The Latin Language/Pronunciation

__TOC__ If you wish to delve deeply into the subject of Latin pronunciation, see Wikipedia. How to pronounce Latin: two major pronunciations There are currently two main ways to pronounce Latin. These are: Classical Latin, spoken roughly between 25 BC and 200 AD, Ecclesiastical Roman Latin, as used by the Church of Rome. Classical Latin is the reconstructed pronunciation of the upper class of ancient Rome. Ecclesiastical pronunciation is the received pronunciation in use in the Catholic Church of Rome. There are other pronunciations that are less common now. The Roman use was urged as a standard in the Catholic Church in the 20th century, whereas classical was adopted by many schools in the same period. Warning: In the following tables, the "Sounds like" column presents an English word that contains the sound we are trying to demonstrate. However, due to the immense number of regional variations of English, it is not likely that the sound you make when pronouncing the word will match the sound anyone else makes. Also, we don't expect you to be familiar with the International Phonetic Alphabet, so we will not use that notation. Instead, we will provide one or more audio samples demonstrating the sound. Vowels There are two types of vowels in Latin: long and short. Forget everything you know about English long and short vowels. Long and short for Latin vowels simply means the length of time that the vowel is held for. A long Latin vowel is indicated by a macron, which is a line over the vowel, as in these: ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, ȳ. Some books (and Vicipaedia) use an accent mark, as in á, é, í, ó, ú, ý. These marks were typically not written in Latin, but they are in this book as an aid to pronunciation. When you read actual Latin, you will find that they are only written when there would be confusion between words if the mark were not there. In most English and American books you will find a table that looks different from this one. Vowel Latin example ClassicalJanson, p. 5 Ecclesiasticalde Angelis, pp. 8-9 Sounds like Listen Sounds like Listen a ballista father la-cls-a-ballista-a.ogg listen no father la-cls-a-ballista-a.ogg listen no  ā fābula La-cls-a-fabula-a.ogg listen no La-cls-a-fabula-a.ogg listen no e September met La-cls-e-september-e.ogg listen no met La-cls-e-september-e.ogg listen no ē mēnsis La-cls-e-mensis-e.ogg listen no La-cls-e-mensis-e.ogg listen no i dictātor machine La-cls-i-dictator-i.ogg listen no machine La-cls-i-dictator-i.ogg listen no ī dīvīsor La-cls-i-divisor-i.ogg listen no la-ecc-i-divisor-i.ogg listen no o bonus dog La-cls-o-bonus-o.ogg listen no dog La-cls-o-bonus-o.ogg listen no ō sōl La-cls-o-sol-o.ogg listen no La-cls-o-sol-o.ogg listen no u lupus rude La-cls-u-lupus-u.ogg listen no rude La-cls-u-lupus-u.ogg listen no ū lūna La-cls-u-luna-u.ogg listen no La-cls-u-luna-u.ogg listen no y mysticus überEnglish has no equivalent, so we used a German word. You can listen to the basic sound of this vowel on Wikipedia. La-cls-y-mysticus-y.ogg listen no meet La-ecc-y-mysticus-y.ogg listen no ȳ Dionȳsus la-cls-y-Dionysus-y.ogg listen no la-ecc-y-Dionysus-y.ogg listen no All the vowels La-cls-all-vowels.ogg listen no La-ecc-all-vowels.ogg listen no Practice Choose your preferred pronunciation method: Classical or Ecclesiastical. Then attempt to pronounce the following words before listening to them. Don't worry about the correct pronunciation of the consonants or syllable stresses at this point; just pay attention to the vowels. Word Classical Ecclesiastical secundus La-cls-secundus.ogg listen no La-cls-secundus.ogg listen no proximitās la-cls-proximitas.ogg listen no la-cls-proximitas.ogg listen no perpendiculum la-cls-perpendiculum.ogg listen no la-cls-perpendiculum.ogg listen no dīvīnitās Divinitas-classical.ogg listen no La-ecc-divinitas.ogg listen no Hēraclītus La-cls-Heraclitus.ogg listen no La-ecc-Heraclitus.ogg listen no mīrāculum La-cls-miraculum.ogg listen no La-cls-miraculum.ogg listen no amygdalum La-cls-amygdalum.ogg listen no Amygdalum-roman.ogg listen no ūmidus La-cls-umidus.ogg listen no La-cls-umidus.ogg listen no pila la-cls-pila.ogg listen no la-cls-pila.ogg listen no pīla la-cls-pīla.ogg listen no la-cls-pīla.ogg listen no papȳrus La-cls-papyrus.ogg listen no Papyrus-ecclesiastical.ogg listen no potēns Potens-classical.ogg listen no Potens-classical.ogg listen no pōtus Potus-classical.ogg listen no Potus-classical.ogg listen no locus La-cls-locus.ogg listen no La-cls-locus.ogg listen no lōcustā la-cls-locustā.ogg listen no la-cls-locustā.ogg listen no Diphthongs Two vowels together usually are pronounced as distinct vowels. Thus, the word radiī is pronounced ra•di•ī. However, some combinations have a pronunciation in which the first vowel glides into the second vowel: they are diphthongs. Diphthong Latin example ClassicalWheelock, p. xli Ecclesiasticalde Angelis, pp. 9-11 Sounds like Listen Sounds like Listen ae paenīnsula by paeninsula-classical.ogg listen no Pronounce as ē La-rom-paeninsula.ogg listen no au automaton how la-cls-automaton.ogg listen no how la-cls-automaton.ogg listen no euIf eu occurs before the last letter in a word, as in -eus or -eum, then this is not a diphthong because the two vowels belong to different syllables: -e•us and -e•um. This will become much more obvious when you get to the chapter on the first and second declension. Eurōpa Pronounce as eū la-cls-Europa.ogg listen no Pronounce as eū la-cls-Europa.ogg listen no oe oeconōmia foil oeconomia-classical.ogg listen no Pronounce as ē la-ecc-oeconomia.ogg listen no ua, ue, ui, uo after q or ng aequilībrium kw + vowel la-cls-aequilibrium.ogg listen no kw + vowel La-rom-aequilibrium.ogg listen no There are a few exceptions, such as the word āēr, which you might see as aër in Vicipaedia or āër in other books. The marks indicate that the vowels are pronounced separately as ā•ēr, not as the diphthong ae. When we encounter other such words, we'll point them out, otherwise these tables would get very complicated very quickly. Practice Once again, attempt to pronounce the following words before listening to them. Don't worry about the correct pronunciation of the consonants or syllable stresses at this point; just pay attention to the vowels. Word Classical Ecclesiastical Februārius la-cls-Februarius.ogg listen no la-cls-Februarius.ogg listen no cooperātor la-cls-cooperator.ogg listen no la-cls-cooperator.ogg listen no aestuārium la-cls-aestuarium.ogg listen no la-ecc-aestuarium.ogg listen no praedictum La-cls-praedictum.ogg listen no La-ecc-praedictum.ogg listen no āëroplānum La-cls-aeroplanum.ogg listen no La-cls-aeroplanum.ogg listen no nautilus La-cls-nautilus.ogg listen no La-cls-nautilus.ogg listen no neuter La-cls-neuter.ogg listen no La-cls-neuter.ogg listen no Euboea La-cls-Euboea.ogg listen no La-rom-Euboea.ogg listen no strēnuitās La-cls-strenuitas.ogg listen no La-cls-strenuitas.ogg listen no quiētūdo La-cls-quietudo.ogg listen no La-cls-quietudo.ogg listen no rēliquiae La-cls-reliquiae.ogg listen no La-ecc-reliquiae.ogg listen no Consonants Try to pronounce these words before listening to them. Consonant Latin example ClassicalWheelock, p. xlii Ecclesiasticalde Angelis, pp. 13-21 Sounds like Listen Sounds like Listen b barbaria bob La-cls-barbaria.ogg listen no bob La-cls-barbaria.ogg listen no c followed by e, i, ae, oe, y caelestis cat La-cls-caelestis.ogg listen no chat La-ecc-caelestis.ogg listen no c otherwise cattus cat cattus-classical.ogg listen no cat cattus-classical.ogg listen no d dīrēctus dad directus-classical.ogg listen no dad directus-classical.ogg listen no f fānāticus fun La-cls-fanaticus.ogg listen no fun La-cls-fanaticus.ogg listen no g followed by e, i, ae, oe, y genus gag La-cls-genus.ogg listen no gerbil La-ecc-genus.ogg listen no g otherwise gubernātor gag La-cls-gubernator.ogg listen no gag La-cls-gubernator.ogg listen no h herba honey La-cls-herba.ogg listen no honorh is always silent except in the words mihi and nihil, where it is pronounced as k. La-ecc-herba.ogg listen no i at beginning of word, jThere was no letter J in the old Latin alphabet; instead the letter I was used. In fact, J was not even formally considered a separate letter from I in English until 1828 (Sacks, pp. 186, 196). In this book, we will not use J, and so we will use Iēsūs and not Jēsūs. Vicipaedia also does not use J. Jēsūs yes La-cls-Jesus.ogg listen no yes La-cls-Jesus.ogg listen no k Kalendae keep La-cls-Kalendae.ogg listen no keep La-ecc-Kalendae.ogg listen no l littera loll La-cls-littera.ogg listen no loll La-cls-littera.ogg listen no m maximus mom maximus-classical.ogg listen no mom maximus-classical.ogg listen no n numerus nun La-cls-numerus.ogg listen no nun La-cls-numerus.ogg listen no p populus pop La-cls-populus.ogg listen no pop La-cls-populus.ogg listen no q quantum quiet La-cls-quantum.ogg listen no quiet La-cls-quantum.ogg listen no rUse the alveolar trill (hear this on Wikipedia), and not the retroflex approximant (hear this on Wikipedia). religiō roar La-cls-religio.ogg listen no roar La-ecc-religio.ogg listen no s miser sassy La-cls-miser.ogg listen no sassy La-cls-miser.ogg listen no t followed by i and another vowel and preceded by any letter other than s, t, x differentia tatter La-cls-differentia.ogg listen no tsetse La-ecc-differentia.ogg listen no t otherwise toga tatter La-cls-toga.ogg listen no tatter La-cls-toga.ogg listen no vAs with J, the letter V was not considered distinct from U in English until 1828 (Sacks, p. 327). We will use V throughout this book. Vicipaedia also uses V. vīvārium wow La-cls-vivarium.ogg listen no vine La-ecc-vivarium.ogg listen no x in words beginning with ex followed by a vowel, h, or s exhālō axe La-cls-exhalo.ogg listen no eggs La-ecc-exhalo.ogg listen no x otherwise extrā axe La-cls-extra.ogg listen no axe La-cls-extra.ogg listen no z zōdiacus adze La-cls-zodiacus-2.ogg listen no adze La-cls-zodiacus-2.ogg listen no Consonant combinations Just as with vowels, most consonant combinations are pronounced no differently than the consonants in isolation. When there are two of the same consonant put together, such as mm or tt, it is almost as if you need to pronounce both consonants without a break, the result being that the sound is held longer than usual. However, there are several combinations which have special pronunciation. Once again, try to pronounce the word before listening to it. Consonant combination Latin example ClassicalWheelock, p. xlii Ecclesiasticalde Angelis, pp. 13-21 Sounds like Listen Sounds like Listen cc before e, i, ae, oe, y ecce kk la-cls-ecce.ogg listen no ch la-ecc-ecce.ogg listen no ch chorda kk la-cls-chorda.ogg listen no kk la-cls-chorda.ogg listen no gn magnus ng-n la-cls-magnus.ogg listen no ny la-ecc-magnus.ogg listen no ph philosophia p-h la-cls-philosophia.ogg listen no f la-ecc-philosophia.ogg listen no sc before e, i, ae, oe, y scientia sk la-cls-scientia.ogg listen no sh la-ecc-scientia.ogg listen no th theātrum t la-cls-theatrum.ogg listen no t la-cls-theatrum.ogg listen no Stress In Latin, the stress on a word is placed on only one of two syllables: the one before the last syllable (the penultimate syllable, or penult), or the one before that (the antepenultimate syllable, or antepenult). The rules for stress are very simple: If the vowel in the penult is long or a diphthong, the stress goes on the penult. If the vowel in the penult is followed by x, z, or any two consonants, with the exception of a stop consonant (b, c, d, g, p, t) followed by a liquid consonant (l, r), the stress goes on the penult. The letters x and z are treated like two consonants because they sound like two consonants: ks and dz. So the second rule condenses to any vowel followed by two consonants, except a stop-liquid combination. Note that a combination of two of the same consonant is still two consonants. Here are some examples. We will mark the stressed syllable over its vowel with an accent mark. pá•pa Eu•rṓ•pa fi•gū́•ra per•sṓ•na pan•thḗ•ra hal•lū•ci•nā́•tus me•mó•ri•a sí•mi•lis pa•ra•dóx•us fun•dā•mén•tum ū•ni•cór•nis cál•ci•trō Practice Here are some readings to practice pronunciation and word stress on. If you're just starting out, you might want to practice pronunciation first, and after a few repetitions when you're certain you have the pronunciation down, work on stress. Gallia est omnes dīvīsa in partēs trēs; quārum ūnam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquītānī, tertiam qui ipsōrum linguā Celtae, nostrā Gallī appellantur. Hī omnēs linguā, īnstitūtīs, lēgibus inter sē differunt. Gallōs ab Aquītānīs Garumna flūmen, ā Belgīs Mātrona et Sēquana dīvidit.Caesar, De Bello Gallico (On the Gallic War). Gaul is all divided into three parts; of which the Belgians inhabit one, the Aquitani the other, those who are called in their own language Celts, in ours Gauls, the third. All these differ between themselves in language, institutions, laws. The river Garumna divides the Gauls from the Aquitani, the Matrona and Sequana (divides them) from the Belgians. By the time you complete a formal course in Latin, you may end up getting sick of De Bello Gallico. Listen: la-cls-de-bello-gallico.ogg Classical no la-ecc-de-bello-gallico.ogg Ecclesiastical no Languēbam: sed tū comitātus prōtinus ad mē venistī centum, Symmache, discipulīs. Centum mē tetigēre manūs Aquilōne gelātae: nōn habuī febrem, Symmache, nunc habeō.Martial, book V, epigram IX. I was languishing: but you, Symmachus, came to me on the spot accompanied by a hundred students. A hundred hands frozen by the North wind handled me: I didn't have a fever, Symmachus, but I do now. This is one of Martial's notable epigrams: it is safe to repeat in mixed company. Listen: la-cls-martial-5.9.ogg Classical no la-ecc-martial-5.9.ogg Ecclesiastical no Notes References Vox Latina: A Guide to the Pronunciation of Classical Latin Allen William S. 1989 2nd 0521379369 Cambridge University Press A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin Collins John F. 1985 0813206677 The Catholic University of America Press The Correct Pronunciation of Latin According to Roman Usage de Angelis Michael 1937 St. Gregory Guild http://www.archive.org/details/correctpronuncia00dean Letter Perfect Sacks David 2003 Random House 0767911733 The New College Latin and English Dictionary Traupman John C. 2007 3rd Bantam Books 9780553590128 Wheelock's Latin Wheelock Frederic M. 6th 2005 0060783710 Harper Collins