In the late Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, there were almost as many systems of Latin pronunciation as there were European languages. Scholars spoke Latin according to the rules of their own languages. When they got together, they spent the first half hour or so laughing at each other’s funny accents, but after that they adapted and managed to communicate.
By our own time, the number of correct pronunciations for English speakers quoting Latin has settled down to a manageable three, and it is not difficult for a Latin scholar to know all three of them and use the correct one for the situation. (Yes, even in Latin there is “code-switching.”) Most mistakes in pronunciation come from mixing up the three different systems, producing something that is neither fish nor fowl nor cheeseburger.
1. The classical pronunciation. This is the simplest of the three to learn, and it is the one you were taught if you learned Latin in a school outside the Roman Catholic orbit. It is a reconstruction of what linguists believe was the pronunciation prevalent in the time of the Roman Republic. The reconstruction is based on good evidence, and it is likely to be substantially correct, but a truly pedantic scholar would point out that it is not a continuous tradition. It is like the Capitol at Williamsburg, where the pedant points out that the original was destroyed long ago and the current building constructed in the 1930s, and the average tourist says, “Yeah, whatever.”
In this system, every letter has only one sound.
Consonants are the same as in English, except that
• C and G are always hard: centum is pronounced KEN-toom, not SEN-toom, and genus is pronounced GHEH-noos, not JEH-noos.
• J is pronounced like our Y.
• V is pronounced like our W.
The vowels are given their usual values in European languages—a=ah, e=eh, i=ee, o=oh, u=oo. “Short” and “long” vowels are distinguished by quantity, meaning how long it takes to pronounce them: the ancient rule was that long vowels take twice as long to say as short vowels. This is the only difficult thing for English speakers, most of whom completely ignore the rule, but it is the basis of all classical poetry, and ignoring it makes a mockery of Virgil.
The diphthong æ is pronounced like the pronoun I, and œ is pronounced like the oy in joy.
Some Latin courses will make subtler distinctions between short and long vowels, but you can get by with these rules.
When to use it. The classical pronunciation is appropriate for quoting classical literature, but nothing later.
2. The ecclesiastical pronunciation. This is the pronunciation used by Roman Catholics who are native English speakers; it is derived from the Italian pronunciation, and letters are generally given their Italian values. It is more complex than the classical pronunciation, because some consonants have multiple sounds depending on their position. Instead of boring you with the complexities here, we shall send you to the Wikipedia section on the ecclesiastical pronunciation, which has a good chart. You can also find a good guide at the site of the Catholic network EWTN.
When to use it. The ecclesiastical pronunciation is necessary for quotations from the Catholic liturgy. It is proper for quotations from medieval sources, where it would be a jarring anachronism to use the classical pronunciation, and for Latin literature of the Renaissance and after, especially if it is not written by English speakers.
3. The English pronunciation. This was the pronunciation taught in schools in the English-speaking world until about 1900. It applies the rules of English pronunciation to Latin. Since students of today are taught as dogma that there are no rules of English pronunciation, it will be necessary for you to learn those rules before you can apply them to Latin. This is, therefore, the hardest system for modern English speakers to learn, because we are willing to admit that Latin and Italian have rules for pronunciation, but we are ignorant of our own language.
A quick and serviceable guide to the English pronunciation of Latin can be found at the very beginning of A Short Latin Grammar: Forming Part of a Popular System of Classical Instruction, on the Plan Recommended by Mr. Locke (London: John Taylor, 1827).
When to use it. This is the correct pronunciation in English for scientific names of organisms and for legal terms derived from Latin. It is also necessary for Latin quotations in English poetry before the middle twentieth century, since the rhyme may depend on the pronunciation. It is good and proper for works in Latin by English authors, such as Milton or Johnson. It is correct and reasonable for any quotation from Latin except the Roman Catholic liturgy, where it would sound odd. (Unless you are speaking of the Roman Catholic liturgy in historic times in which the English pronunciation was used; but if you have descended that far into pedantry, you probably have no need of these hints.)
Once you have mastered these three systems, you will be the most pedantically correct of all podcasters. But if you master only one of them, make it the English one. It is incorrect to use the classical pronunciation of Latin for legal terms and scientific nomenclature, whereas it is perfectly correct to use the English pronunciation for quotations from classical literature.
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