PRONUNCIATION

ALPHABET

1. The Latin Alphabet is the same as the English (which is in fact borrowed from it) except that it does not contain J, U, and W.

Note 1— The Latin alphabet was borrowed in very early times from a Greek alphabet (though not from that most familiar to us) and did not at first contain the letters G and Y. It consisted of capital letters only, and the small letters with which we are familiar did not come into general use until the close of the eighth century A.D.

Note 2— The Latin names of the consonants were as follows: B, be (pronounced bay); C, ce (pronounced kay); D, de (day); F, ef; G, ge (gay); H, ha; K, ka; L, el; M, em; N, en; P, pe (pay); Q, qu (koo); R, er; S, es; T, t (tay); X, ix; Z, zeta (the Greek name, pronounced dzayta). The sound of each vowel was used as its name.

a. The character C originally meant G, a value always retained in the abbreviations C. (for Gāius) and Cn. (for Gnaeus).

Note— In early Latin C came also to be used for K in a few words, and K disappeared except before a in a few words, as Kal. (Kalendae), Karthāgō. Thus there was no distinction in writing between the sounds of G and K. Later this defect was remedied by forming (from C) the new character G. This took the alphabetic place formerly occupied by Z, which had gone out of use. In Cicero's time (see N. D. 2.93), Y (originally a form of V) and Z were introduced from the ordinary Greek alphabet to represent sounds in words derived from the Greek, and they were put at the end of the Latin alphabet.

b. I and V were used both as vowels and as consonants (see § 5).  In this grammar, I is used for both vowel and consonant i, U for vowel u, and V for consonant u: iūs, vir, iuvenis.

Note— V originally denoted the vowel sound u (oo), and F stood for the sound of our consonant w. When F acquired the value of our f, V came to be used for the sound of w as well as for the vowel.

 

CLASSIFICATION OF SOUNDS

2. The simple Vowels are a, e, i, o, u, y.

The Diphthongs are ae, au, ei, eu, oe, ui, and, in early Latin, ai, oi, ou. In the diphthongs both vowel sounds are heard, one following the other in the same syllable.

3. Consonants are either voiced (sonant) or voiceless (surd). Voiced consonants are pronounced with the same vocal murmur that is heard in vowels; voiceless consonants lack this murmur.

1. The voiced consonants are b, d, g, l, r, m, n, z, consonantal i, and v.
2. The voiceless consonants are p, t, c (k, q), f, h, s, and x.

4. Consonants are further classified as in the following table:

Double consonants are x (= cs) and z (= dz); h is merely a breathing.

1. Mutes are pronounced by blocking entirely, for an instant, the passage of the breath through the mouth, and then allowing it to escape with an explosion (distinctly heard before a following vowel). Between the explosion and the vowel there may be a slight puff of breath (h), as in the Aspirates (ph, th, ch).²
2. Labials are pronounced with the lips, or lips and teeth.
3. Dentals (sometimes called Linguals) are pronounced with the tip of the tongue touching or approaching the upper front teeth.
4. Palatals are pronounced with a part of the upper surface of the tongue touching or approaching the palate.³
5. Fricatives (or Spirants) are consonants in which the breath passes continuously through the mouth with audible friction.
6. Nasals are like voiced mutes, except that the mouth remains closed and the breath passes through the nose.

Footnotes

1. Strictly, a labio-dental, pronounced with the under lip touching the upper teeth

2. The aspirates are almost wholly confined to words borrowed from the Greek. In early Latin such borrowed sounds lost their aspiration and became simply p, t, c.

3. Palatals are often classed as (1) velars, pronounced with the tongue touching or rising toward the soft palate (in the back part of the mouth), and (2) palatals, in which the tongue touches or rises toward the hard palate (farther forward in the mouth). Compare the initial consonants in key and cool, whispering the two words, and it will be observed that before e and i the k is sounded farther forward in the mouth than before a, o, or u.

4. Compare the English word Indian as pronounced in two syllables or in three.

5. In such words it is possible that the preceding consonant was labialized and that no distinct and separate consonantal u was heard.

 

ORTHOGRAPHY

6. Latin spelling varied somewhat with the changes in the language and was never absolutely settled in all details.

Thus, we find lubet, vortō, as earlier, and libet, vertō, as later forms. Other variations are optumus and optimus, gerundus and gerendus.

The spelling of the first century A.D. (known chiefly from inscriptions) is tolerably uniform, and is commonly used in modern editions of the classics.

a. After v (consonantal u), o was anciently used instead of u (voltus, servos). This spelling was not entirely given up until the middle of the first century A.D.

b. The older quo became cu in the Augustan period; in the second century A.D. the spelling quu- established itself in some words:

cum (older quom¹)
equos, ecus (later equus)
sequontur, secuntur (later sequuntur)

Similarly
exstinguont, exstingunt (later exstinguunt)

Note— In most modern editions the spelling quu- is adopted, except in cum.

c. Between consonantal i and a preceding a, e, o, or u, an i was developed as a transient sound, thus producing a diphthong ai, ei, etc., before the consonantal i. In such cases only one i was written: âiō (for †ai-iō), mâius (for †mai-ius), pêius (for †pei-ius).

d. Similarly in compounds of iaciō only one i was written (as, con-iciō, not con-iici); but the usual pronunciation probably showed consonantal i followed by vowel i (see § 11.e).

Note— Some variations are due to later changes in Latin itself, and these are not now recognized in classical texts.

1. Unaccented ti and ci, when followed by a vowel, came to be pronounced alike; hence nūntiō was later spelled with a c and diciō with a t.
2. The sound of h was after a time lost and hence this letter was often omitted (as, arēna for harēna) or mistakenly written (as, hūmor for ūmor).
3. The diphthong ae early in the time of the Empire acquired the value of long open e (about like English e in there), and similarly oe after a time became a long close e (about like the English ey in they); and so both were often confused in spelling with e: coena or caena for the correct form cēna.

Footnotes

 

SYLLABLES

7. Every Latin word has as many syllables as it has vowels or diphthongs.

a-ci-ē
mo-nē
fī-li-us
fe-rō-ci-tā-te

a. In the division of words into syllables a single consonant (including consonant i and v) between two vowels is written and pronounced with the following vowel. Doubled consonants are separated.

pa-ter
mī-li-tēs
in-iū-ri-a
dī-vi-dō

mit-tō
tol-lō

Note 1— Some extend the rule for single consonants to any consonant group (as sp, st, gn) that can begin a word. In this book, dīx-it, sax-um, etc. are preferred to dī-xit, sa-xum; the pronunciation was probably dīc-sit, sac-sum.

Note 2— A syllable ending with a vowel or diphthong is called open; all others are called close. Thus in pa-ter the first syllable is open, the second close.

b. In compounds the parts are separated.

ab-est
ob-lātus
dis-cernō
du-plex
dī-stō

 

VOWEL AND CONSONANT PRONUNCIATION

8. The so-called Roman Pronunciation of Latin aims to represent approximately the pronunciation of classical times.

Consonants are the same as in English, except that:

c and g are as in come, get, never as in city, gem.

s as in sea, lips, never as in ease.

Consonantal i is like y in young; v (consonantal u) like w in wing.

n in the combinations ns and nf probably indicates nasalization of the preceding vowel, which was also lengthened; and final m in an unaccented syllable probably had a similar nasalizing effect on the preceding vowel.

ph, th, ch, are properly like p, t, k, followed by h (which may, for convenience, be neglected); but ph probably became like (or nearly like) f soon after the classical period, and may be so pronounced to distinguish it from p .

z is as dz in adze.

bs is like ps; bt is like pt.

Note— Latin is sometimes pronounced with the ordinary English sounds of the letters. The English pronunciation should be used in Roman names occurring in English, as

Julius Cæsar

and in familiar quotations.

e pluribus unum
viva voce
vice versa
a fortiori
veni, vidi, vici, etc.

 

QUANTITY OF SYLLABLES

9. The Quantity of a Vowel or a Syllable is the time occupied in pronouncing it. Two degrees of Quantity are recognized—long and short.

a. In syllables, quantity is measured from the beginning of the vowel or diphthong to the end of the syllable.

10. Vowels are either long or short by nature, and are pronounced accordingly (§ 8).

a. A vowel before another vowel or h is short.

vĭa
nĭhil

b. A diphthong is long.

aedēs
foedus

So, also, a vowel derived from a diphthong.

exclūdō (from †ex-claudō)

c. A vowel formed by contraction is long.

nīl (from nihil)

d. A vowel before ns, nf, gn, is long.

cōnstāns
īnferō
māgnus

Note— But the quantity of the vowel before gn is not certain in all cases.

e. A vowel before nd, nt, is regularly short:  amandus, amant.

In this book all vowels known to be long are marked (ā, ē, etc.), and short vowels are left unmarked (a, e, etc.). Vowels marked with both signs at once (ā̆, ē̆, etc.) occur sometimes as long and sometimes as short.

Note—  The Romans sometimes marked vowel length by a stroke above the letter (called an apex), as, Á; and sometimes the vowel was doubled to indicate length. An I made higher than the other letters was occasionally used for ī. But none of these devices came into general use

11. The Quantity of the Syllable is important for the position of the accent and in versification.

a. A syllable containing a long vowel or a diphthong is said to be long by nature.

mā-ter
aes
au-la

b. A syllable containing a short vowel followed by two consonants (except a mute before l or r) or by a double consonant (x, z) is said to be long by position, but the vowel is pronounced short.

est
ter-ra
sax-um
Me-zen-tius

Note— When a consonant is doubled the pronunciation should show this distinctly. Thus in mit-tō both Ts should be pronounced as in out-talk (not merely a single t as in better).

c. A syllable containing a short vowel followed by a mute before l or r is properly short, but may be used as long in verse. Such a syllable is said to be common.

Note 1— In syllables long by position, but having a short vowel, the length is partly due to the first of the consonants, which stands in the same syllable with the vowel. In syllables of “common” quantity (as the first syllable of patrem) the ordinary pronunciation was pa-trem, but in verse pat-rem was allowed so that the syllable could become long.

Note 2— In final syllables ending with a consonant, and containing a short vowel, the quantity in verse is determined by the following word: if this begins with a vowel the final consonant is joined to it in pronunciation; if it begins with a consonant the syllable is long by position.

Note 3— In rules for quantity h is not counted as a consonant, nor is the apparently consonantal u in qu, gu, su (see § 5, Note 2).

d. A syllable whose vowel is a, e, o, or u, followed by consonantal i, is long whether the vowel itself is long or short.

â-iō
mâ-ior
pê-ius

In such cases the length of the syllable is indicated in this book by a circumflex on the vowel.

Note— The length of a syllable before consonant i is due to a transitional sound (vowel i) which forms a diphthong with the preceding vowel.

â-iō (for †ai-iō)
mâ-ior (for †mai-ior)

See § 6.c.

e. In some compounds of iaciō (as, in-iciō) the consonantal i of the simple verb was probably pronounced (though not written). Thus the first syllable was long by position: in-iciō (for in-iiciō). See § 6.d. In such cases the length of the syllable is not indicated in this book by a circumflex on the vowel.

f. When a syllable is long by position the quantity of the vowel is not always determinable. The vowel should be pronounced short unless it is known to be long.

Note— The quantity of a vowel under these circumstances is said to be hidden. It is often determined with a greater or less degree of certainty by inscriptional evidence (see § 10, Note) or by other means. In this book, the quantity of all such vowels known to be long is marked.

 

ACCENTS

12.Words of two syllables are accented on the first syllable.

Rō'ma
fi'dēs
tan'gō.

Words of more than two syllables are accented on the Penult¹ if it is long.

amī'cus
monē'tur
contin'git

Otherwise on the Antepenult.

do'mĭnus
a'lăcris
dissociā'bĭlis

a. When an enclitic is joined to a word, the accent falls on the syllable before the enclitic, whether long or short.

dĕă'que
ămārĕ've
tĭbĭ'ne
ită'que (and ... so)

As distinguished from

i'tăque (therefore)

also, (according to some)

ex'inde
ec'quando, etc.

Exceptions:

1. Certain apparent compounds of faciōretain the accent of the simple verb.
   

   benefă'cit
   calefă'cit (see § 266.a).

   Note— These were not true compounds, but phrases.

2. In the second declension the genitive and vocative of nouns in -ius and the genitive of those in -iumretain the accent of the nominative
   

   Cornē'lī
   Vergi'lī
   inge'nī (see § 49.c).

3. Certain words which have lost a final vowel retain the accent of the complete words
   

   illī'c for illī'ce
   prōdū'c for prōdūce
   sati'n for sati'sne.

Footnotes

 

COMBINATIONS

13. In some cases adjacent words, being pronounced together, are written as one.

ūnusquisque (ūnus quisque)
sīquis (sī quis)
quārē (quā rē)
quamobrem (quam ob rem; cf. quās ob rēs)
rēspūblica (rēs pūblica)
iūsiūrandum (iūs iūrandum)
paterfamiliās (pater familiās)

Note— Sometimes a slight change in pronunciation resulted, as, especially in the old poets, before est.

homōst (homō est)
perīculumst (perīculum est)
ausust (ausus est)
quālist (quālis est)

Similarly there occur vīn', scīn' for vīsne, scīsne, sīs (sī vīs), sōdēs (sī audēs), sūltis (sī vultis). Compare the English words somebody, to breakfast; he's, I've, thou'rt.

 

PHONETIC CHANGES

14. Latin, the language of the ancient Romans, was properly, as its name implies, the language spoken in the plain of Latium, lying south of the Tiber, which was the first territory occupied and governed by the Romans. It is a descendant of an early form of speech commonly called Indo-European (called by some Indo-Germanic), from which are also descended most of the important languages now in use in Europe, including among others English, German, the Slavic and the Celtic languages, as well as some now or formerly spoken in Asia, such as Sanskrit, Persian, Armenian. Greek likewise belongs to the same family. The Romance (or Romanic) languages, of which the most important are Italian, French, Provençal, Spanish, Portuguese, and Roumanian, are modern descendants of spoken Latin.

The earliest known forms of Latin are preserved in a few inscriptions. These increase in number as we approach the time when the language began to be used in literature; that is, about 250 B.C. It is the comparatively stable language of the classical period (80 B.C. - 14 A.D.) that is ordinarily meant when we speak of Latin.

15. Among the main features in the changes of Latin from the earliest stages of the language as we know it up to the forms of classical Latin may be mentioned the following:

 

Vowel Changes

1. The old diphthong ai became the classical ae (aedīlis for old aidīlis), old oi became oe or ū (ūnus for old oinos), and old ou became ū (dūco for old doucō).
2. In compound verbs the vowel a of the simple verb often appears as i or e and ae similarly appears as ī.
   

   faciō, factum BUT cōnficiō, cōnfectum
   caedō BUT occīdō

   Similarly
   cecīdī, perfect of caedō
   (cf. cadō, occidō; cecidī, perfect of cadō).

   Note— This change is commonly ascribed to an accentuation on the first syllable, which seems to have been the rule in Latin before the rule given above (see § 12) became established. The original Indo-European accent, however, was not limited by either of these principles; it was probably consisted of a change in pitch, and not merely in a more forcible utterance of the accented syllable

3. Two vowels coming together are often contracted.
   

   cōgō for †coagō
   prōmō for †proemō
   nīl for †nihil
   dēbeō for †dēhibeō

    

   Consonant Changes

4. An old s regularly became r between two vowels (rhotacism), passing first through the sound of (English) z.
   

   eram (cf. est)
   generis, genitive of genus¹

   Note— Final s sometimes became r by analogy; as honor (older honōs), from the analogy of honōris.

5. A dental (t, d) often became s, especially when standing next to t, d, or s.
   

   equestris for †equettris
   cāsus for †cadtus (cf.  6., below)

6. Many instances of assimilation, partial or complete, are found.
   

   cessī for †cedsī
   summus for †supmus
   scrīptus for †scrībtus (b unvoicing to p before the voiceless t)

   Assimilation is also found in compound verbs (see § 16).

   Dissimilation, the opposite kind of change, prevented in some cases the repetition of the same sound in successive syllables.

   palīlia (from Palēs);
   merīdiēs for medīdiēs,
   nātūrālis with suffix -lis (after r)

   BUT
   populāris with -āris (after l)

7. Final s was in early Latin not always pronounced, as in  plēnu(s) fidēī.

   Note— Traces of this pronunciation existed in Cicero's time. He speaks of the omission of final s before a word beginning with a consonant as "countrified" (subrūsticum).

8. A final consonant often disappears.
   

   virgō for †virgon
   lac for †lact
   cor for †cord

9. G, c and h unite with a following s to form x.
   

   rēx for †rēgs
   dux for †ducs
   trāxī for †trahsī²

10. G and h before t became c.
    

    rēctum for †rēgtum
    āctum for †agtum
    trāctum for †trahtum³

11. Between m and s or m and t, a p is often developed.
    

    sūmpsī for †sūmsī
    ēmptum for †ēmtum

16. In compounds with prepositions the final consonant in the preposition was often assimilated to the following consonant, but usage varied considerably.

• There is good authority for many complete or partial assimilations:  ad, acc-, agg-, app-, att-, adc-, adg-, etc.
• Before a labial consonant we find com- (comb-, comp-, comm-), but con- is the form before c, d, f, g, consonantal i, q, s, t, and consonantal v; we find conl- or coll-, conr- or corr-; cō- in cōnectō, cōnīveō, cōnītor, cōnūbium.
• In usually changes to im- before b, m.
• Ob and sub may assimilate b to a following c, f, g, or p; before s and t the pronunciation of prepositions ending in b doubtless had p; surr-, summ-, occur for subr-, subm-.
• The inseparable amb- loses b before a consonant.
• Circum often loses its m before i.
• The s of dis becomes r before a vowel and is assimilated to a following f; sometimes this prefix appears as dī-.
• Instead of ex we find ef- before f (also ecf-).
• The d of red and sēd is generally lost before a consonant. The preposition is better left unchanged in most other cases.

 

Vowel Variations

17. The parent language showed great variation in the vowel sounds of kindred words.⁴

a. This variation is often called by the German name Ablaut. It has left considerable traces in the forms of Latin words, appearing sometimes as a difference of quantity in the same vowel (as, u, ū; e, ē), sometimes as a difference in the vowel itself (as, e, o; i, ae).⁵

tegō  I cover, toga  a robe
pendō  I weigh, pondus  weight
fidēs  faith, fīdus faithful, foedus  a treaty
miser  wretched, maestus  sad
dare  to give, dōnum  a gift
regō  I rule, rēx  a king
dux  a leader, dūcō (for older doucō)  I lead

Compare English drive, drove (drave), driven; bind, bound, band; sing, sang, sung; etc.

Footnotes

 

KINDRED FORMS

18. Both Latin and English have gone through a series of phonetic changes, different in the two languages, but following definite laws in each. Hence both preserve traces of the older speech in some features of the vowel system, and both show certain correspondences in consonants in words which each language has inherited from the old common stock. Only a few of these correspondences can be mentioned here.

19. The most important correspondences in consonants between Latin and English, in cognate words, may be seen in the following table:¹

Note 1— Sometimes a consonant lost in Latin is still represented in English: as, niv- (for †sniv-), Eng. snow; ānser (for †hānser), Eng. goose.

Note 2— From these cases of kindred words in Latin and English must be carefully distinguished those cases in which the Latin word has been taken into English either directly or through some one of the modern descendants of Latin, especially French. Thus faciō is kindred with English do, but from the Latin participle (factum) of this verb comes English fact, and from the French descendant (fait) of factum comes English feat.

Footnotes