Unit 1 - Pronunciation of Ecclesiastical Latin

Last year I really switched to classical pronunciation because we were involved in the certamen competition.  Really, in the world of Latin studies classical pronunciation is the way to go.  The only place you are going to hear ecclesiastical is in the Church liturgy and music.  So I do think it is best to be able to switch back and forth between the pronunciations.

Anyway, I am just going to pretty much summarized what the text says just to get it all firmly into my own head

• alphabet is same as English except no k and no w
• vowels are pronounced as follows:
• long ā - father (grātia), short a - carouse (aqua)
• long ē - they (cēna),  short e - get (terra)
• long ī - machine (vīta),  short i - fit (missa)
• long ō - no (glōria), short o - soft (dominus)
• long ū - tuba (Jūdaea), short u - put (culpa)

N.B.  When you are singing Latin though the short vowels tend to sound more like long vowels

No silent vowels in Latin

Y is only a vowel (short i sound) in words from Greek as in mysterium, hymnus

A vowel followed by another vowel or separated by h is usually short as in scīre but sciat, nihil

Dipthongs - two vowels together that make one sound

• ae, like ē - aeternus, saeculum (in classical this sounds like a long i as in aisle)
• au, like ou as in out - aurum, laudō
• oe, like ē:  coepi
• ui like -wi- dwindle:  huic, cui

Consonants (I am only noting the ones that are different from English)

• b as in English but more like p before s or t
• c is like k except before e, i, ae, oe then like ch (caelum) ( in class. pron. always k)
• g as in gut, except before e, i, or y then like j in jut (angelus) (in class. always hard)
• h as in hat (not as in honor)
• j is really the letter i as a consonant - sounds like a y (Jesus)
• qu - just like in English qw
• r should be slightly trilled
• s always unvoiced (like set not as in rise)
• z is like dz as in adze (baptizo)

Notes:

• gn sounds like ny in canyon
• sc followed by e or i makes the sh sound (scelus) (not in classical)
• U sounds like w in words with qu, gu and often su - sanguis, suāvis (like our suave)
• x and z count as 2 consonants (important for syllabication?) x = ks, z - dz
• ti followed by vowel is pronounced tsi (except when s, t, or x precedes)
• Ph = f, ch = k, th = t
• double consonants are both pronounced (as in heal leg or something like that!)
• No silent consonants
• v is pronounced like v in English (in classical pronounced as w)

Whew!  Since the next topic, syllabication, always flummoxes me, I'll work on that next time.