Latin regional pronunciation explained

Latin pronunciation, both in the classical and post-classical age, has varied across different regions and different eras. As the respective languages have undergone sound changes, the changes have often applied to the pronunciation of Latin as well.

Latin still in use today is more often pronounced according to context, rather than geography. For a century, ecclesiastical Latin, that is Latin with an Italianate pronunciation, has been the official pronunciation of the Catholic Church due to the centrality of Italy and Italian, and this is the default of many singers and choirs. In the interest of historically informed performance, some singers of Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music adopt the pronunciation of the composer's period and region. While in Western university classics departments the reconstructed classical pronunciation has been general since around 1945, in the Anglo-American legal professions the older style of academic Latin still survives.

pronounced as /notice/

The following table shows the main differences between different regions with the International Phonetic Alphabet. This is far from a complete listing and lacks the local variations exhibited through centuries, but is intended to give an outline of main characteristics of different regions.

Sign	Example			Romanian^[1]		Portuguese^[2]						English	Greek^[3]
a	canis	pronounced as //a//	pronounced as //a//							pronounced as //a(ː)//	pronounced as //æ(ː)/ (/a(ː)/)/	pronounced as //æ// or pronounced as //eɪ//	pronounced as //a//
ā	cāsus	pronounced as //aː//
ae (æ)	saepe, bonae	pronounced as //aɪ, ae//, later pronounced as //ɛː//	pronounced as //ɛ//	pronounced as //e//		pronounced as //ɛ//		pronounced as //ɛ// (pronounced pronounced as //e// when not stressed)	pronounced as //ɛ//	pronounced as //ɛː//		pronounced as //ɛ// or pronounced as //iː//	pronounced as //e//
c^e,i,ae,oe	benedīcimus	pronounced as //k//	pronounced as //tʃ//		pronounced as //θ// or pronounced as //s//	pronounced as //s//			pronounced as //ts//		pronounced as //s//		pronounced as //k//
ch	pulcher	pronounced as //kʰ//	pronounced as //k//						pronounced as //x//	pronounced as //x/ or /ç//	pronounced as //k(ʰ)//	pronounced as //k//	pronounced as //k//
e	venī ("come", imperative singular)	pronounced as //ɛ//		pronounced as //e//		pronounced as //ɛ//		pronounced as //ɛ// (pronounced pronounced as //e// when not stressed)	pronounced as //ɛ//	pronounced as //ɛ// or pronounced as //eː//	pronounced as //ɛ//	pronounced as //ɛ// or pronounced as //iː//	pronounced as //e//
ē	vēnī ("I came", "I have come")	pronounced as //eː//	pronounced as //e//							pronounced as //eː//
g^e,i,ae,oe	agimus	pronounced as //ɡ//	pronounced as //dʒ//	pronounced as //d͡ʒ//	pronounced as //x//	pronounced as //ʒ//			pronounced as //ɡ//			pronounced as //dʒ//	pronounced as //g//
gn	magnum	pronounced as //ŋn/ or /gn//	pronounced as //ɲɲ//	pronounced as //ɡn//	pronounced as //ɣn//	pronounced as //ɲ/ or /ɡn//	pronounced as //ɡn//			pronounced as //ɡn/ or /ŋn//	pronounced as //ŋn//	pronounced as //ɡn//
h	hominibus	pronounced as //h, -//	pronounced as //-//	pronounced as //h//	pronounced as //-//				pronounced as //x// (Polish, the usual current value) or pronounced as //ɦ// or pronounced as //ɣ//	pronounced as //h//			pronounced as //h/ or /x/, /ç/(before e/i)/
i	fides	pronounced as //ɪ//	pronounced as //i//						pronounced as //i// (Russian also pronounced as //ɨ// after "c")	pronounced as //ɪ// or pronounced as //iː//	pronounced as //i//	pronounced as //ɪ// or pronounced as //aɪ//	pronounced as //i//
ī	fīlius	pronounced as //iː//
j	Jesus	pronounced as //j//			pronounced as //x//	pronounced as //ʒ//			pronounced as //j//			pronounced as //dʒ//	pronounced as //ʝ//
o	solum	pronounced as //ɔ//		pronounced as //o//		pronounced as //ɔ//	pronounced as //o(ː)//	pronounced as //ɔ// (pronounced pronounced as //o// when not stressed)	pronounced as //ɔ// or pronounced as //o// or pronounced as //ʷo// (Russian)	pronounced as //ɔ// or pronounced as //oː//	pronounced as //ɔ//	pronounced as //ɒ// or pronounced as //oʊ//	pronounced as //o//
ō	sōlus	pronounced as //oː//	pronounced as //o//			pronounced as //o//		pronounced as //o//			pronounced as //oː//
oe (œ)	poena	pronounced as //ɔɪ, oe//, later pronounced as //eː//	pronounced as //e//						pronounced as //ɛ// or pronounced as //ʲo// (Russian)	pronounced as //øː/, /e://	pronounced as //øː//	pronounced as //ɛ// or pronounced as //iː//	pronounced as //ø/, /e//
qu	quis	pronounced as //kʷ//	pronounced as //kw//	pronounced as //kv// or pronounced as //kw//	pronounced as //kw// or pronounced as //k//	pronounced as //kʷ//	pronounced as //kw//^a pronounced as //kɥ//^æ,e,i pronounced as //k//^o,u	pronounced as //kw//^a,o pronounced as //k//^æ,e,i,u	pronounced as //kv// (Polish: pronounced as //kf//)	pronounced as //kv//	pronounced as //kʰv//	pronounced as //kw//	pronounced as //kv//
s^ungeminated between vowels	rosa	pronounced as //s//	pronounced as //s// or pronounced as //z//	pronounced as //z//	pronounced as //s//	pronounced as //z//					pronounced as //s//	pronounced as //s// or pronounced as //z//	pronounced as //z//
sc^e,i,ae,oe	ascendit	pronounced as //sk//	pronounced as //ʃː//	pronounced as //st͡ʃ//	pronounced as //sθ// or pronounced as //s//	pronounced as //s// or pronounced as //ʃ//	pronounced as //s//		pronounced as //sts//		pronounced as //s//		pronounced as //sk//
ti^V	nātiō	pronounced as //tɪ//	pronounced as //tsj//	pronounced as //t͡si//	pronounced as //θj// or pronounced as //sj//	pronounced as //sj//		pronounced as //si//	pronounced as //tsi// or pronounced as //tsɨ// or pronounced as //ti// (Polish academic for both traditional and reconstructed pronunciations)	pronounced as //tsi// or pronounced as //tsj//	pronounced as //ʃ//	pronounced as //ʃi//	pronounced as //ti//
u	ut, sumus	pronounced as //ʊ//	pronounced as //u//				pronounced as //y(ː)//	pronounced as //u//		pronounced as //ʊ// or pronounced as //uː//	pronounced as //u(ː)/ (/o/)/	pronounced as //ʌ// or pronounced as //juː//	pronounced as //u//
ū	lūna	pronounced as //uː//
um	curriculum	pronounced as //ʊ̃//	pronounced as //um//			pronounced as //ũ//	pronounced as //ɔm//	pronounced as //um//	pronounced as //um// or pronounced as //ʊm//	pronounced as //ʊm//	pronounced as //om//	pronounced as //əm//	pronounced as //um//
v	veritās	pronounced as //w//, later pronounced as //v//	pronounced as //v//		pronounced as //b// or pronounced as //β//	pronounced as //v//					pronounced as //ʋ//	pronounced as //v//
xc^e,i,ae,oe	excelsis	pronounced as //ksk//	pronounced as //kʃ//^[4]	pronounced as //kst͡ʃ//	pronounced as //sθ// or pronounced as //s//	pronounced as //ks//, pronounced as //s// or pronounced as //ʃ//	pronounced as //ɡz// or pronounced as //ks//	pronounced as //ks//	pronounced as //ksts//	pronounced as //ksts//	pronounced as //ks//		pronounced as //ksk//
z	zodiacus	pronounced as //dz//		pronounced as //z//	pronounced as //θ// or pronounced as //s//	pronounced as //z//				/ts/	pronounced as //s//	pronounced as //z//

In many countries, these regional varieties are still in general use in schools and churches. The Italian model is increasingly advocated in ecclesiastical contexts and now widely followed in such contexts by speakers of English, sometimes with slight variations. The Liber Usualis prescribes a silent "h", except in the two words "mihi" and "nihil", which are pronounced pronounced as //miki// and pronounced as //nikil// (this is not universally followed). Some Anglophone singers choose to pronounce "h" as pronounced as //h// for extra clarity.

See also

• Traditional English pronunciation of Latin

Other languages

• • Pronunciation of Ancient Greek in teaching
• Sino-Xenic pronunciations

Further reading

• Benedictines Of Solesmes, ed. Liber Usualis with introduction and rubrics in English. Great Falls, Montana: St. Bonaventure Publ., 1997.
• Copeman, Harold. Singing in Latin. Oxford, UK: Harold Copeman (publisher), revised edition 1992.
• McGee, Timothy J. with A G. Rigg and David N. Klausner, eds. Singing Early Music. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana UP, 1996.

References

1. Book: Romanian Academy . Dicționarul ortografic, ortoepic și morfologic al limbii române (Otrhographic, orthoepic, and morphologic dictionary of the Romanian language). 2 . Univers Enciclopedic . 978-973-637-087-8 . 2005 .
2. Book: Faraco, Carlos Emílio . Gramática nova . 2012 . Editora Ática . Francisco Marto de Moura, José Hamilton Maruxo . 978-85-08-11311-8 . São Paulo . 783775360.
3. Book: ΤΖΑΡΤΖΑΝΟΣ ΑΧΙΛΛΕΑΣ. ΛΑΤΙΝΙΚΗ ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΙΚΗ Γ' ΓΕΝΙΚΟΥ ΛΥΚΕΙΟΥ ΘΕΩΡΗΤΙΚΗ ΚΑΤΕΥΘΥΝΣΗ (Latin Grammar C Class of General Lycesum Humanitarian Studies). ΟΕΔΒ (ΟΡΓΑΝΙΣΜΟΥ), ΥΠ. ΠΑΙΔΕΙΑΣ- ΙΤΥΕ ΔΙΟΦΑΝΤΟΣ . 9789600624144 . 2015 .
4. Benedictines Of Solesmes, ed. Liber Usualis with introduction and rubrics in English. Great Falls, Montana: St. Bonaventure Publ., 1997., p. xxxviij.