Pronouncing Ancient Latin

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Why bother?

There are two things we know for certain about the pronunciation of ancient Latin: (1) we don't know exactly what it sounded like, and (2) if it sounded anything like modern Italian or Church Latin, the Romans were out of their minds when they first wrote their language down.

Given that, why should a beginning student bother sounding out Latin? There are three reasons. The first is that it makes classroom work easier if you can tell me what word you're having problems with without having to say "the second word to the left...no, on the next line..." A second reason is that vocalizing the words will be a definite aid in memorization. The third is that when you start reading more complicated sentences you'll want to be able to sound them out as if Latin were really a language that people used to use to communicate with each other. You'll see what I mean soon enough.

Suffice it to say that you'll get better pronouncing Latin the more you listen and the more you practice. The following basic rules aren't comprehensive, but they're enough to get you started.

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The Consonants

Basically, the consonants are like English, with the following exceptions:

• There is no letter "k," and all "c's" are pronounced like "k's."
• The letter "g" is always hard, as it "gutter ball," never soft, as in "gesture."
• The letter "v" is pronounced as if it's a "w."
• The "r" was probably rolled.

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Vowels

The vowels a, e, i, o, and u, can be either short or long, and that would have affected their pronunciation. Your textbook will indicate whether they're short or long, though original Latin texts would have had no such indications. In general, try to make your vowels crisp and simple. Pronounce them as one sound, and not like the symphony of sounds that an English vowel is.

• a=ah
• e=eh
• i=ee
• o=o
• u=u

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Dipthongs

A dipthong is two vowels that slur togther and make a kind of continuous blending of the two original sounds. The common Latin dipthongs are:

• ae=eye
• au=ouch
• oe=boy
• eu=ehou
• ou=oo
• ui=oowee

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Stress Accent

Ancient Latin had a stress accent, like English. You'll start to notice accents can fall only on the last syllable, the second to the last, or the third to the last syllable of a word. There are rules for figuring out where an accent will be, and some day you'll want to know them. For the time being, just try to imitate your teacher. You'll start to acquire a feel for it long before you actually study the rules.

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Sample Text
Caesar's Gallic Wars

[I'll read the text once through rather quickly, then a second time very slowly so that you can follow along.]

[1.1.1] Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres, quarum unam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquitani, tertiam qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, nostra Galli appellantur.

[1.1.2] Hi omnes lingua, institutis, legibus inter se differunt. Gallos ab Aquitanis Garumna flumen, a Belgis Matrona et Sequana dividit.

[1.1.3] Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae, propterea quod a cultu atque humanitate provinciae longissime absunt, minimeque ad eos mercatores saepe commeant atque ea quae ad effeminandos animos pertinent important,

[1.1.4] proximique sunt Germanis, qui trans Rhenum incolunt, quibuscum continenter bellum gerunt. Qua de causa Helvetii quoque reliquos Gallos virtute praecedunt, quod fere cotidianis proeliis cum Germanis contendunt, cum aut suis finibus eos prohibent aut ipsi in eorum finibus bellum gerunt.

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