COM: Lesson - Pronunciation Review
Pronunciation Review
In anticipation of practicing speaking Latin out loud, please review the basics of Latin pronunciation.
Latin alphabet
The classical Latin alphabet is not very different from the modern English alphabet. Most of the letters are the same. The classical Latin alphabet consisted of twenty-three letters.
| LANGUAGE | ALPHABET |
|---|---|
| LATIN | A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X Y Z |
| ENGLISH | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
As you can see above the letters J, U, W are missing from the Latin alphabet. The Romans used the letter i as both a vowel (I) and a consonant (J), and they originally used V as a vowel (U) and a consonant (V/W). Our course will follow the later tradition of using the letter U to represent the vowel sound. The letter K was rarely used, except in loanwords borrowed from Greeks. The letters Y and Z were added after the Romans conquered the Greeks towards the end of the Roman Republic.
Pronunciation - Vowels
In Latin, vowels have two sounds, long and short. When we pronounce a long vowel we hold it twice as long as a short vowel. In some text books long vowels are shown by a long line called a macron (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū) placed over the vowel, but this text will not use macrons. There are no silent vowels in Latin, so all vowels must be sounded.
Pronunciation - Diphthongs
Latin has six diphthongs. A diphthong is when two vowels come together to form a single sound. Diphthongs are pronounced as a single syllable. Click on the audio player below each example to hear it.
Pronunciation - Consonants
Most Latin consonants are pronounced exactly as they are pronounced in English. There are a few exceptions, which are shown below. Additionally, certain consonants can be combined to make double consonants. Use the object below to learn more about consonant sounds.
*Nota bene: the letter i will be used as a consonant in two circumstances:
- When it is the first letter of a word, followed by a vowel: ia, ie, io, iu. Example: iam (pronounced yam), iubeo (pronounced yu-be-o), etc.
- When it is in between two other vowels: huius (remember, consonant i is eventual replaced by j, so this would later be spelled: hujus) - huius is pronouned hu-yus.