The English Pronunciation of Latin (Part One)

This is a topic which I find perennially appealing, and one to which I've devoted much research and study. The portrait is of Richard Bentley (1662-1742), arguably the greatest classical scholar of all time. The pronunciation of Latin discussed here was undoubtedly used by Bentley. It remained in use until roughly 1900, when it gave way to the so-called "Reformed" or "Scientific" pronunciation of Latin.

There are few things that annoy me so much as to hear someone pronounce Gradus ad Parnassum as "GRAH-doos odd par-NAHS-oom." What a sorry affectation!  The way to say it, of course, is "GRADE-us add par-NASS-um," with a nice harsh Chicago-style "ASS" in the middle of it.

Latin is not a foreign language to us; it contains no sounds that are not entirely familiar to us as English speakers. In fact the authentic English pronunciation of Latin still exists, an unbroken tradition that is still exemplified in the standard pronunciation of legal, medical, and scientific terms. Reflect for a moment, and you will realize that you already know the standard pronunciation of dozens of Latin phrases: habeas corpus, e pluribus unum, biceps, gluteus maximus, et cetera. 

Here I will discuss the correct pronunciation of the Latin words and phrases contained in our first three postings. For ease of explanation, I will be representing the vowels as follows:

æ = A as in fat

ey = A as in fate

e = E as in pet

iy = E as in Pete

i = I as in pin

ay = I as in pine

o = O as in not

ow = O as in note

u = U as in cut

uw = U as in rude

yuw = U as in cute

au = AU as in caught

oy = OY as in boy

ar = AR as in car

er = ER as in error

ir = IR as in mirror

or = OR as in more

ur = UR as in lure

ə = (reduced vowel) A as in about, E as in oven

ər = like last syllable in better, error

I will indicate stressed syllables by using capital letters. In cases where there are syllables with secondary stress, I will indicate the primary stress in bold.

Here are the first two examples:

Incipiunt Beltrani Sententiae 

[in-SIP-iy-ənt  bel-TREY-nay  sen-TEN-shiy-iy] 

Sol et Luna post Deum, omnium viventium vita sunt. 

[sol  et  LUW-nə  powst  DIY-əm  OM-niy-əm  vay-VEN-shiy-əm  VAY-tə  sunt] 

And now a few comments:

1. The most important principle of Latin pronunciation is Quantity. Quantity determines which syllable receives the stress. Two-syllable words (luna, deum, vita) are always stressed on the first syllable. For words of three syllables, the stress depends on the quantity of the penultimate syllable. If the penult has a long vowel (which will be indicated in any Latin dictionary), it receives the stress and the vowel is pronounced long (like Beltrani, which has a long A in the penult). If the penult is a closed syllable (vowel followed by two consonants), it is also stressed, as in the word ascendens [ə-SEN-dənz]. However, in any closed syllable, the vowel must be pronounced short. Since words of all three of these types stress the penultimate syllable, they are known as paroxytones.

2. If the vowel of the penult is neither long by quantity (Beltrani) nor long by position (ascendens), the stress then falls back to the antepenult, which is generally pronounced with a short vowel. Such words are known as proparoxytones. Our words incipiunt and sententiae are examples of this. In both cases, the I in the penultimate syllable is short, so the stress falls back to the antepenult. Such are the rules of Quantity.

3. In the words incipiunt, sententiae, omnium, and viventium, we have examples of hiatus (two vowels together). When they come before another vowel, both I and E are generally pronounced as [iy]. 

4. Final vowels (except final A) are always pronounced long. Thus, Beltrani is pronounced [bel-TREY-nay], not [bel-TREY-niy]. The ending -AE is always pronounced as [iy], never as [ey] or [ay]; so in the ending of the word sententiae, we hear the same sound twice: [iy-iy].

5. Before a vowel, TI is generally pronounced [shiy], just as we commonly do in English with words like "nation." Thus, sententiae is pronounced [sen-TEN-shiy-iy], not [sen-TEN-tiy-iy], and viventium is pronounced [vay-VEN-shiy-əm], not [vay-VEN-tiy-əm].

6. The word sol is pronounced to rhyme with "doll." Monosyllables ending with even one consonant are considered closed syllables, and must be pronounced with a short vowel [sol], not [sowl]. Likewise, sunt rhymes with "hunt," and et rhymes with "get."

7. Unstressed final A is always reduced to [ə], as in luna and vita.

8. Although it is a closed monosyllable, the word post is traditionally pronounced with a long vowel (rhymes with "ghost"). This is true whether it stands alone or whether it is a prefix (e.g. postquam).

9. In the word deum, we have a good example of hiatus. When two vowels come together in this way, the first one is always pronounced long (the English words "chaos," "neon," "diet," "coed," and "dual" illustrate this same principle). 

10. A special rule applies to the word viventium. If the first syllable of a word contains an open I or Y (followed by only one consonant, or by another vowel), and the following syllable is stressed, then the I or Y is pronounced long [vay-VEN-shiy-əm], not [vi-VEN-shiy-əm]. Familiar examples include "Tiberius," "gigantic," "libation," "psychology," "titanium," "rhinocerus," and "citation." The word hiatus itself is another example [hay-EY-təs]. By contrast, in a word like "hysterical," the Y is in a closed syllable (followed by two consonants), so it is pronounced [his-TER-i-kəl], not [hay-STER-i-kəl].

Here are the Latin phrases found in our second and third postings:

Liber Revolutionum [LAY-bər  REV-ə-LUW-shiy-OW-nəm]

Flores astronomiae. [FLOR-iyz  ÆS-trə-NOW-miy-iy]

Stephanus Messanensis [STEF-ən-əs  MES-ə-NEN-səs]

Centiloquium Hermetis [SEN-tə-LOW-kwiy-əm  hər-MIY-təs]

luminare majus [LUW-mə-NER-iy  MEY-jəs]

luminare minus [LUW-mə-NER-iy  MAY-nəs]

ergo [əR-gow]

Astrologia restaurata [ÆS-trə-LOW-jiy-ə  RES-tə-REY-tə] 

triangulum alatum [tray-ÆNG-gyuw-ləm  ə-LEY-təm]

vates & astrologus  [VEY-tiyz  et  æs-TRO-lə-gəs]

Some observations:

11. In the word revolutionum, we have a good example of Secondary Stress. The penult has a long O, so the primary stress falls on that syllable. However, many words of four syllables (and all words of five syllables or more) also have a secondary stress. To find it, we first remove the stressed syllable and all that follows it, then analyze what remains. In this case, we remove -onum, which leaves us with revoluti-. We then treat this torso as if it were itself a word. Consulting the dictionary, we find that the U is long. If revoluti- were a Latin word, we would therefore stress the U, which would be pronounced long: [re-və-LUW-shiy]. Since revolutionum is a long word (six syllables), we must repeat this procedure to find further secondary stresses. So we remove -luti, leaving us with revo-. If revo- were a free-standing word, it would of course receive the stress on its first syllable. The result of this is that there are two syllables with secondary stress, in addition to the primary stress on the penult: [RE-və-LUW-shiy-OW-nəm]. Many Latin words follow this pattern, with secondary stresses falling on alternate syllables. Vowels in syllables with secondary stress are always short, unless modified by hiatus. Thus, in the present case, RE is short. However, LU is long because it is succeeded by one consonant + two vowels (hiatus). This applies to all vowels, with the exception of I and Y. That is why we pronounce a long A in alias, but a short I in video (in both cases the stressed vowel is succeeded by one consonant + two vowels). Our word incipiunt illustrates this same principle. The words astronomiae and centiloquium provide further examples of both hiatus and secondary stress (truncation of the stem yields astro-, centi-, so secondary stress falls on the first syllable).

12. The -ES plural ending is always pronounced [iyz]. So flores rhymes with "stories," while vates (almost) rhymes with "Hades."

13. Without looking at the dictionary, one might be tempted to pronounce Stephanus as [stə-FEY-nəs]. In fact, however, the A is short so the word must be pronounced [STE-fə-nəs]. This is a classic example of "false quantity," the notorious pitfall of Latin pronunciation. The Duke of Wellington was renowned for errors of this kind. He frequently mispronounced Carolus and Jacobus (the Latin equivalents "Charles" and "James") as [kə-ROW-ləs] and [JÆ-kə-bəs]. In fact, they are pronounced [KER-ə-ləs] and [jə-KOW-bəs].

14. Just as in English, C is pronounced as [s] when followed by the vowels E, I, or Y. Likewise, G is pronounced as [j] before E, I, or Y. Centiloquium and Astrologia are examples of this.

15. Final E is never silent. It is always pronounced as [iy], never as [ey]. So luminare rhymes with "Mary."

16. In a number of common words, I between two vowels is pronounced (and often written) as [j]. Our word majus is an example of this. Other examples include ejus, pejus, cujus, and hujus. This rule applies regardless of the spelling (i.e. even when they are spelled maius, eius, peius, cuius, huius). So the motto of Wheaton College (Christo et regno ejus) is pronounced [KRIS-tow et REG-now IY-jəs].

17. Unstressed AU has a tendency to reduce to [ə], as in restaurata and Augustus.

18. The word triangulum is another good illustration of hiatus. The I is pronounced long [ay] for the same reason as the first syllable of viventium (comment no. 10), since the following vowel is stressed. 

19. The word triangulum illustrates another important principle: in an open syllable (succeeded by only one consonant), U is pronounced as [yuw]. Another example is unum [YUW-nəm]. However, this rule does not apply if U is preceded by J, L, or R. In such cases, the open U is simply pronounced as [uw]. Examples of this include Jupiter, Luna, Rufus. 

While we're at it, I would like to clarify the pronunciation of a few additional words we've come across:

In English, "hylegiacal" and "zodiacal" are pronounced to rhyme with "maniacal." "Aphetic" rhymes with "pathetic." "Syzygy" is pronounced [SIZ-ə-jiy], "trigon" [TRAY-gon], "triplicity" [tray-PLI-sə-tiy], "Dorothean" [DOR-ə-THIY-ən], "Ptolemy" [TOL-ə-miy], "Ptolemaic" [TOL-ə-MEY-ik], "Placidean" [plə-SID-iy-ən].

The Arabic word hilaj is pronounced [hi-LOJ] (last syllable like "lodge").

The Georgian surname Chavchavadze is pronounced [chov-cho-VOD-zeh]. The Georgian V is bilabial, not labio-dental. Tbilisi is pronounced [TBIY-liy-siy]. American residents always mispronounce it as [tib-LIY-siy], and this despite hearing the Georgians pronounce it correctly every single day. This egregious error is even perpetuated by the people who report the news.

Ottavio Beltrano is pronounced [owt-TAH-viy-ow bel-TRAH-now (I'm using AH instead of O to avoid confusion)]. Beltrano rhymes with "guano." Italian stops (P, T, C, CH) are not aspirated. Double consonants are briefly held and then released; so the TT in Ottavio is articulated like the T’s in “freight train.” Italian T, D, and N are articulated in the dental position (not the alveolar position as in English).Vivete felice is pronounced [viy-VEY-tey fe-LIY-chey]. The pronunciation of C as [ch] (before E or I) is good for Italian, but not good for Latin. Those who have listened to a great many masses and oratorios by the likes of Haydn and Mozart are likely to make this mistake. However, we English speakers have our own perfectly serviceable tradition of Latin pronunciation, as should be evident by now. The affectation of pronouncing Latin in the "Italianate" manner has a decidely papist flavor to it. 

I should point out that the traditional pronunciation of Latin in every country has arisen simply by bringing Latin into conformity with the phonology of the national language. Thus, Cicero is pronounced [SIS-ə-row] by the English, [siy-sey-ROW] by the French, [CHIY-che-row] by the Italians, [TSI-tse-row] by the Germans, and [THIY-the-row] by the Spaniards. "Kickero" is a monstrosity generated in the 19th century by the so-called "Restored Pronunciation."

BELTRANO