Guide to German Church Latin pronunciation
for Mozart Requiem
Auckland Choral
July 2011
Below are pronunciations that differ from Italian Church Latin or from English.
Spelling
Phonetics
In these words
Pronunciation tips
c
ts
coeli, parce, luceat, decet, cinis, preces, facimus
g
g
resurget, gere
gn
j
qu
gn
j
kv
agnus
Jerusalem, ejus, majestatis, judex, judicandus, Jesu
qua, qui, quam, quasi, quorum, quia, quantus, quando, requiem
s
s
sc
th
ti
xc
s
z
sts
t
tsi
ksts
salva, salvandos, salvas, solvet, saeclum, Sybilla, sempiternam
sanctus, Sabaoth, eleison, osanna, Sion, Jerusalem
Suscipe
Sabaoth
orationem
excelsis
ae
i
o
oe
u
ur
y
y
e
i
o
ø
υ
ur
i
y
saeclum, aeternum, tremendae, gloriae, Abrahae
tibi, agimus
eleison, dona, osanna, olim, homo
coeli, poenis
pius, lux, cuncta, discussurus,defunctorum, profundo
resurget
Sybilla, lacrymosa
kyrie, hymnus
Same as English ‘ts’,but can also occur at start of
word: ‘coeli’ sounds like ‘it’s early’
‘Hard g’ as in ‘agony’,
not the ‘jay’ sound of English ‘agent’
As in English ‘magnate’
Like English ‘y’ in ‘you’
Pronounce as ‘kv’, which occurs in English between
words as in ‘black vase’, but not at the start of words
As in English ‘sue’
As in English ‘zoo’
As in English ‘lasts’
Ends like English ‘oat’ not ‘oath’
Same as English ‘tsea’ as in ‘heartsease’
Say as if inserting extra ‘t’ into English ‘excel’
so it sounds like ‘extsel’
Like a pure ‘eh’ in English, or French ‘é’
Like the ‘ee’ sounds in ‘TB’
Like English ‘o’ but lips rounded and forward
Like in English early, with lips forward
Like in English ‘foot’
Like English ‘cure’ not ‘cur’
English ‘ee’ sound
‘i’ vowel with ‘u’ lips, rounded and forward:
an ‘uu’ sound, same as French ‘u’ or German ‘ü’
Note:
Some ‘y’ spellings are pronounced ‘i’ and others are ‘uu’
Some ‘s’ spellings are pronounced ‘s’, others are ‘z’
‘David’ is pronounced ‘dah-veed’
‘Abrahae’ has no ‘h’ sound, but ‘huic’, ‘hodie’ keep the ‘h’.
Allan Bell
June 2011