Latin Pronunciation
Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 10:12 am
Just a refresher.
Latin Pronunciation (Roman System):
Vowels
Vowel | Short | Long
A: as in pat or father
E: as in pet or they
I: as in fit or machine
O: as in obey (long is the same)
U: as in put or rule
Diphthongs
AE: like ai in aisle
OE: like oi in foil
AU: like ou in out
EI: as in feign
EU: like ew in dew
UI: like we
Consonants
Mostly like in English,
C: always as in cat
G: always as in gun
NGU: as in unguent
QU: as in quit
R: always as in three
J (consonantal I): like y in yet
V (consonantal U): like w in water
BS: like English ps
BT: like English pt
S: always as in this
SU: always as in suave
T: always as in tin
X: always as in extra
Z: like dz in adze
Double consonants are pronounced as one.
There are no translations for articles (a, an, the)
Accent
With words of two syllables, the accent is on the first syllable.
With words of more than two syllables, the accent is on the second to last syllable if the vowel is long, otherwise it is on the second syllable
Examples
All of these are in the nominative case.
bellum, war
servus, slave or servant
terra, earth or land
porta, gate
provincia (long o), province
veritas (long e and a), truth
caelum, heavens or sky
rex (long e), king
salus (long u); safety, welfare, or salvation
Christus (long i), Christ
Christus, rex terrae et Caeli, salutem Christianis dedit.
Christ, the king of Heaven and earth, gave Christians salvation.
If you're going to do something, do it right.
Latin Pronunciation (Roman System):
Vowels
Vowel | Short | Long
A: as in pat or father
E: as in pet or they
I: as in fit or machine
O: as in obey (long is the same)
U: as in put or rule
Diphthongs
AE: like ai in aisle
OE: like oi in foil
AU: like ou in out
EI: as in feign
EU: like ew in dew
UI: like we
Consonants
Mostly like in English,
C: always as in cat
G: always as in gun
NGU: as in unguent
QU: as in quit
R: always as in three
J (consonantal I): like y in yet
V (consonantal U): like w in water
BS: like English ps
BT: like English pt
S: always as in this
SU: always as in suave
T: always as in tin
X: always as in extra
Z: like dz in adze
Double consonants are pronounced as one.
There are no translations for articles (a, an, the)
Accent
With words of two syllables, the accent is on the first syllable.
With words of more than two syllables, the accent is on the second to last syllable if the vowel is long, otherwise it is on the second syllable
Examples
All of these are in the nominative case.
bellum, war
servus, slave or servant
terra, earth or land
porta, gate
provincia (long o), province
veritas (long e and a), truth
caelum, heavens or sky
rex (long e), king
salus (long u); safety, welfare, or salvation
Christus (long i), Christ
Christus, rex terrae et Caeli, salutem Christianis dedit.
Christ, the king of Heaven and earth, gave Christians salvation.
If you're going to do something, do it right.