The Complete Aristotle (eng.)

of
lengthening—those in A. Thus the number of letters in which nouns
masculine and feminine end is the same; for PS and X are equivalent
to endings in S. No noun ends in a mute or a vowel short by nature.
Three only end in I—meli, ‘honey’; kommi, ‘gum’; peperi, ‘pepper’;
five end in U. Neuter nouns end in these two latter vowels; also in
N and S.
XXII
    The perfection of style is to be clear without being mean. The
clearest style is that which uses only current or proper words; at
the same time it is mean—witness the poetry of Cleophon and of
Sthenelus. That diction, on the other hand, is lofty and raised
above the commonplace which employs unusual words. By unusual, I
mean strange (or rare) words, metaphorical, lengthened—anything, in
short, that differs from the normal idiom. Yet a style wholly
composed of such words is either a riddle or a jargon; a riddle, if
it consists of metaphors; a jargon, if it consists of strange (or
rare) words. For the essence of a riddle is to express true facts
under impossible combinations. Now this cannot be done by any
arrangement of ordinary words, but by the use of metaphor it can.
Such is the riddle: ‘A man I saw who on another man had glued the
bronze by aid of fire,’ and others of the same kind. A diction that
is made up of strange (or rare) terms is a jargon. A certain
infusion, therefore, of these elements is necessary to style; for
the strange (or rare) word, the metaphorical, the ornamental, and
the other kinds above mentioned, will raise it above the
commonplace and mean, while the use of proper words will make it
perspicuous. But nothing contributes more to produce a cleanness of
diction that is remote from commonness than the lengthening,
contraction, and alteration of words. For by deviating in
exceptional cases from the normal idiom, the language will gain
distinction; while, at the same time, the partial conformity with
usage will give perspicuity. The critics, therefore, are in error
who censure these licenses of speech, and hold the author up to
ridicule. Thus Eucleides, the elder, declared that it would be an
easy matter to be a poet if you might lengthen syllables at will.
He caricatured the practice in the very form of his diction, as in
the verse:
<
    div class="quote">
    Epicharen eidon Marathonade badizonta,
I saw Epichares walking to Marathon,
    or,
    ouk an g’eramenos ton ekeinou elleboron.
Not if you desire his hellebore.
    To employ such license at all obtrusively is, no doubt,
grotesque; but in any mode of poetic diction there must be
moderation. Even metaphors, strange (or rare) words, or any similar
forms of speech, would produce the like effect if used without
propriety and with the express purpose of being ludicrous. How
great a difference is made by the appropriate use of lengthening,
may be seen in Epic poetry by the insertion of ordinary forms in
the verse. So, again, if we take a strange (or rare) word, a
metaphor, or any similar mode of expression, and replace it by the
current or proper term, the truth of our observation will be
manifest. For example, Aeschylus and Euripides each composed the
same iambic line. But the alteration of a single word by Euripides,
who employed the rarer term instead of the ordinary one, makes one
verse appear beautiful and the other trivial. Aeschylus in his
Philoctetes says:
<
    div class="quote">
    phagedaina d’he mou sarkas esthiei podos.
The tumor which is eating the flesh of my foot.
    Euripides substitutes thoinatai, ‘feasts on,’ for esthiei,
‘feeds on.’ Again, in the line,
<
    div class="quote">
    nun de m’eon oligos te kai outidanos kai aeikes,
Yet a small man, worthless and unseemly,
    the difference will be felt if we substitute the common
words,
<
    div class="quote">
    nun de m’eon mikros te kai asthenikos kai aeides.
Yet a little fellow, weak and ugly.
    Or, if for the line,
    diphron aeikelion katatheis oligen te trapezan,
Setting an unseemly couch and a meager table,
    we read,
    diphron mochtheron katatheis mikran te trapezan.
Setting a wretched couch and a puny table.
    Or, for eiones booosin, ‘the sea shores roar,’ eiones krazousin,
‘the sea shores screech.’
    Again, Ariphrades ridiculed the tragedians for using phrases
which no one would employ in ordinary speech: for example, domaton
apo, ‘from the house away,’ instead of apo domaton, ‘away from the
house;’ sethen, ego de nin, ‘to thee, and I to him;’ Achilleos
peri, ‘Achilles about,’ instead of peri