]], [[Latin]], Arabic, [[Sanskrit]], and classical Persian, an '''anceps''' (plural ''ancipitia''<ref>A.M. Devine, Laurence D Stephens (1994) ''The Prosody of Greek Speech'', p. 75; Gratwick, A.S. ''Plautus: Menaechmi'', p. 44.</ref> or ''(syllabae) ancipites''<ref>August Böckh, (1809). ''Über die Versmasse des Pindaros'', p. 116; C.W. Willink (2010), ''Collected papers on Greek Tragedy'', p. 477.</ref>) is a position in a metrical pattern which can be filled by either a long or a short syllable.

In general, ''anceps'' syllables in words, such as the first syllable of the Greek words {{lang|grc|Ἄρης}} {{grc-transl|Ἄρης}} (the Greek god of war) or {{lang|grc|πικρός}} {{grc-transl|πικρός}} "bitter", which can be treated by poets as either long or short, can be distinguished from ''anceps'' elements or positions in a metrical pattern, which are positions where either a long syllable or a short syllable can be used.<ref>M. L. West, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/638567 "Three topics in Greek metre"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204060024/https://www.jstor.org/stable/638567 |date=4 December 2019 }}, ''The Classical Quarterly'', Vol. 32, No. 2 (1982), pp. 281-297;  p. 286.</ref>

Another distinction can be made between the ordinary ''anceps'' positions at the beginning or middle of a line of verse and the phenomenon of ''[[brevis in longo]]'', which is when a short syllable at the end of a line counts as long because of the pause which follows.<ref name="west287"/>

The word ''anceps'' comes from the Latin ''anceps, ancipitis'', meaning "two-headed, uncertain, unfixed".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://logeion.uchicago.edu/anceps|access-date=23 April 2023|website=uchicago.edu|title=Anceps|archive-date=7 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407151931/https://logeion.uchicago.edu/anceps|url-status=live}}</ref> The usage of the word in a metrical context is, however, relatively modern, and is not found in ancient writers.

==In Ancient Greek==
''Anceps'' elements can be found in a variety of metres in Ancient Greek. ''Anceps'' elements in the middle or beginning of a line are characteristic of the [[iambic trimeter]] of Greek drama. A typical iambic trimeter has the following form ("–" = long, "u" = short, and "x" = ''anceps''):<ref>W. W. Goodwin (1894), ''Greek Grammar'', p. 358.</ref>

:| x – u – | x – u – | x – u – |

Except for the last element, an ''anceps'' or a ''longum'' is sometimes replaced by two short syllables (see [[Resolution (meter)]] and [[Prosody (Greek)#Iambic]]).

In the trochaic metres, on the other hand, the ''anceps'' comes at the end of each metron, for example the trochaic tetrameter [[catalectic]]:

:| – u – x | – u – x || – u – x | – u – |

''Anceps'' elements are also found in the [[Aeolic verse|Aeolic metres]], such as the [[Sapphic stanza|Sapphic metre]], in which the first three lines are as follows, opening with a trochaic metron:<ref>W. W. Goodwin (1894), ''Greek Grammar'', p. 365.</ref>

:| – u – x | – u u – | u – – |

In other Aeolic metres, it is possible for a line to begin with two ''anceps'' syllables in succession, for example in the [[glyconic]] metre:
:| x x | – u u – | u – |

In such metres it is not allowed for both ''ancipitia'' to be short; both in the Aeolic metres and in the [[Prosody (Greek)#Eupolidean|eupolidean]], the usual form of the base is –&nbsp;– or –&nbsp;u, with u&nbsp;– occurring much less often. [[Martin Litchfield West|Martin West]] argues that this double ''anceps'' opening is a relic of an earlier period, also reflected in Sanskrit, when the beginning of a line of poetry had free scansion and only the end was fixed.<ref name=west287>M. L. West, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/638567 "Three topics in Greek metre"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204060024/https://www.jstor.org/stable/638567 |date=4 December 2019 }}, ''The Classical Quarterly'', Vol. 32, No. 2 (1982), pp. 281-297;  p. 287.</ref>

West points out that in Ancient Greek, an ''anceps'' is not found next to a short element. He argues that in most metres, every 2nd or 3rd element is compulsorily long, and can be considered a ''locus princeps'' (principal position). Either before or after a ''princeps'' there must be a short element. Between each ''princeps'' and the next there can be either an ''anceps'', a short, or two shorts.<ref name=west287 />

Some metres, such as the [[Dactylic hexameter|dactylic]] and [[Prosody (Greek)#Anapest|anapaestic]] metres, have no ''anceps'' syllables, although they make liberal use of ''[[biceps (prosody)|biceps]]''.

==In Latin==
In Latin, in the metres of Roman comedy such as those of [[Plautus]], ''anceps'' syllables are even more common than in the Greek equivalents. In Plautus the [[iambic senarius]] (which is the equivalent of the Greek iambic trimeter) has this form:

:| x – x – | x – x – | x – u – |

The ''anceps'' elements, however, are not all equal, since the 2nd and 4th ''anceps'' elements, which are always short in Greek verse, tend to be short more frequently than the other ''ancipites''. These two are long in 60% of lines, the 1st and 3rd in 80% of lines, and the 5th in 90% of lines.<ref>Gratwick, A. S. (1993), ''Plautus: Menaechmi'', Cambridge University Press, p. 44.</ref> In the first two metrons, any of the long or ''anceps'' positions can be [[resolution (meter)|resolved]] into two short syllables, but this happens less frequently in ''anceps'' positions than in long ones.<ref>Moore, Timothy J. (2012), ''Music in Roman Comedy''. Cambridge University Press, p. 220.</ref>

Other metres which may have ''anceps'' positions in Latin are the bacchiac and cretic metres used in ''cantica'' (songs) in the plays of [[Plautus]]. For example, the bacchiac quaternarius is as follows:

:| x – – | x – – | x – – | x – – |

and the cretic as follows:

:| – x – | – u – || – x – | – u – |

The [[hendecasyllable]] metre used by [[Catullus]] and [[Martial]] has the following form, beginning in the same way as a glyconic line (see above):

:| x x | – u u – u – u – – |

The first two syllables are usually long, but occasionally in Catullus u – or – u is found.

However, in other metres of Latin poetry, ''anceps'' syllables do not occur (except for the usual possibility of [[brevis in longo]] at the end of the line). For example, in the dactylic hexameter, much use is made of ''[[biceps (prosody)|biceps]]'' syllables, but there is no ''anceps'' and no [[Resolution (meter)|resolution]]:

:| – <u>uu</u> | – <u>uu</u> | – <u>uu</u> | – <u>uu</u> | – uu | – x |

There is also a pure form of iambic, used in [[Catullus 4]], which also makes no use of ''anceps'' or resolution:

:| u – u – | u – u – | u – u – |

==In Arabic==
{{see|Arabic prosody}}
''Anceps'' elements are also common in classical Arabic poetry. Unlike Greek metres, in Arabic, an ''anceps'' can often be found next to a short element, as in the most common Arabic metre, the [[Ṭawīl]], of which the half-verse has the following form:<ref>Wright, W. (1951). [https://archive.org/stream/WrightArabicGrammarVol2/WrightArabicGrammarVol2#page/n189/mode/1up ''A Grammar of the Arabic Language''], vol. II, Cambridge University Press, p. 364.</ref>

:| u – x | u – x – | u – x | u – u – |

Another very common metre, the [[Basit|basīṭ]], has this form:

:| x – u – | x u – | – – u – | <u>uu</u> – |

The eighth element in the Basīṭ metre is also theoretically ''anceps'' but in practice (in more than 99% of lines) it is always long.<ref>Stoetzer, Willem (1982) [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4183063 "Some Observations on Quantity in Arabic Metrics"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103162214/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4183063 |date=3 November 2019 }}. ''Journal of Arabic Literature'' Vol. 13 (1982), pp. 66-75</ref>

In the [[rajaz (prosody)|rajaz]] metre, which is similar to the Greek iambic trimeter, the first two elements of each metron are ''anceps'', although it is rare for both elements to be short:
:| x x u – | x x u – | x x u – |

In some metres, such as the popular [[kamil (metre)|Kāmil]] metre, ''[[biceps (prosody)|biceps]]'' elements are used instead of ''anceps'':
:| <u>uu</u> – u – | <u>uu</u> – u – | <u>uu</u> – u – |

==In Persian==
{{see|Persian metres}}
In classical Persian poetry, apart from ''brevis in longo'' (see below), ''anceps'' elements are for the most part found only at the beginning of a line. In most<ref>For an exception see Elwell-Sutton, L.P. (1976). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Smy5GE48bWsC ''The Persian Metres'']. Cambridge University Press, p. 137.</ref> metres which begin with two short syllables, the first may be replaced by a long.<ref>Elwell-Sutton, L.P. (1976). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Smy5GE48bWsC ''The Persian Metres'']. Cambridge University Press, p. 86.</ref> Thus the meter ''khafīf'' (the most common metre used in [[Saadi Shirazi|Saadi]]'s [[Gulistan (book)|Golestān]]),<ref>Thiesen, Finn (1982). [https://issuu.com/rchakravarti/docs/manualclassicalpersianprosody_finnthiesen ''A Manual of Classical Persian Prosody, with chapters on Urdu, Karakhanidic and Ottoman prosody.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225041425/https://issuu.com/rchakravarti/docs/manualclassicalpersianprosody_finnthiesen |date=25 December 2024 }} Wiesbaden, p. 261.</ref> has the following form:
:| x u – – | u – u – | u u – |

In such verses, the ''anceps'' is long in about 80% of cases.<ref>Elwell-Sutton, L.P. (1976). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Smy5GE48bWsC ''The Persian Metres'']. Cambridge University Press, p. 128, 132.</ref>

The only other place in Persian metre where there is a choice between long and short is in the ''[[ruba'i]]'' metre used in Omar Khayyam's quatrains, which goes as follows:
:| – – | – <u>u u</u> – | x x u – | – <u>u u</u> – |

The two ''ancipitia'' may be either u – or – u, but not two shorts or two longs. (The first is slightly more common.)<ref>Elwell-Sutton, L.P. (1976). The Persian Metres. Cambridge University Press, p. 135.</ref>

==In Sanskrit==
{{see|Sanskrit prosody}}
In [[Sanskrit]], the classical language of ancient India, in the early period in some metres the first part of the line was very free. For example, epic poems such as the ''[[Mahabharata|Mahābhārata]]'' were mostly composed in a type of stanza known as the [[Shloka|''śloka'']], which developed from the [[Vedic Sanskrit|vedic]] ''[[anuṣṭubh]]'' metre. A ''śloka'' usually consists of two 16-syllable half-verses of the following pattern:

:| x x x x | u – – x || x x x x | u – u x |

However, this does not quite give the full picture, since the second metron | u – – x | could sometimes be | u u u x | , | – u u x | , | –, – – x | or | – u – x |. These variations are known as ''vipulas''. Another restriction is that in the 1st and 3rd metron, the pattern | x u u x | was not permitted (see [[Shloka|Śloka]]).<ref>Macdonell, Arthur A., ''A Sanskrit Grammar for Students'', Appendix II, p. 232 (Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 1927)</ref> As with Greek, Latin, and Arabic, the last element of every Sanskrit metre is ''anceps'', that is, either long or ''[[brevis in longo]]''.

Another metre, the ''[[triṣṭubh]]'', which is commonly used in the [[Rigveda]], the earliest form of Sanskrit, has four 11-syllable lines of the following pattern (the symbol "," represents a [[caesura]] or break between words). Thus the 5th element is an ''anceps'', which if short must be preceded by a word-break, if long it must be followed by one:<ref>A. A. Macdonell (1916), ''A Vedic Grammar for Students'', Appendix II, p. 441.</ref> 
:| x – x – , u u – – u – x | or
:| x – x – – , u – – u – x |

In the high classical period of Sanskrit literature (5th to 12th century CE), a large number of metres were developed which for the most part had no ''anceps'' elements. For example, the ''[[mandākrāntā metre|mandākrāntā]]'' metre, made popular by [[Kālidāsa]] in his poem ''[[Meghadūta]]'', has the following form without variation:<ref>Deo, Ashwini S. (2007). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4177028 "The Metrical Organization of Classical Sanskrit Verse"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218203814/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4177028 |date=18 December 2019 }}. ''Journal of Linguistics'', Vol. 43, No. 1 (Mar., 2007), pp. 63-114.</ref>
:| – – – – | u u u u u – | – u – – u – – |

A third type of Indian metre, commonly used in [[Prakrit]] literature, but also sometimes in Sanskrit, is typified by the ''[[Arya metre|āryā]]'' metre. In metres of this type, lines of varying length are made up of feet which can be of any combination of long and short syllables, such as | – – |, | u u u u |, | – u u |, | u u – | or | u – u |, that adds up to the equivalent of four short syllables.

==Anceps vs. brevis in longo==
The ''anceps'' is distinct from ''[[brevis in longo]]'', which refers to the phenomenon whereby a normally short syllable counts as long when used at the end of a line. The possibility of ''brevis in longo'' is found universally across all metres, while the ''anceps'' is found only in particular verse forms. Also, a ''brevis in longo'' is always felt to be long, while the ''anceps'' may be short or long freely.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==See also==
*[[Prosody (Greek)]]
*[[Prosody (Latin)]]
*[[Metres of Roman comedy]]
*[[Arabic prosody]]
*[[Persian metres]]
*[[Brevis in longo]]

[[Category:Poetic rhythm]]
[[Category:Metrical feet]]