THE PRONUNCIATION OF LATIN
Cf W S Allen Vox Latina and A Baird The Sounds of Classical Latin
CONSONANTS
b
c
ch
d
f
g
gn
h
i
k
l
m
-m
n
nc ng nq
nf
ns + vowel
p
ph
qu gu
r
s
t
th
u
x z
As English b; before t or s as English p
As English hard c or k
Consonant + aspirate for Greek 
Perhaps not always used (cf Arrius)
As English or French d; more dental than English
Fricative as in five
Developed by adding / to c
Voiced counterpart to c
Assimilated: as -ngn- in hangnail
Evidence unclear
As English y; between vowels = [yy]
e.g. kalendae = c
Clear as in lip, dark as in pill
Clear when syllable initial
Dark when syllable final
As English m
Nasalised in classical times
Cf Romance languages for loss of final m
Also rules for elision in poetry
Probably dental as in French/Spanish
Velar nasal
Assimilation to labio-nasal
Cf inscriptions with M/N/ indiscriminately
= nasalisation of preceding vowel
Aspirated
Consonant + aspirate for Greek 
Perhaps not always used (cf Arrius)
Voiced labio-velar stop
c and q with rounding of lips: cf English quick
Always pronounced or ‘rolled’
Fricative as in six; final s weak or dropped; never
pronounced as z
More dental than English
Consonant + aspirate for Greek 
Perhaps not always used (cf Arrius)
As English w
From Greek double sounds  and 
Later in Latin e.g. DVXIT/DVCSIT
abstulit
charta
dominus
dígnus magnus
sólis cónsulis
sól cónsul
únum régem
incola
ínfélíx
ménsa quotiéns
positus
pharetra
quotiés quórum
lingua
pars
hospes
táctus
thús thalamus
VOWELS
Difference between long and short vowels
probably qualitative as well as quantitative
Single vowels probably monothongs, double
diphthongs
a
á
ae au
e
é
ei
eu
i
í
i/u
o
ó
oe oi ou
u
ú
y
As first a in Italian amare (as vowel in cup)
As second a in Italian amare or English father
Digraphs: little evidence for pronunciation (ae as
in English high, au as in how)
As in English pet
As in French gai or German Beet
As long i or as English day
Digraph: little evidence for pronunciation (perhaps
as in English ground)
As in English dip
As in English deep
u used before i e.g optumus earlier than optimus
As in English pot
As in French beau or German Boot
Digraphs: little evidence for pronunciation (oe as
in boy)
As in English put
As in English fool
Always written as V
In Greek words for : pronounced i or u; as French
u or German ü
heus euge
POINTS TO NOTE & COMMON FAULTS
-que
-ne?
-tur
e always short
Short e
Short u
virumque
placetne tibi?
parátur
órátió cónárí
ancilla
diés
ínfáns
cónsul
Do not shorten unstressed long vowels
Double consonants both pronounced
s always ‘hissed’ – never as English z
Vowel + nf or ns is long
Long o not as in English bowl
STRESS
Words of two syllables: stress on first syllable
Words of three or more syllables: stress on
penultimate if long
otherwise on antepenultimate
puer
légátus
cónferó
DIVISION OF SYLLABLES
i.
A single consonant is pronounced with the following vowel
dé-lí-be-rá-bó
ch, ph, qu, th count as single consonants
a-qua
Compound words also keep the rule
a-bi-gó i-ne-ó
ii.
Two consonants are usually divided between syllables
col-lum om-nés
BUT
Consonant groups consisting of a mute - b, c, d, p, t - or f followed by l or r are generally
not divided
a-prí-cus a-grós re-flu-ó
But if the first of two consonants belongs to a preposition in a compound word the
consonants are
always divided
ab-rú-pí ad-lá-tus al-lá-tus
iii. Three consonants are divided 2-1 or 1-2
sánc-tus cóns-tat im-bris e-ques-tris
iv.
Four consonants are divided 2-2
móns-trum
READING VERSE
Words keep their natural stress and must not be affected by the metrical ictus: poets used the conflict
between and the coincidence of natural stress and metrical ictus for special effect and the coincidence in
the 5th and 6th feet is a characteristic of the hexameter:
/ = metrical ictus
^ = natural stress
/
/
/
/
/
/
arma virumque canó Tróiae qui prímus ab órís
^
/
^
^
/
/
^
^
/
/
^
/
Ítaliam fátó profugus Lávínaque vénit
^
^
^
^
^
The first line is homodyne, with four coincidences
The second line is heterodyne, with only the two coincidences natural to the hexameter
ELISION
When a word ends in a vowel or m and the next word begins with a vowel or h the two run together and a
syllable is cut out:
longéqu(e h)aréna
rémigi(um) álárum
desert(a) ac
Opinion is divided as to whether the elided element should be omitted completely, but it is common in
modern languages and a poet may be using a string of elisions for a particular effect: speed, urgency,
anger
PRODELISION
The e of est is lost if the preceding word ends in a vowel or m
scrípta est > scríptast únum est > únumst
This may also be the case with
et, atque, ad, ab, ex, in, inter
FURTHER INFORMATION
BOOKS
W S Allen Vox Latina CUP
Harold Copeman Singing in Latin Copeman
Langenscheidt’s Shorter Latin Dictionary
RECORDINGS
Guidance and practice
The Classical Pronunciation of Latin W S Allen
Virgil - Hear and Repeat John Hazel
The Sounds of Classical Latin A Baird
Ore sonandum Gerry Nussbaum
Pronouncing Latin Peter & Lindsay Jones
[D001]
[D002]
[D015]
[D023a-b]
[D073]
Readings in Latin
Readings from Horace’s Odes
CLC Units I-V (1st edition)
The Poems of Catullus
The Sound of Virgil David Raeburn
[D010]
[D041-5]
[D052]
[D066]
Virgil: Aeneid II Gerry Nussbaum
Oxford Latin Course Cassette 1
Oxford Latin Course Cassette 2
[D075]*
[D079]
[D080]
The above can all be hired on audio cassette from Resources for Classics (order numbers in brackets).
ARLT Latin Readings
A series of recordings of Latin passages set for public examinations is available. Recordings in MP3
format can be downloaded from the ARLT website at www.arlt.co.uk.
Read It Right!
A Latin pronunciation program is available for use online or to download at
arlt.co.uk.com/readitright.html
If you have any queries about this handout, please contact the ARLT webmaster
David Swift
craigflower(at)sky.com