\1U\V 01

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A
THE RESTORED PRONUNCIATION
OF GREEK AND LATIN:

11777/

TAIU.ES

AND PRACTICAL EXPLANATIONS

BY

EDWARD VERNON ARNOLD,

M.A.,

PROFESSOR OF LATIN AT THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF NORTH WALES

LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE,

ROBERT SEYMOUR CONWAY,

MONMOUTHSHIRE
;

M.A.,

PROFESSOR OF LATIN AT THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOUTH WALES AND LATE FELLOW OF GONVILLE AND CAIUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

ivv/f/i

SECOND EDITION.

ft*

CAMBRIDGE
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
1896.

Cambridge
PRINTED BY
J.

AND

C.

F.

CLAY,

AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

PREFACE.

THE
is

uncertainty

at

presenl

prevailing as to the best method of

pronouncing Greek and Latin is a difficulty which very widely felt both by students and teachers of J J J

Oecanonoj
tlllS J)(lll!J)lllct.

these languages.
sity of

At

the establishment of the Univerthat an effort should be

in

arrive

Wales it seemed desirable at some kind of agreement

this

made

to

the matter, at any rate within

the boundaries of the Principality.

With
to

object

the

Classical

Professors

of

the Constituent
of their

Colleges of the University of

Wales requested two

number

draw up

historical

scheme of pronunciation, which should be based upon principles, and at the same time bear a practical character.
a

We

accordingly framed and submitted to our colleagues a draft

:

scheme, which they have since examined and revised

and

it

is

now

published in a form to which they unanimously assent.

The

project has also received

it

the approval of the Court and

Senate of the University, and

these bodies desire to see

may

therefore be considered that

adopted in

some such uniform system of pronunciation the teaching and examinations of the University.
of time,

We

are confident that, in course

the

principles

we

here advocate will win increasing approval from the general body
of classical scholars
:

but we look to the criticisms of others, and to

little

the test of experience, to add not a

in detail to the scientific

and practical value of the scheme.

will

be favourably considered, in

Meanwhile we hope that it the first instance, by all who are

interested in classical studies in Wales.

In drawing up this scheme, we have received much help from

our Colleagues in the University of Wales, not only in the Classical

Departments, but also in those of French and Welsh

further to acknowledge several valuable suggestions
J. P. Postgate

and we have
Prof.

made by

G. Rushbrooke, Headmaster of St Olave's School. For the main features of the scheme no originality is claimed these will be found in all the best grammars recently published, as well as in special works on Greek and Latin pro-

and

Mr W.

nunciation.
It will be understood from

what has been

said that these pages

have a directly practical object and do not profess in any way to be a complete treatise. Hence we have passed by many points which,
though interesting in themselves, seem to us to be of secondary
importance.

12

IV

PREFACE.
Authorities

The books which we have most often consulted

are the following

chiefly suited.

cm-

Phonetics.

^- Sweet, Handbook of

Phonetics, Oxford, 1877,

and History of English Sounds, Oxford, 1888. Ellis, Early English Pronunciation, London, 1869.
[More detailed technical information
ziige

A.

J.

will

be found in Sievers, Grund-

der Phonetik, Leipzig, 1885 (3 le Auflage), and Vietor, Phonetik des Deutschen, Englischen und Franzdsischen, Heilbronn, 1884.]

K. Brugmann,
lage) in
schaft,
I.

Griechische

Grammatik

(2

te

Auf-

Miiller's

Band

2,

Munich, 1890.

G.

Handbuch der AltertumswissenMeyer, Griechische Grammatik

(2

te

Auflage), Leipzig, 188G.

F. Blass, Greek Pronunciation (trans-

lated

by Purton), Cambridge, 1890.

[Professor Blass' treatise is not adapted for the use of any but advanced students, and no succinct account of the subject in the light of recent research has yet appeared. To meet this want a brief Text-book of Greek

Pronunciation has been drawn up by Prof.

Conway and

will

be published

shortly after this pamphlet, containing an account of the various sources from which our knowledge is derived and of the evidence which determines the pronunciation assigned to the various letters in the Table below.]

Emil Seel m aim,

Aussprache des Luteins,

Heilbronn,

1885.

W. M. Lindsay, The Latin Language, Oxford, 1894. W. Meyer-Lubke, Grammaire des Langues romanes
(traduction francaise), Paris, 1890.

netique francaise, Paris,

1885.

from Plautus
J.

to

Suetonius, pt.

E. Bourciez, Precis de PhoH. J. Roby, A Latin Grammar i. London, 1876.

[A convenient summary of the principal points is found in Professor P. Postgate's New Latin Primer, London, 1888. See especially

256. A. Bos, Petit 251 should also be mentioned.]

traite

de prononciation latine, Paris, 1893, E. V. A.

E. S. C.
Bangor ) Car DI

Ma*

,_._ 1895

'

NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

In
this edition

we have taken
to

the opportunity of altering a few

phrases, to which attention has been

drawn

as being either
critics

or misleading

and we desire

thank both our

ambiguous and classical

students generally for the generous welcome which has been accorded
to our plea for reform.

E. V. A.

R.
ANG0R
l ^ Cardiff)

S.

C.

October, 1896.

THE PKONUNCIATION OF GREEK AND LATIN.

It

is

proposed

in the following
is

pages that the method of

objections
l

pronunciation which

almost universal in England

in the case of Greek,

and

still

widely prevalent in J
-i

thc

case

of Latin,
like

should be abandoned.

This
in

pro^'iciation.

English

!M

local

method,
of

others

which prevail locally

various

parts

Europe and America,

chiefly finds acceptance from the im-

mediate convenience of giving to the symbols of the

alphabet

Roman

when used
in

to

write

Latin, and
is

the corresponding

symbols

Greek, the sound which

the

most commonly delocality.

noted by the former in

the

particular
is

In Wales,

same

series of

symbols
side,

used to write two languages

which exist side by

but at least half the symbols have

so that

different values in the

two languages,
here wanting.

even this imof this

mediate convenience

is

Any method

kind altogether disregards historical accuracy, and accustoms

the

learner to fancy that languages exist as written

:

rather

than as spoken

for

he

is

put to no
is

trouble to discover the

It
is

true sounds of the language he

studying.

to

him

in

very real sense a

'

dead

'

language: he ceases or never begins to

THE PRONUNCIATION OF
by
its

realise that

help

men and women

lived, felt,

and thought:

and

is

directly encouraged in a mistake

which defeats the very

purpose of his education, the mistake of regarding books as

something remote from

the
is

life

rather than as an integral part of

life

of

mankind and

therefore of that for which he himself

preparing.

But the

local

'

English

'

method

of pronouncing Latin

and

Greek must be condemned

also on the following

more

definite

grounds, which involve consequences smaller in themselves but

obviously and immediately mischievous
(1)
e.g.,

It confuses distinct sounds,

and hence

distinct

words

ceu and seu, cedit and

so-lutio), Ketrai

sedit, luceo, lusio

and Lucio (to say

nothing of

and ^alrai,

kcuvco, Kelvro

and

kivoo

are pronounced alike.

(2)

It obscures quantity

mensis

(abl. plur.) is

pronounced

as mensis (gen. sing.),

and very often mensa (nom.

(evil)

sing.) just as

mensa
alike,

(abl. sing.)

malum

and malum
and

(apple) are

made
The
to the

and so

venit (present tense)

venit (perfect).

same confusion occurs same

extent.

in the case of Greek,

though not

These two defects largely conceal from the student the

musical and rhythmical beauties of the two languages.
(3)

The

learner acquires by ear at the very beginning false

fails to

views as to the relations of languages, and, in particular,

recognise

the

intimate

natural tie

between Latin and the

of being pronounced

Romance
be the

languages.
is

Thus Latin a instead

to

as French a

made

sound like French

a.

ei,

that happening to

common
this

value of English

In

way the

historical study of

language meets with a

needless obstacle even in tracing in a

as French, those words which are

Romance language, such

most immediately derived

from Latin.
(4)

somewhat

similar objection has especial importance

GREEK AND LATIN

in

Wales.

The sounds used

in

the

Welsh language

are on the

whole, and particularly as regards the vowels, of a simpler and

more primitive character than those of English

pression in the written form
is

and their exrt

permanent record of the din

influence of Latin
'

civilisation

upon the Welsh people.

to

The

English

'

method of pronouncing Latin tends

and

push out of

sight this important historical relationship,

to obscure the

comparative antiquity of the Welsh language

itself.

In any attempt to frame a better system, two conditions

should be

fulfilled.

On

the one hand, the scheme

if

Conditions
/ * '%%'.

proposed should present,

it,

our knowledge can secure

at least a reasonable

approximation to the sounds 1 l

in ancient times:

accur <"'.{
ease

<""'

of

ac-

which actually existed

other,
it

and on the qwremmt.

should avoid placing any really serious difficulty in

the way of beginners in Latin or Greek. be

the principle of the study of these
possible, begin

For

it

must always

languages that the

to

learner shall, as soon as

read for himself

the works of the great classical authors.

The
to

progress of philological research has

first

made

it

possible

meet the

requirement.

We

can in the
Accuracy.

main reproduce with certainty the sounds actually

heard at Athens in the
first.

fifth

century

B.C.

and at

Rome

in the

The margin

of

doubt that remains, though from the

it

scientific point of

view

is

considerable,

is

nevertheless,

when

seen from

the

standpoint of the practical teacher, confined

within very narrow limits.

For example; some scholars may

i

feel

a doubt whether Latin

i

more nearly resembled French

i

(close)

in livre
i

(= Eng.

ee in

queen) or Italian (open)

in civita

(= Scotch
ee,

in pity,

some-

times represented by English writers as

it

'peety'); but that

was immeasurably nearer

I

to

Eng.

ee
is

than to the English

clearly demonstrable

(really diphthongal)

in line, tide)\etc.

and universally admitted. ^

THE PRONUNCIATION OF
Accordingly in drawing up the Tables, we have kept in
less

view the distinction between variations of greater and

im-

portance, and have inserted approximate illustrations of

some

of the sounds from languages where precise equivalents were

not easily found

whilst

we have

tried to

guard against any

in

misunderstanding by pointing to more exact equivalents

other columns.

We

venture to hope that the use of a fairly

complete series of English, French and Welsh illustrations side

by side may enable even beginners

correct pronunciation of

to attain to

an approximately

Greek and Latin, while incidentally

rendering some slight service to the teaching of modern lan-

guages

also.

In the second place, after careful discussion, and

case of Latin)
a '

(in the

some

years' experience,

we

feel

that

qufmnent

tne scneme proposed offers no difficulty that can

reasonably be called serious even to the English-

speaking student

while those

who
it

are familiar with spoken

far

Welsh

(or

French) should find

easier

than the

local

English method.
felt,

In one or two cases some difficulty

while the system
is

may be
to

especially

somewhat new

the
will

teacher:

and
left

slight

deviations

from the best standard

effort

be better

uncorrected

when the

to

correct

them

would produce either an error in the opposite direction, or

real

danger of misunderstanding in the oral work of a

difficulties

class.

Such

occur from time to time in any system, and

in that

are especially

numerous and embarrassing

England.

which has
colleagues
is

been so

far usual in

How

far

we and our

are right in thinking that the

scheme here proposed

free

from objections of a practical nature, experience alone can

decide.
It

may
is

indeed be

felt

that the

difference

between the

pronunciation of Latin and Greek here advocated and that

which

actually adopted

in

most parts of England

is

in

GREER AND
itself
:i

LATIN.
Bui
tins
difficulty
is

5
likely

serious
in

cinl>;ii rassii u-nt

to

diminish

extent
in

before

long.

The Cambridge
have
issued

Philo-

logical

Society

the

pamphlet
advocate

they
the

on

the the

Pronunciation of Latin

reformed
it

system:

Head
and
it

Masters' Conference
is

has adopted

as an alternative:

already familiar in

many

schools and lecture-rooms.

in

Most of the reforms that we advocate

in

Greek, especially
diphthongs,

the

pronunciation
in

of

the

vowels

and

have

been long
as

use in more than one Scotch University, and,

we

learn from Professor

Goodwin

1
,

are adopted with some-

thing like uniformity in America.

For these reasons we consider that the

difficulties

in-

volved are of a transient character, and far smaller

Conclusion.

than those brought about by the present position

of uncertainty.

But on the other hand, the restored pronot only in

distinctness

nunciation has the advantage

scientific accuracy,

and

but also in simplicity and musical character.

Written explanations must always be to some extent tedious

and incomplete

but
it

if

once an oral tradition

is

established

amongst teachers,
of effort than

will

be maintained with no greater sense

rejecting

must always be needed by those who,

aim

slipshod and inartistic methods of speech,

at inspiring the
force,

most constant of our occupations with the instincts of

precision,

and beauty.
New
Edition, 1894 (Macmillan), Preface p.
vii.

Greek Grammar.

15

TABLE OF GREEK SOUNDS.

The letters which give the equivalents in English, French and Welsh are printed in heavy type. Examples enclosed in
square brackets contain only rough equivalents.
Greek
English

French

Welsh
aber,

'footpath,

chasse

Han

grandfather
father

ame
bon
gateau

tad

but

baner
gardd, gynt

always as
except that
1

get,

gone

77
are as
i

anger
ankle

Bangor (not as in
angor, tyngu)

llangc
dette

jnkhorn
8
e (close e)

[den]

[du]*
[cegin]*

[g^Y
'sdeath,

e ^> ^te

r)
'

wisdom, glazed
fere,
il

(open

e)

(spiritus asper)

bear board

mene

hen*

bardd
merely the absence of the spiritus asper in

'

(spiritus lenis) denotes

initial vowels.

antbill

Nant-bir (not as
in peth)

X
I

(close i)
(close %)

[hit]

vdriU
livre, eglise

dim
hin

queen

9RMMR SOUNDS
K
cat,
let

come

f'clat,
lit

Conr

ci,

coed

gtotHed

P
V

man
name
text

mere

mam
nid
boCB
[colyn,

nom
fixer

I
o (close d)
7T

cannot, conrisi
pit
\

monologue
parler
chrri

poniy

pen
carreg

P
r

herring

P
<t,

thidtre
9

rhwng
110S

always as
except that

Bait,

mottle

savant, rassc

(rosebush
]

arc as

ay* J

{rosemary
[ten, tin]
2

T
V

te\e
dxx.

[tan]

pain,lvdte [North Welsh

pump]
V

du, lune

[North Welsh
G'U/i]

[German grmi
<t>

uphill

Ap-Henry

(not
as

as in gorphen)

X
ay

\bakehuuse
(open o)
1

ac he/yd (not
in drachefu)

{backhanded ore, oar

encore

pob 4
is

further probable exceptiou, of no great importance,

mentioned on

p. 13 below.
-

For the
Greek
e

slight variation in

English and Welsh

<l

from the continental

in

dentals see p. 12 below.

3

was a

'close' e (see p. 10 below),

and may be more nearly heard

the usual pronunciation of coUoge,

eniiiiw,

or in the old-fashioned pronunciation of

wgvaeer, entire, than in the approximate examples given in the table,

whicli contain a
in quality to the
4

more 'open' sound.

It

was the short sound corresponding

of eh, see below.

Welsh

and

o are

open or half-open sounds, both when short and long

'
'

but the degree of openness appears to vary slightly in different districts.

GREEK SOUNDS.

Diphthongs ending

in

l.

These should be pronounced simply by combining the sounds

of their

component vowels.

Thus
at

=a+ = +

t.

Roughly
Eng.

as

Eng.

in ride,
in taid.

more exactly

Fr.

ail

in email,
01
1.

oi in

Welsh ai oil, Welsh

oi in troi.
lid.

vt = v +

1.

Roughly

as Fr.

ui in

It rarely occurs
its

save

before vowels

and then v has

regular sound
to

and the
consonant
a,
r),

is

simply equivalent

the

Eng.

y.
rj

(p

= d + (Welsh
1
t

ae in caer),

1,

(o

(Welsh oe

in coed)

respectively.

in

The was probably not pronounced at all after about 250 B.C., just as modern spoken S. Welsh ae and oe are pronounced (in Glamorganshire) simply as Welsh a and o.

The sound of et was originally diphthongal (Welsh ei, halfway between Eng. ay and lie), but by about 450 B.C. it had become simply equivalent to a long e ('long close e') = French -ee
in passee, Eng. a in day, pronounced without the final y-sound.

Diphthongs ending

in

v.

These should be pronounced by combining the sound of u (= Eng. u in full, Welsh iv in cwm), not with that of the Attic v, which when it stood alone had undergone a change that it had resisted when preceded by another vowel.
their first vowel with that of Latin

GREEK SOUNDS.
Thus
av
eu

=a+

v.

as

Welsh

'/"

iii

Ihi/i'n.

nearly as Eng.

01/

in

rotund,

mi' in /ott/

= f + C. is Welsh ew
isting
in

in metun,

English
is

is

The ew
t-

nearest
in

equivalenl
the

exfirst

new, but

element of this
(ov = a) + v,

an

instead of an e-vowel.

but

is

of rare occurrence.
iu stone,

The sound
see
p. 15),

of ou was originally diphthongal (Eug.

it

but

became
0',

in Attic before

a long

('long close

French

in

450 B.C. equivalent to chose), and then, becoming

still closer, to

a long Latin u (Eng. 00 in moon,

Welsh w

in

gwr).

Accent.
For the value of the Greek signs of accent see below,
p. 18.

Notes.
1.

In combinations of aspirates such as in a<f wv,

fieO*

<*>v,

(f>div(o,

ydtov the aspirate

;

is

by custom written twice, but

Trdivco etc.,

is

only to be sounded once

air
d>v,

the logical spelling would be either

d(f)

fiT

wv,

ttt'ivco,

ktoov or
^&>9

cov,

the latter
of both

being customary in
these

crasis,

= koX + W9.

Examples
the

methods

occur

on

inscriptions

beside

ordinary

spellings.
2.

The exact nature

by

of the sound or sounds represented

era, in later
it

in early Attic writers

by

tt,

has not yet been

certainly determined.

Until

has been,

we must be content

to give the symbols the

sound of a double

respectively; such inaccuracy as

a- and a double t we may be committing in this

pronunciation
themselves.

is

as great as,

but no greater than the

cor-

responding inaccuracy in spelling allowed by the Athenians

TABLE OF LATIN SOUNDS.

The

letters

which give the equivalents in English, French

in

and Welsh are printed

heavy

type.

Examples enclosed

in

square brackets contain only rough equivalents.

Latin

English

French
cliasse

Welsh
aber, llan

[footpath,
\

grand-

father

a b
c always as

father hut

ame
hon
eclat,

tad

haner
cour
coed, ct

bs as ps, urhs as urns

cat, "kitten

d
e (open e)
e (close
e)

[den]

dette

get
[bag, bane]
2

berger

[day pen
[hen]
3

passee
fifre

fox
get,

Son
gardd, ggnt

g always as

gone

gateau
[verite]
livre, eglise

h
i

hoard
(open
i)
liit

hardd
[dim]
hin
iaith

I (close r)
i

queen
yoke
let

consonant

bataillon
lit

gweled

m
n n
before
c.)
[

man
name
song 4
dot
[low, lone]
Pit
2

mere

mam
nid
llangc

nom

o (opeu o

8)

recoil it u

pont
[pob] 3

(close o)

chose,

chaud

narler
cuirasse

pen

qu

quiz

LATIN SOUNDS.
r

[herring]

cMri
tefa

caxreg
rum
[ton] 1

always as

///ss,

pace, manut s tavant, mBBr

1

[tin]
t>
)

u (open
fl

pull,
j>ool.

(close

<~i)

wood wooed

uouvelle

cwm
("Wll, CfWi

r&oadre
Nord-Ouest
finer

u consonant 6 wine
x
1

(g)wc!cif

text

boot

Latin nnd French

t,

d are more strictly dental than the corresponding

English or Welsh sounds.

- Latin i may be obtained from English a in l>&>/, b$OU by omitting the sound which follows immediately on the English vowel and so S from English English air, oar give the corresponding o in /oic lone by omitting the u sound. open vowels. Welsh e and are open or 'half-open sounds, both when short and lon^ but the degree of openness appears to vary slightly in different districts. 4 Accordingly Latin ng corresponds to the double sound ('.'/' + in English finger, and not to the single sound heard in singer to Welsh ng in Bangor,
:
1

//

'

.'/)

not in tyngu.

A
for the

distinctive
i

j for the

symbol v is still often found in Latin printed texts, although consonant has been generally abandoned. These distinctive symbols

consonants came gradually into use towards the end of the Middle Ages, when the sounds had undergone considerable change (see p. 14), and had become
comparatively remote from those of the corresponding vowels.

The

following sounds, used in Latin in words borrowed from

the Greek, are to be pronounced as in Greek

Latin

Greek

English

French

Welsh

y y
z

du pain
du, lune

[North Welsh

pump]
V

[North Welsh can]

giiin]

[German
K
'B&eath, loisdom,

glazed

ch

X
<t>

bak.e-h.ovse,

ac he/yd (not
drachefn

as in

back-handed

ph
th

up-hill

Au-T&enry (not as
in gorphen)

ant-hill

Nant-hir not as
(

in

peth)

rh

theatre

rhwng

12

LATIN SOUNDS.
Diphthongs.
These should be pronounced simply by combining the sounds

of their
Latin

component vowels.
English
[side]

Thus
German
Welsh

French

ae oe
ui

email, bataiWon

taid

boil

hauser
[oui]
etc., if

roi

[ruin]

[mwyn]
run closely together,
will

(The vowel-sounds in ruin,

correspond to Latin ui in huic, cui.)

au eu

cow
[ew]

haxis

llawn

mew
in Latin
letters
i,

(English

new would be

niu

but

if

we

substitute the sound of e for that of

we

obtain the Latin

diphthong.)
1

See

p. 17.

EXPLANATIONS OF SOME POINTS IN PHONETICS.

These remarks are intended as comments upon the tables of

Greek and Latin pronunciation, amplifying the very They aim only at dealing with certain practical difficulties, and not at presenting even the
PllV})OSP

brief directions there given.

elements of the Science of Phonetics.

Technical terms in

use are therefore not, as a rule, explained.

Fuller information

common may

readily be found in the recognized text-books of Phonetics (see the

list

of authorities in the Preface).

The plosive
Consonants:

or

momentary

sounds are found

wr itten almost uniformly in modern European languages those common to Greek and Latin with
:

a. b.

breathed.
voiced.

them are

ir

p, r

t,

(breathed sounds) and

/8 b,

8 d,

^ g ( vo i ce(j sounds).
strictly dental in the

But

and d are more

; and Greek r

modern Romance languages

than in English, Welsh, or German, where they are formed rather above

than on the teeth

in this particular the

8,

Romance sounds correspond

more

closely to

Latin

d.

Besides these six sounds Greek possessed aspirates, and Latin

used them in words borrowed from Greek
:

<

ph, 6

th,

ch.

These also were plosive sounds, only differing

EXPLANATIONS
from the corresponding breathed Bounds in
/>.

13
t
t,

ice respectively

adding a slight emission of breath,

in

in

sound

like

the

English h,
be

before the next vowel or consonanl

the word.

They must uot

oonfuaed with the spirant or continuous sounds which have replaced

them
as
I'll

in

modern Greek,
in

as well as in other

English,
(

French and Welsh,

not
only

th

European languages, Buch in English and Welsh,

weakenings of the

eh in

Welsh and

lerman.
the

These spirants are

modern
in

plosives of classical times: and in

English and other

modern European languages (though not

c,

Welsh)

values (in

g,

have come, in certain positions,

to

represent

some cases)

weakened and continuous sounds, for which other Thus English city, gin, nation are pronounced just as if sit ij, jin, nashioi were written. These secondary values of
symbols also stand.

modern

c,

g,

are in no case to be given to the corresponding Greek

or Latin symbols.

Amongst continuous sounds the nasals and n corresponding voiced b and d are found in all European Cont anions lamma^es but observe that Greek v and Latin n may *
///

to the

00

consonants.

perhaps have more closely resembled the sound heard

modern French and other Romance languages, and have been more than English, Welsh, or German n. The nasal corresponding to g is found in English and Welsh, and written ng. In Latin and Greek the sound is heard before the and v, sounds k c (q), y g, \ c ^ ( m Greek probably also before though certainly not before m and n in Latin). It is denoted by y Hence Greek yy (for example) = Latin in Greek, by n in Latin. ng English or Welsh wj + g, or ng in the examples given in the
in
strictly dental
//.

tables.

Final

///

was pronounced

lightly in Latin.

In

verse,

when

the
;

next word began with a vowel, we find the vowel before -m elided
yet

when the next word began with a consonant, the syllable ending in -m is counted long by position. The best explanation seems to be that the -m was so far weakened, that when a vowel followed, the
-m was only heard as a nasal
is

affection of the vowel before

:

it.

such as

given to o and a in French bon, plan

subject, like others, to elision.
is

and therefore the vowel

was
it

consonants

doubtful (see Lindsay,

The exact sound before following For class purposes p. 61).

it

seems

sufficient to

pronounce

as in English, whether

occurs

at

the end of a word or elsewhere.

14

EXPLANATIONS.
There
is I
:

by r and

some variety in modern languages in the sounds denoted but in most they are voiced sounds clearly pronounced, and r is trilled. Yet English r is always a weak
sound, and often entirely inaudible
:

and even English

p,

rr represents only imperfectly the full sound of Greek

for

Latin

r,

which French r is perhaps the best model. breathed sound corresponding to the voiced r is found in Greek p, Latin rh (in words borrowed from Greek or Celtic), Welsh

rh and French r in certain positions

sent a breathed
*
'

as in thedtre.
s %

In most modern languages the symbols

are found to repre-

and a voiced sibilant respectively. But whilst Welsh on the one hand possesses the a
s is

sound only, English on the other frequently employs the voiced or

z sound,
size,

even where
cheese

written
:

so that lies

come

to

rhyme with
Greek
o-

and

with freeze

whilst the breathed sound (when final)

se,

is

often

represented by ee or
(3

as in pace,
s

man&B.

(except before

and

p,)

and Latin

always, represent the breathed

sounds, and care should be taken to give

when

final

for

example, the endings of

toes

oirrws

them and

this value

even

reges should not

chase.

be pronounced as in English

and gaze, but as in dose and

In Latin a consonant as well as a vowel value was given to each

of the symbols
I,

but that the consonantal sound

the

could not have differed widely from

either case
is

vowel in
;

shewn by the easy passage from one to the other as, for example, in siluae (silvae) and siluae (siluae) neue (neve) and neu and by the well-known play on words between caue tie eas (cave ne eas) and cauneas figs from Caunus.' The sounds given to j in English and French respectively, and to v in most European languages (Welsh f) are historical developments of Latin consonantal i (j), and u (v), as well as of other
;

'

sounds

but they are much later in date than the

classical period,

and should not be introduced in reading classical Latin. The number of distinct vowel sounds used in modern European
languages
is

very considerable, whilst the number of

is

symbols available
the case of consonantal sounds.

relatively

much
all

smaller than in

Accordingly in

modern European
is

languages, but very especially in English, the written representation

of vowel sounds

is

entirely inadequate.

Not only
it is

one symbol
to find

used to denote several distinct sounds, but

1

quite
1.

common

See Vietor, p. 132,

\)S

and Anmerkung

EXPLANATIONS
a doable or diphthongal Bound represented by a single symbol, and
single sound by a doable Bymbol.
If

L5

however we put English (and Dutch) on one

in

side,

we

find

that

modern
is

languages

generally

an

approximately
".

uniform

character

given to the sounds represented by

to u
is

i.

<>-.

and the

sound given
Latin
tivoly.

similar in French and Welsh.

These sounds arc

single vowel sounds, and

a,
e,
i,

o,
/'

Latin

wo have every reason to attribute them to Greek a and i, and to Greek v, Latin y respeo corresponds to Greek ov French <>u, (tor Greek c
to

and

o,

see below).

Most of these sounds occur

to this

in

Bn gliah

also,

but

the Bymbols by which they are denoted are not uniformly employed,

and often have a value peculiar

it

one language.

Accordingly

Welsh than from English in studying the character of the Greek and Latin vowels. The distinction between short and long vowels was more plainly marked in the classical languages than in modern English and this difference must be kept entirely distinct from that between short and long syllables; thus in JWtpos,
is

better to start from French and

I'

7"

/\

the

first

vowel

in each case

is

short,

the

first

sy 11 aide

long.

In a reformed pronunciation the distinction between short

:

and long vowels should be carefully observed

should endeavour to master the

and the student

quantity of the vowels in

new

words in Greek and Latin, as he learns the words themselves. But where in Latin a vowel is followed by two consonants, its quantity
is

only

known

to us in a certain
:

number

of eases': e.g. vowels are

long before nj\ us, as in in/ana

in other cases

we

consider that

the only practical course the vowel short.

is

to follow the English

method of making
English

Further distinctions can be traced with the help of

illustrations
:

but to use these

it is

necessary

first to

understand the nature of the sounds represented in 1

_

The English
vowels,

English by the vowel symbols and those used in con-

nexion with them.

given to
d,
e,
I,

For

shortness' sake

we may denote
c, e,
i,

the values

6,

in Latin, as stated in the table above, as the

normal
1

values of these symbols.

p.

English short
133
ff.;

"

have then,
difference

See Lindsay, Latin Language,

and observe that the

with close
e
c

of quantity in Latin produced differences of quality in the derived vowels in

ltomance; thus Lat. st&Ua gives Pr.

b&llum 'beautiful' gives Pr.

6Ufile, Ital. Stella

while Lat.

bel, Ital. hello

with open

(Meyer-Lubke, Oram.

Lang. Earn.

\<\>-

'.'1

and

153).

16
in

EXPLANATIONS.
the examples given as equivalent
to Latin

e,

i,

o,

their

normal values.
chiefly in

English short u (as in but, Uncertain) represents an

indistinct vowel sound,

common

in

unaccented syllables, French

modern languages and occurring Welsh y in yu, e in me, te

;

yma.

It is often denoted in phonetics

by

reversed

(d).

English long a and o in most cases represent a long vowel sound

followed by a slight y and
10

sound respectively

the consonantal
is

sound
less

is

written in iay, /ow, and, though unwritten,

ba,ne, stone.

none the

heard in
ey,

by
the

long o by ow.

Hence English long a may be represented Although in each case two distinct sounds

exist, it is
first

not easy without practice for an Englishman to pronounce

separately.
i in

English long

most cases would, on the same

;

principle, be
:

denoted by some such combination as aey

the
latter

and long u by yd
it

from
in

normal u can easily be deduced, as

oo. ai, ea,
:

is

common

English under the form

English

when
1

followed by r are equivalent to normal e

:

lengthened
in

e.g.

in ai? and bear

and so oa
r
is

to

normal

o lengthened,

oar.

In these words the

final

but slightly heard, and

nearly equivalent to the indistinct vowel sound, so that air (English) or (b)ear (English)
is little

more than

ed

(normal), and oar (English)

than

d9 (normal).

English ee ea in year = normal I. The short vowels described are uniform

1

in quality,

and are

known
Open (wide)
row) vowels
**

as 'open' or 'wide' vowels (see below).

But
from

the long vowels are of two kinds.

Some

differ

ne sn01*t vowels just mentioned only in quantity or

duration,
e in

and these are open long vowels.

(ed),

Such are
r^v

English air
(in

(ed)

6ear

French pere,
:

il

mene, Greek
(6d),

and
(5d)
I

Welsh hen
Greek
wkvs,

many

districts)

o in

English oar

bore
:

Welsh pob
i

in

many

districts,

Italian poyolo

in

Italian civita, Scotch

in jAty.
:

But more often the long vowels differ also in quality e being somewhat nearer to i than e is, and so 6 to u. Thus we obtain long close (or narrow) vowels, so called because the channel
through which the stream of voice passes
their formation
;

is

specially

narrowed in
Similarly

e.g.

in English ba,y (bey), bane (beyn), French

eU,
<i'Aei,

etat

this

sound occurs in Greek

Latin sedi.

Observe that Greek

and

are close

and were therefore omitted above.

EXPLANATIONS.
in

17

English

</i'eeii

(quin),

French bIx] d
ii

in

English bone (btiwn),

tlic

all formed with same 'narrowing of the voice.' So far as e and o arc concerned, the distinction Lb of some practical importance in Greek and Latin. Greek distinguishes in writing both the short and long close vowels and a, and (in
iii
<>

French oaOM, Latin //Onus:

Rngli^h rude, air

c:irl\

Attic

mi from the

open long vowels

(;/

and

m).

Latin

and

wcic close; hut in the fourth century

\.n.

ae had conn
to
f

to be pro-

nounced as the open long vowel corresponding

g so that equus

and aequtu differed only in the length of the firsl vowel. The change seems from Varro, Ling. /.<>/. vn. 26, to have begun even
in classical times
:

but this passage does not give us enough data to

it

determine exactly how far

had then gone

that

and we have therefore

he

recommended
diphthong.

in

the

table

ae

should

pronounced

as

In vulgar Latin the classical distinctions of quantity were

much
r

ob-

Bcured by the effect of the stress-accent, with the result that (close)
(open
I

became

identical in pronunciation,

and

similarly'-' (close) o

and and

open " ran together. This development is of importance in tracing the connexion between Latin and the Romance languages. Thus the following

examples shew the normal representation of the Latin vowels

ring in accented syllables, in

r ?

7,

occur

modern French.
:

Latin 6 = French ie
e)
ij
j

pedem, pied
(ires,

/ten', /tier,

troU

habere, avoir
;

\viam, voie
i
:

fidem, foi
venire, venir.
u, sec

filum, fil

Similar distinctions are found in the history of Latin o 8 v

Meyer-Liibke, Grammaire des Langues romanes, 118

ff.

and 183

ff.

English
before r
:

ee,

ea are usually followed by an indistinct vowel sound

"'
r.

thus peeress, dearest, are pronounced almost

as 1 plwes, dldrest.
'

This should be avoided in Latin:

ea

,!!*
(i)

before

e.g.

audOrem should be pronounced (save for accent),

as audi rem, not as

audiarem
ie

for the double

sound would have

been represented in Latin by

1

as ie in fierem.

It is

probable that even as early as the classical period ov had beoom

see Meyer-Liibke

closer,
-

and = Lat. . Except in one Romance language,

//.

ee,

18

ACCENTUATION.
The short
%

sound

is

favoured
:

in

English at tho end of words, as

as in the English pronuncia. .

in lady, cheery
English final
V
('')

but this sound should not be introe,

(|
.

uce j for Latin final

.

tion of trisle, posse.

Except

for the different position

tibi

of the break at the end of the

word parce

and parcel

ibi are

pronounced

alike.

Accentuation.
There
is

no doubt that in the Classical period of Greek the

accented syllables were pronounced on a higher

pitch or note than the unaccented, and not with more stress, not, that is, with a stronger current of breath and more muscular effort. Therefore, unless and until
Greek Accent,

the student

is

capable of giving a purely musical value to the

Greek signs

of accent, they are better disregarded altogether in

;

pronunciation

that

is

to say,

we should

certainly

make our

pronunciation more, not less remote from that of the Greeks

themselves

if

we gave

to

their accented syllables the

stress as we do to the accented syllables in

current method
accent,
is,

same English. The

in respect of

of pronouncing
rules,

Greek words,

by the Latin

in itself,

though of course equally unscientific, a no larger inaccuracy. Perhaps the most practical
with an even degree of stress on
all

reform that could be suggested would be to pronounce Greek

words as

far as possible

syllables, as

approximately in modern French.

stress,

In Latin the accent implies

Latin Accent,

though not such

forcible

stress as in English, nor such as involves

any slurring

or indistinct articulation of the unaccented syllables.

The most important laws

syllables are accented

are

(i)

that words of two

on the

first,

(ii)

that words of three or

more
that

syllables are accented (a) on the last syllable but one if

is

long, (6) on the third syllable from the end, if the last
is

These laws are correctly observed in the e.g. dmat, vituperdre, rdgerern, coraWelsh-speaking students, accustomed in almost all pedibus. words to accent the last syllable but one, need to be careful in the
but one
short.

'English' pronunciation:

two instances given

last,

and

to avoid

such mispronunciations as

regerem, compedibus.

ACCENTUATION,
It is

10
nl

necessary to guard the English Btudi

by pointing
QuaUty

<>ut

Greek and Latin vowels possess the qualities which have just been described in whatever position n ol the wont they may occur; tor instance the three
thai the
,
.

>

'

unaccented
tyiiabie*.

syllables of e^ere

and the three of regere should

English

he pronounced with exactly the same respective vowel-sounds

e

and

e.

But

in

almost

all

vowels
cases,

in

unaccented

syllables arc

pronounced (except in special

3

where the nature

in

of the following sound affects the vowel) simply as the indeter-

minate, colourless vowel

viUsi,

which was described above; as

in

better, the
is

wind, author:

careless speech

even

in

authority, etc.

given the same sound.

The student should

distinguish the vowels in the unaccented syllables of riva, rive,

nu'iisa.,

imber, tartar, as well as those in accented syllables like

vir, ver,

far.

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