[*] 8. The so-called Roman Pronunciation of Latin aims to represent approximately the pronunciation of classical times.
VOWELS: ā as in father; | ă as in idea. |
ē as eh? (prolonged), or a in date; | ĕ as eh? (clipped) or e in net. |
ī as in machine; | ĭ as in holiest or sit. |
ō as in holy; | ŏ as in obey. |
ū as oo in boot; | ŭ as oo in foot. |
y between u and i (French u or German ü). |
DIPHTHONGS: ae like ay; | ei as in eight; | oe like oy in boy; |
eu as eh'oo; | au like ow in now | ui as oo'ee. |
- c and g are as in come, get, never as in city, gem.
- s as in sea, lips, never as in ease.
- Consonant i is like y in young; v (consonant u ) like w in wing.
- n in the combinations ns and nf probably indicates nasalization of the preceding vowel, which was also lengthened; and final m in an unaccented syllable probably had a similar nasalizing effect on the preceding vowel.
- ph, th, ch, are properly like p, t, k, followed by h (which may, for convenience, be neglected); but ph probably became like (or nearly like) f soon after the classical period, and may be so pronounced to distinguish it from p.
- z is as dz in adze.
- bs is like ps; bt is like pt.
[*] Note.--Latin is sometimes pronounced with the ordinary English sounds of the letters. The English pronunciation should be used in Roman names occurring in English (as, Julius Cæsar); and in familiar quotations, as, e pluribus unum; viva voce; vice versa; a fortiori; veni, vidi, vici, etc.