Classical Latin is the language that was written and spoken by the educated Roman populace during the period of the late Republic and early Empire. Among the authors who wrote classical Latin are: Caesar, Cicero, Livy, Catullus, Vergil, and Horace. Although there must have been variations in the pronunciation of classical Latin such as are evident in any modern language, there is ancient evidence for a standard in pronunciation.
Alphabet
The Latin Alphabet is almost the same as the English alphabet, though it lacks a j and a w.
Consonants
The Latin consonants are generally identical in pronunciation with their English equivalents, but there are exceptions.
- bs is pronounced as ps
- bt is pronounced as pt
- c always has k sound
- g is always hard g
- h is never silent
- i, as consonant, has the y sound
Note: i is consonantal at the beginning of a word when followed by a vowel (e.g. Iūnō) and in the middle of a word when it falls between vowels (e.g. biiugis). It does have exceptions when words are borrowed from Greek (e.g. iambus).
- qu counts as a single consonant in Latin and is always pronounced as in “qu-it”
- r probably rolled
- s always sibilant
- v always as w
- x counts as a double consonant (=ks)
- z counts as a double consonant (=dz)
- ch (=k)
- ph (=p)
- th (=t)
Note: ch, ph, and th represent sounds introduced from Greek into Latin.
Vowels
Latin has two sets of five vowels:
| Short | Long |
|---|---|
| a | ā |
| e | ē |
| i | ī |
| o | ō |
| u | ū |
Vowels have both quantity and quality. Quantity refers to the length of a vowel. A Latin vowel marked with a macron or long mark is long and takes approximately twice as long to pronounce as a short vowel. y is a vowel representing the Greek upsilon ($\upsilon$). This vowel pronounced as a French u.
Diphthongs
A diphthong is a single vocalic sound made from pronouncing two vowels together. The six diphthongs in Latin are ae, oe, ei, ui, au, and eu.
Accentuation
Latin has a stress accent.
Syllabification
A Latin word has as many syllables as it has vowels or diphthongs. There are no silent vowels or consonants in Latin.
- a single consonants goes with the following vowel.
- if there are two or more consonants in a row, the last consonant goes with the following syllable.
- if, however, the combination of two consonants is a plosive or the fricative f followed by a liquid (l,r), the two consonantsare kept together.
Accentuation
The last syllable in a Latin word is called the syllaba ultima. The second syllable from the end is called the syllaba paenultima. The third syllable from the end is called the syllaba antepaenultima. Only the penult or the antepaenult of a Latin word may be stressed.
Law of Penult: If the penult is long, it is stressed. If the penult is short, the antepenult is stressed.
A syllable is long if it contains:
- a long vowel or diphthong
- a short vowel followed by two or more consonants not necessarily in the same syllable.
Exempli Gratia
anima $\to$ a/ni/ma
aurum $\to$ au/rum
gladius $\to$ gla/di/us
imperium $\to$ im/pe/ri/um
sānctus $\to$ sānc/tus
virumque $\to$ vi/rum/que
puella $\to$ pu/el/la
patria $\to$ pa/tri/a
agricola $\to$ a/gri/co/la
impleō $\to$ im/ple/ō
inimīcus $\to$ i/ni/mī/cus
magnārum $\to$ mag/nā/rum
labõrēs $\to$ la/bõ/rēs
ocellīs $\to$ o/cel/līs
magister $\to$ ma/gis/ter
intellegenda $\to$ in/tel/le/gen/da
scientia $\to$ sci/en/tia
aequora $\to$ ae/quo/ra
tempora $\to$ tem/po/ra
cēperis $\to$ cē/pe/ris
