Re: Pronounciation book
> Latin is a "dead" language and no one living actually knows how it
> should be pronounced, we are all just guessing!
>
Marilyn,
I suspect the scholars' guesses at pronouncing classical Latin are
pretty accurate. But it doesn't matter because the rest of us ignore the
classical and use pronunciation based on Vulgar Latin (don't blame me; I
didn't make up the term). For example, in classical Latin, Cæsar is
pronounced as KY-sahrrr and veni vidi vici as WAY-nee WEE-dee WEE-kee.
If you took Latin in a parochial school, you were probably
taught to prounounce the letter "V" like the English "V," the
dipthong "æ" like "sundae", and Caesar like "CHAY-sahr." If
you do this, you are going to take some flak from Latin
purists, classics snobs, and other assorted lingo bores, but
on the other hand, you're going to get a much better table in
the Vatican restaurant.
--Henry Beard, Latin
for All Occasions
As for American Latin: I was told that if the penultimate syllable
is stressed, then it is pronounced with a long vowel. Thus, clematis
cannot be pronounced cle-MAH-tiss; if anything, it would have to be
cle-MAY-tiss, which nobody ever says. I figure that CLEM-a-tiss is
correct.
Janet
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