The Cambridge Classical Journal (2012) 58, 23–57 doi:10.1017/S175027051200005X
© The Author(s) 2012. Published by Cambridge University Press
THE ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION OF LATIN: ITS RISE
AND FALL
Andrew Collins*
University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia
Before the modern Restored pronunciation of Latin, the English language had an
Anglicised system for pronouncing Latin, whose legacy is still quite clear in the
modern language. This paper examines the English system of pronouncing Latin,
and the collapse of that system in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
This includes a short review of the history of the pronunciation of Latin in Britain
from the Middle Ages until the nineteenth century; a review of the rules and
historical development of the English system, in the form it reached by the midnineteenth century; the reform of that system in the late Victorian era; and its
erosion from the late nineteenth century and replacement with the Reformed
pronunciation of Latin.
I. Introduction1
Long before the restoration of the Classical pronunciation of Latin in the nineteenth
century, the English language had – and still has – a naturalised, or Anglicised, system
for pronouncing Latin, whether Latin prose, poetry or Classical proper names in their
full Latin forms.2 The legacy of this method in British English is fundamental: almost
everyone uses it unconsciously and effortlessly in the standard Received Pronunciation
of names such as ‘Caesar’, ‘Cicero’, ‘Euripides’, ‘Lucretius’, and ‘Statius’; or in
words and phrases such as ‘circa’, ‘placebo’, ‘appendices’, ‘agenda’, ‘alias’ and ‘sub
*
1
Email: [email protected]
The following abbreviations have been used:
Jones, EPD17 = Jones, D. (2006) English pronouncing dictionary (17th edn by P. Roach, J. Hartman, and J. Setter),
Cambridge.
LPD3 = Wells, J. C. (2008) Longman pronunciation dictionary (3rd edn), Harlow, England.
Walker, Key = Walker, J. (1808) A key to the Classical pronunciation of Greek, Latin, and Scripture proper names, (1st
American edn from the 3rd London edn of 1807), Boston.
2
With regard to proper names, I refer here not to the Anglicised stems of Classical names (e.g., Terence, Antony,
Horace, Livy, Pliny, Domitian, Trajan etc.), but to directly derived names in their complete forms (Cicero, Caesar,
Augustus, Pericles, Solon, Plato, etc.).
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24 A N D R E W C O L L I N S
judice’.3 Moreover, though most people do not realise it, there is in fact an underlying
and consistent set of rules which operates to yield these pronunciations, and there are,
indeed, many other proper names, nouns and phrases throughout our language whose
pronunciation is essentially governed by the same Anglicised system.4
Of course, in contrast to this, we have the Restored, or Classical, system of pronouncing
Latin for the academic study of ancient texts. This reconstructed system, which
approximates to what scholars think was the pronunciation of educated speakers of Latin
in the Augustan period, was developed from around 1870, and has been widely used in
the English-speaking world since the beginning of the twentieth century.5 This Classical
method has now rightly supplanted the older English system for pronouncing Latin in
ancient literature or for philological study; and this was a major achievement of modern
scholarship, since Classical texts in the nineteenth century were generally pronounced
with a version of the English system – a serious hindrance to the technical study of Latin
poetry or philology.6
The Reformed pronunciation has also severely eroded the traditional English system in
the pronunciation of Classical proper names. Today some classicists can be ignorant of
even the distinction between English and Reformed pronunciation, and of the rules for an
Anglicised pronunciation of an ancient name.
I intend here to examine the history of the English system used in Britain for
pronouncing Latin, and above all the collapse of that system in the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries.7 This will include the following: (1) a short review of the history of
the pronunciation of Latin in Britain from the Middle Ages until the nineteenth century
(Sections III and IV below); (2) a review of the rules and historical development of the
English system, in the form it reached by the mid-nineteenth century (Section V); and
(3) the reform of that system in the late Victorian era, and its erosion from the
late nineteenth century and replacement with the Reformed pronunciation of Latin
(Section VI).
3
4
5
6
For pronunciations, see Jones, EPD17 and LPD3, s.vv. Caesar, Cicero etc.
For details of the rules of this English system, see Chandler (1889), Sargeaunt and Bradley (1920), Miller (1935),
Else (1966–7), Kelly (1986), and Copeman (1992).
See Wilkinson (1963) 3–6.
It should be noted that Anglophone students of Latin in earlier centuries often engaged in the composition of
Latin verse at school and thus a knowledge of the quantities was gained, but contemporaries still stressed that
the most serious problem of the English system was the failure to pronounce ancient quantities. See Munro
and Palmer (1872) 6: ‘[in] our Latin pronunciation quantity is systematically neglected: attention to it seems
essential in any reformed method’. See also Westaway (1930) ix:
during the last twenty years . . . with the use of the restored pronunciation the accuracy of spoken Latin has
increased to an extent quite unexpected. In at least some, perhaps in all, of the schools where the old
pronunciation survives, inaccurate quantities are still very common, and this is probably inevitable.
7
Note that this paper deals primarily with British English, not with American English, nor with the conventions of
American classicists.
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T H E E N G L I S H P R O N U N C I A T I O N O F L A T I N 25
II. Transcription
For the pronunciations given in this paper, I have used the standard IPA symbols for the
Received Pronunciation (RP) of southern British English.8 For stress in English
pronunciations the following method is used:
ˈ = primary stress on the following syllable, e.g., Cato, [ˈkeɪ-təʊ], with stress on the first
syllable ˈkeɪ.
ˌ = secondary stress on the following syllable, e.g., Aristophanes, [ˌær-ɪs-ˈtɒf-ə-ni:z], with
stress on the syllable ˌær.
III. Latin in England c. 600–1800
Latin in England had a long history, and we can provide a brief survey below of the history of
its pronunciation from the Middle Ages to the early nineteenth century. This can
conveniently be broken up into three periods, as follows:
(1) Pre-Conquest Latin: This was spoken in England from the conversion until 1066, and was
influenced by the spoken Latin of Late Antiquity and early medieval Latin.9 The failure to
pronounce Classical quantities, except in the penult, was already a feature of fifth-century
Vulgar Latin, as was the tendency to make the first vowel of disyllables long, even when
such vowels had been short in Classical Latin.10 In England, the vernacular Anglo-Saxon
languages appear in this period to have had much less influence on the pronunciation of
Latin than the Romance vernaculars did on the Continent. Latin, when spoken in
England, was probably a better phonetic representation of the written words than the
Romance pronunciations, and, in particular, Alcuin of York’s reforms in Latin
pronunciation at Charlemagne’s court, in which Latin was to be pronounced ad litteras
(with every letter sounded), may well have reflected what was then regarded as a superior
phonetic pronunciation used in England in contrast to the local Carolingian
pronunciations on the Continent.11
8
For an earlier system used for representing the sounds of the English pronunciation of Latin, see Miller (1935) 325–
34. On RP (Received Pronunciation), see Cruttenden (1994) 80–1. Cruttenden recognises three forms of RP, viz.,
General RP, Refined RP, and Regional RP. General RP is the standard form, and the sounds here are the same as
those described in LPD3, xv–xvii and Jones, EPD17, viii–xv.
9 See Copeman (1992) 111 and Allen (1989) 102. For an exhaustive treatment of medieval Latin, see Stotz (1996–
2004).
10 Grandgent (1907) 75–7; Moore Smith (1930) 167. See also Copeman (1992) 111–15.
11 See Wright (1982) and Adams (1989). See also Copeman (1992) 111–15 and Ziolkowski (1996) 509:
Recently Romance historical linguists have hotly debated the theory that the spoken languages in regions
that would later become Romance-speaking (romana lingua) did not diverge decisively from Latin (latina
lingua) until around 800, when Charlemagne imposed linguistic reforms. According to this new outlook,
many pre-Carolingian Latin texts, when read aloud, would have remained comprehensible even to
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26 A N D R E W C O L L I N S
(2) Anglo-Norman Latin 1066–c. 1400: From 1066, British Latin fell under Anglo-Norman and
French traditions. It was in this period that the English soft g (IPA [ʤ]) and c (IPA [s]) arose.
The medieval tendency had been to pronounce c before front vowels as the combination [ts].
This, by the thirteenth century, was reduced to a simple [s] in English, as in French. In the
case of g before front vowels, this had already been transformed into a soft g (IPA [ʤ]) by the
twelfth century, though modern French diverged further to the sound of s as in ‘measure’
(IPA [ӡ]).12 The diphthongs ae and oe were now pronounced as [e] or [i:], and, indeed,
were often reduced to an e in spelling.13 Vowels in accented syllables before two or more
consonants (excluding the mute-and-liquid combination) were now shortened in
pronunciation.14 The vowels were not yet affected by the Great Vowel Shift. Thus amicus
was pronounced [a-ˈmi:-kʊs] and pater as [ˈpɑ:-tər].
(3) Early Modern Latin c. 1400–1800: From the mid-fourteenth century, English was used in
the teaching of Latin in schools – and so the vernacular came to inform a new national
pronunciation of the ancient language.15 Much the same type of process also occurred in
other countries, so that there too national pronunciations of Latin arose in France,
Germany, Italy and Holland.16 In Britain, most accented antepenultimate syllables now
tended to be shortened in pronunciation by taking up the following consonant in
syllabification.17
The period from 1400 to 1650 saw fundamental changes in English pronunciation itself,
part of which was the Great Vowel Shift.18 The Great Vowel Shift explains why a number of
so-called ‘long vowels’ in Latin words are now in fact diphthongs, even though English
tradition has maintained the potentially misleading expressions ‘short’ and ‘long’ vowels
when referring to the pronunciations of Latin words. In a complex process after 1400, the
Middle English long vowels underwent change, and the [ɑ:], [i:] and [ɔ:] were
diphthongised. Thus the long vowels, which in early Middle English retained a phonetic
character not unlike the Restored pronunciation of Latin or the later ‘Continental’
pronunciation adopted by some in the nineteenth century (with approximations of Italian
illiterate listeners whose spoken dialect was a grade of Latin or Proto-Romance ... Thereafter, thanks to
Charlemagne, a normative written Latin language style prevailed that diverged ever more from the local
spoken dialects . . . the situation differed markedly in regions where the native tongues were as remote
from Latin as are Celtic or Germanic languages. The Irish and Anglo-Saxons had special needs when
learning Latin, and they took with them their own blend of Latin, their characteristic pronunciation. . .
12 Moore Smith (1930) 168; Copeman (1992) 116–17.
13
14
15
16
Copeman (1992) 116.
Moore Smith (1930) 170.
Allen (1989) 102–103.
Duffin (1985–6). Note that there was in fact no universal ‘Church’ pronunciation of Latin in the Middle Ages; see
Brittain (1955) 27–33; Moore Smith (1930) 173.
17 Allen (1989) 105.
18 On the Great Vowel Shift, see Barber (2000) 191–7; Dobson (1968), vol. 2, 594–713; Lass (1999) 72–84.
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T H E E N G L I S H P R O N U N C I A T I O N O F L A T I N 27
vowels), radically diverged to modern English diphthongs by 1800.19 Since Latin was
naturally affected by concomitant changes, our unusual English system finally emerged as
the qualitative and diphthongal changes in the vowel sounds between Middle and
Modern English took effect. The most important changes for English pronunciation of
Latin, are as follows:
The sound of a long a in Middle English went from [ɑ:] > [æ:] > [ɜ:] > [e:] > [eɪ].
The sound of a long i went from [i:] > [ɪi] > [əi] > [ᴧi] > [aɪ].20
The sound of a long o went from [ɔ:] > [o:] > [o:u] > [oʊ] > [əʊ].
Thus by 1600 a Latin word like amicus had changed from [a-ˈmi:-kʊs] to [ə-ˈməi-kəs], then
[ə-ˈmᴧi-kəs] and to modern [ə-ˈmai-kəs]. The pronunciation of pater went from [ˈpæ:-tər] to
[ˈpe:-tər] to modern [ˈpei-tə]. With the arrival of our modern vowel sounds by the
seventeenth to eighteenth centuries, the divergence between the English manner of
speaking Latin and the various Continental methods was so noticeable to English
travellers that it became the subject of numerous essays.21 Some even polemicised against
their countrymen’s peculiar system, and advocated the adoption of an Italian
pronunciation.22
An early attempt at reforming the pronunciation of Latin in line with a reconstructed
ancient system was made by the humanist scholar Erasmus. During Erasmus’s second
trip to England from 1509 to 1514, he visited Cambridge and his work later influenced
scholars there to take up his ideas on a reformed pronunciation of Latin and Greek.23
This attempt in the sixteenth century, inspired by Erasmus, was carried on principally at
Cambridge by Professors Thomas Smith and John Cheke. The reforms provoked great
controversy and Stephen Gardiner, the Chancellor of Cambridge and Bishop of
Winchester, issued an edict in 1542 forbidding the new pronunciations of both Latin and
Greek, though this was not enforced until 1554 and it was eventually repealed in 1558.24
The influence of the reforms of Smith and Cheke is debated, but it appears to have been
far more successful with regard to Greek, rather than Latin, which was still mainly
19 Allen (1989) 105; Wray (1995) 77. British Catholics may have continued to use some Middle English vowel sounds
until the late nineteenth century: this was called the ‘Continental’ system. See Brittain (1955) 61–3.
20 See Wray (1995) 85:
At some point long i changed from its Middle English value of [i:] to [əi]. Dobson’s view is that this
diphthongization began as early as 1400, despite some descriptions of [i:] as late as 1686. If we accept
Brittain’s view about a delay in the phonetic progress of Latin relative to English, then it would be
reasonable to use [i:] up to, say, 1490, but no later.
21 Pyles (1939) 141–6.
22 I refer here to Milton’s belief that Latin was to be pronounced ‘as near as may be to the Italian, especially in the
vowels’ (quoted in Pyles (1939) 143–6).
23 Allen (1989) 103–5; Brittain (1955) 32–4.
24 Brittain (1955) 32; Allen (1989) 104.
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28 A N D R E W C O L L I N S
pronounced with the Anglicised system.25 By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, after
the effects of the Great Vowel Shift, the English method of pronouncing Latin had become
deeply ingrained.
All the phonetic and accentual characteristics sketched above were thus part of an organic
development in spoken British Latin, which stretched back to the Middle Ages.26 These
principles applied to the pronunciation of Latin text and proper names.
With respect to proper names, it was John Walker, the English actor and lexicographer,
who attempted to systematise the rules that governed the English pronunciation of Classical
names, in his Key to the Classical pronunciation of Greek, Latin, and Scripture proper names, published
in London in 1798. A second edition of Walker’s Key was published in 1804, and a third in
1807. By 1815, a fifth had appeared, and the Key was regularly incorporated into early
nineteenth-century dictionaries. Walker’s work was also improved by Reverend
W. Trollope, Lancelot Sharpe and Thomas Swinburne Carr.27
IV. Early and middle nineteenth century
The modern, developed English system for pronouncing Latin did not attain its final form
until the late nineteenth century. We can speak justifiably of the modern English system for
pronouncing Latin by about 1860, which applied not just to Latin texts from the ancient or
medieval periods, but to countless names from Graeco-Roman biography, religion,
mythology and geography, both in the Classics and in English literature.28 Furthermore,
in mathematics, logic, physics, biology, anatomy, medicine, philosophy and law, there
were hundreds of borrowed Latin words whose pronunciations also essentially followed
the rules of the English method.29 In nineteenth-century science, for instance, the
25 Allen (1989) 104–5. See Dobson (1968) vol. 1, 38–40; cf. Wray (1995) 81–3, who contends that there ‘is good reason
to believe that Smith and Cheke’s efforts came to very little’. See also Attridge (1974) 25:
the movement for reform was eventually successful with regard to Greek; but very little change occurred in
the much more deeply ingrained pronunciation of Latin, and it seems likely that the efforts in this direction
were in any case relatively slight.
26 Sargeaunt and Bradley (1920) 5: ‘[the] grammar-school [sc. Latin] pronunciation of the early nineteenth century
was the lineal descendant of the grammar-school pronunciation of the fourteenth century.’ Brittain (1955): ‘[the]
change from the medieval English pronunciation of Latin to the modern pronunciation was therefore a perfectly
natural development, with nothing artificial about it.’
27 Trollope’s revised edition of Walker’s Key was published in 1830, and it included about five hundred new words
(Abbot (1859) 1701). Six years later L. Sharpe published the Nomenclator poeticus, or the quantities of all proper names that
occur in the Latin classic poets from BC 190 to AD 500 (London, 1836); and later T. S. Carr published The Classical
pronunciation of proper names (London, 1842). Both of these did much to correct the numerous errors in Walker’s
accentuation, as did the first edition of Lewis and Short’s A Latin dictionary (1879).
28 Furthermore, the pronunciations of many Latinised names of medieval and early modern Europeans were also
governed by the English system, e.g., Albertus Magnus, Linnaeus etc.
29 English vocabulary has been vastly augmented by Latin and French-derived Latin words. One recent study
estimates that in the seventeenth century 39.3% of the recorded vocabulary of English consisted of Classical or
Romance words. Today the figure stands at about 15% (Culpeper and Clapham (1996) 208).
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T H E E N G L I S H P R O N U N C I A T I O N O F L A T I N 29
English pronunciation was applied to numerous technical words taken directly from Latin,
as well as to Greek and Latin neologisms, particularly the names of species.30 In law, a
vast set of Latin phrases and terms used the English system, many of which we have to
this day.31
Even in the nineteenth-century study of Classics, an English system that had developed
over many centuries was used for the pronunciation of Latin prose and poetry. Although
the principles of this traditional system used for ancient texts were admittedly more
inconsistent than those applied to Classical proper names, the differences were minor,
such as certain exceptions were made in compound verbs and some monosyllables.32
From the mid-Victorian period, however, this latter system was itself changed by
reformers who decided to pronounce the long vowels of Classical quantities with
English vowel sounds, rather than Restored ones (the so-called ‘Victorian’ system, see
Section VI below).33
It will also be readily apparent to readers of English poetry that the original Anglicised
pronunciation was standard before the 1890s: those ignorant of it will not appreciate the
rhymes in pre-twentieth-century English poems, nor will they understand the role that Latin
played for centuries in English literature.34 In order to illustrate this point, I provide below a
sample of lines from poetry with pronunciations of Latin, where those are made to rhyme
with English words. My examples range from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. It
should be noted that these transcriptions essentially reflect modern RP pronunciation and
not strict phonetic transcriptions of seventeenth and eighteenth-century sounds (e.g., the
final r was generally pronounced in these centuries, but I have not transcribed it here).
They are Fools that Reason thus,
Communis Error facit Jus [kə-ˈmju:-nɪs ˈer-ə ˈfeɪ-sɪt ʤᴧs].
(Robert Dixon, Canidia, or the Witches (1683), XVI.718–19)
To what Absurdities will you hale us?
Semel malus semper præsumitur esse malus
[ˈsi:-məl ˈmeɪ-ləs ˈsem-pə prɪ-ˈsᴧm-ɪ-tɜ: ˈes-i: ˈmeɪ-ləs].
(ibid. XVI.724–5)
30 An influential Victorian essay on the pronunciation of scientific Latin was Chandler (1889) 161–76. On modern
scientific Latin, see Nybakken (1985) 243–9; on botanical Latin, see Stearn (1983) 51–6.
31 On law Latin and its history, see Kelly (1988) 195–207.
32 See Section V below. The two systems should, strictly speaking, be distinguished: on the first English system and
its features (for ancient texts), see Sargeaunt and Bradley (1920). Note that Walker’s original system and its earlyVictorian form could usually be used to give the correct pronunciation of Latin words or phrases (Hempl (1898)
415).
33 See also Chapman (1939) 51.
34 This point was made by Moore Smith (1926) 12: ‘Unless Englishmen are to be left unable to read their own
literature, it will be necessary for them to be familiar with our historical pronunciation of Latin.’
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30 A N D R E W C O L L I N S
Culpam in Jovem rejicias [ˈcᴧl-pəm ɪn ˈʤəʊ-vəm rə-ˈʤɪʃ-əs],
Say ’twas the Gods, not you that were vicious.
(ibid. XVI.1073–4)
To prove that Peers should never vary,
Nor Leges Anglice mutari [ˈli:-ʤi:z ˈæɳglɪ-si mju:-ˈteə-ri]35.
(Thomas Tickell, For England’s Injured Church and Law (1730), lines 79–10)
Watches, when first invented – seek ’em,
In brother Trusler’s Vade Mecum[ˈveɪ-di: ˈmi:-kəm].
(William Mason, King Stephen’s Watch. A Tale (1782), lines 13–14)
Your subtile spirits, or your mighty,
Your aqua fortis, aqua vitae [ˈæk-wə ˈfɔ:-tɪs, ˈæk-wə ˈvaɪ-ti:].
(Thomas Holcroft, Human Happiness, or the Sceptic (1783), I.151–2)
With nonsense in verse can elate and delight ’em,
And gives them variety ad infinitum [æd ˌɪn-fɪ-ˈnaɪ-təm].
(Anthony Pasquin, The Children of Thepsis (1789), Part II.795–6)
But peace to her – her Emperor and Diet,
Though now transferred to Buonapartè’s ‘fiat’ [ˈfaɪ-ət].
(Byron, The Waltz: An Apostrophic Hymn (1813), lines 55–6)
But that, indeed, was hopeless as can be,
Quite a poetic felony ‘de se’[di: si:].
(Byron, The Vision of Judgement (1822), XCIV.751–2)
And had told all the party a great booming lie, he
Cook’d up, that ‘the fête was postposed sine die’ [ˈsaɪ-ni: ˈdaɪ-i:].
(Thomas Ingoldsby, The Lay of St Cuthbert (1840), lines 74–5)
So unless you’re a dunce, You’ll see clearly, at once,
When you come to consider the facts of the case, he,
Of course never gave her his Vade in pace [ˈveɪ-di: ɪn ˈpeɪ-si:].
(Thomas Ingoldsby, The Lay of the Old Woman Clothed in Grey (1840), lines 263–5)
Your thoughts, opinions, freely state ’em.
Then, here they follow seriatim [ˌsɪə-ri-ˈeɪ-tɪm].
(Robert Story, Reply to an Epistle from Mr. Gourley (1857), lines 31–2)
May thy hand be fierce as Ate’s [ˈeɪ-ti:z]
Fighting for our old Penates [pe-ˈneɪ-ti:z]
(Lady Wilde, The Old Man’s Blessing (1864), lines 13–14)
35 The final i and e were often not distinguished in this period, and both were given the value either of [ɪ] (as in ‘sit’)
or of [i] (i as in ‘ratio’ or y as in ‘lady’). See Copeman (1992) 282.
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T H E E N G L I S H P R O N U N C I A T I O N O F L A T I N 31
Pert Nelly Gwynne, gay Molly Davis,
And many another Rara Avis [ˈreə-rə ˈeɪ-vɪs].
(Thomas Ingoldsby, The Country Seat (1881), 18–19)
Hired witnesses with tales shall ply ’em
For only two pounds two per diem [pɜ: ˈdaɪ-əm].
(Winthorp Mackworth Praed, The Contested Election (1888), lines 277–8)36
We can now examine the rules of the English system in the next section.
V. The English system and its development
In this section, I present the principles of the English system from rules 1 to 18 below, in the
form the system had reached by the mid to late nineteenth century, but with some
comments on its subsequent development in the twentieth century.
A. Accentuation and syllabification of Latin words in English
The English system has traditionally had fixed rules for pronouncing Latin and Classical
proper names, and when these rules are learned one can, in nearly all instances,
consistently apply them to attain the correct pronunciation.37
The point to be borne in mind is that the system for syllabifying proper names for an
English pronunciation is very similar to, but not identical with, the Classical
syllabification. The fundamental difference consists in the treatment of antepenultimate
syllables, and it is necessary to emphasise that this is the crux of the system. In general,
however, the normal Classical conventions used to accent and syllabify a word still apply,
and the following principles are valid:
1. Accent
1.1 Determining the accent: primary stress
(a) The rules for accenting words are the same as those in Classical Latin: the penult is
accented if it is long, either by position or by nature.
If the penult is not long, then the accent goes on the antepenultimate syllable. Disyllabic
words are naturally always accented on the first syllable.
In the traditional system used by classicists, a penultimate syllable is accented if it is
36 Moore Smith (1930) 171–3 provides a selection of more poems like these.
37 For three much cited modern statements of these rules, mainly with respect to Classical proper names, see Miller
(1935) 325–34; Kelly (1986) 33–7; Else (1966–7) 210–14. Walker’s original rules can be found in Walker, Key, 22–7.
For nineteenth-century guides, see Abbot (1859) 1703; King (1880) 13–20; Porter (1895) 1882; Fisher (1885) 15–19;
and Chandler (1889) 171–2. See also Pattengill (1903) and Richmond (1905).
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32 A N D R E W C O L L I N S
(i) long by nature, i.e., if it contains a long vowel or a diphthong, or
(ii) long by position, i.e., if the vowel is followed by two consonants (excluding mutes
and liquids), or if it is followed by the customary double consonants, z, x or
consonantal i (= j in older English words like Ajax).38
But note that, in syllabification of words for English pronunciation, only the x is a strict
double consonant equivalent to ks, and this will shorten the preceding vowel in
pronunciation (but neither the z nor j does this).
In English, a mute-and-liquid combination is generally treated as a single consonant,
though in Latin the vowel preceding this combination became part of a ‘common’
syllable.39 The mute and liquids are generally bl, br, cl, chl, cr, chr, dr, fl, fr, gr, pl, pr, tr,
and thr.40 Note that ch, ph, rh (= r), and th are treated as single consonants.41
(b) A knowledge of the ancient quantity of the penultimate vowel in a Latin word is thus of
great importance to the pronunciation of that word in English. For Latin and Greek proper
names, this has traditionally been obtained through scansion, but can easily be done today
by consultation of a standard lexicon (e.g., Lewis and Short) or dictionary (e.g., The Oxford
companion to Classical literature).
(c) In Greek-derived words, one can often fix the accent by referring to the quantity of the
penultimate vowel, before applying the traditional Latinised transcription system.42 Thus, if
a penultimate vowel is long in Greek (e.g., a diphthong, an eta, omega, long iota, alpha or
upsilon) or if it is followed by two consonants (excluding the mute-and-liquid combination),
then it will be accented on that penult in the Latinised form, e.g., Σιγήρος = Si-ˈge-rus;
Ποτείδαια = Pot-i-ˈdae-a; Ἡράκλειτος (with diphthong in the penult) = Her-a-ˈcli-tus;
Κασσάνδρα = Cas-ˈsan-dra; Κύκνος = ˈCyc-nus.43
If the penult is not long or not followed by two consonants other than a mute-plus-liquid
combination, then the accent goes on the antepenult, e.g., Λέβεδος = ˈLeb-e-dus; Ἑκάτη
(with short alpha in penult) = ˈHec-a-te; Τάναϊς ‘ (with short alpha in penult) = ˈTan-a-is;
Νιόβη = ˈNi-o-be.44
38 Abbot (1859) 1703; Greenough et al. (1998) 7; Hale and Buck (1994) 15–16; Gildersleeve and Lodge (1997) 8–9. One
can easily consult the Oxford Latin dictionary or Lewis and Short, A Latin dictionary, to obtain the Classical quantities
for common proper nouns.
39 Miller (1935) 328. In prose, a common syllable was short; in poetry, it could sometimes be long. See Greenough
et al. (1998) 6; Hale and Buck (1994) 15–16; Gildersleeve and Lodge (1997) 8.
40
41
42
43
44
Raven (1965) 25.
Richmond (1905) 21; Abbot (1859) 1703.
The transcription system is usefully set out by Verbrugghe (1999) 499–511.
These forms only show syllabification, not pronunciation.
On the syllabification of antepenults, see rule 2.2 below.
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T H E E N G L I S H P R O N U N C I A T I O N O F L A T I N 33
(d) Though it is vital to know the quantity of the penult in order to fix the accent, the other
Classical vowel quantities are generally ignored in the traditional English pronunciation: this
is the salient characteristic of English system.45
1.2 Secondary stresses
(a) In polysyllabic words, a secondary stress falls on the second syllable before the primary
accent, if this is the initial syllable or if it is long by position or nature.
If the second syllable before the primary stress is not long, then the secondary accent
goes on the third before the primary stress, e.g., Himantopodes (ˌHim-an-ˈtop-o-des),
Laomedontiades (La-ˌom-e-don-ˈti-a-des), Larentalia (ˌLar-en-ˈta-li-a).
(b) A further secondary stress also occurs in very long words. The rules for determining it are
the same as for the secondary stress, but with the first secondary stress as the starting point,
i.e., a further secondary stress falls on the second syllable before the secondary accent, if this is
the initial syllable or if it is long by position or nature, etc. E.g., Claudiopolitani (ˌClau-di-ˌop-oli-ˈta-ni), Polymachaeroplagides (ˌPol-y-ma-ˌchaer-o-ˈplag-i-des).
1.3
Exceptions due to the recessive accent
Movement of the accent has been a regular phenomenon in English, owing to the so-called
‘recessive accent’, the ‘tendency to place the . . . stress early in the word’.46 Hence there are
some words which are no longer accented as they would be in Classical Latin. Even in
Walker’s time, the words ‘orator’, ‘senator’, ‘auditor’, ‘minister’, and ‘plethora’ all had
the accent on the antepenultimate syllable, rather than on the penult (as in Classical
Latin). It is, generally, the movement of the accent from penult to antepenult that has
occurred, and under rule 2.2 below this usually makes a closed syllable.
Even some proper names are affected by this trend, e.g., Amazon (originally A-ˈma-zon47 but
now ˈAm-a-zon), Alexandria (A-ˌlek-san-ˈdri-a but now ˌAl-ek-ˈsan-dri-a [x = ks]), Thalia (Tha-ˈlia but now sometimes ˈTha-li-a), Chalcedon (Chal-ˈce-don but now often ˈChal-ce-don).48
However, such exceptions are generally proper names well known by educated speakers
of English.
2. Syllabification
Classicists have traditionally used an orthographic system of syllabification for Latin words
and Classical proper names based to some extent on Classical principles, from which one
45 Walker, Key, 12–14. In those cases where the ancient quantity of the penult was unknown and could not be
obtained by scansion or any other method, it seems that English tended to accent on the antepenultimate
syllable, in accordance with the recessive accent, as long as this was not objectionable on the grounds of euphony.
46 Fowler (1965) 507–8.
47 Carr (1842) 22 (s.v. Amazon).
48 Millar (1935) 330. Other examples include tinnitus (tin-ˈni-tus but now sometimes ˈtin-ni-tus); abdomen (ab-ˈdomen but now ˈab-do-men); acumen (a-ˈcu-men but now ˈac-u-men), vertigo (ver-ˈti-go but now ˈver-ti-go).
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34 A N D R E W C O L L I N S
can ascertain the sound of vowels in stressed syllables. But it should be noted that this
orthographic system of syllabification must not be confused with phonetic syllabification.
2.1 Number of syllables
For syllabification, there are as many syllables in a Latin word as the number of vowels or
diphthongs. A syllable that ends in a consonant is closed, and a syllable that consists
simply of a vowel or diphthong or that ends with a vowel or diphthong is open. In most
cases, any single consonant (or a mute-plus-liquid) between unaccented vowels is joined
with the following vowel or diphthong.49 Two consonants, excluding a mute-plus-liquid,
are broken. Thus we have the following (which only show syllabification, not phonetic
values): Me-ˈzen-ti-us, ˈCi-mon, ˈCae-sar, ˈBac-chae, ˈO-tho, ˈMar-cus, ˈMem-mi-us, O-ˈrion, Pe-ˈrin-thus, Da-ˈri-us, Vi-ˈtel-li-us, ˈNer-va, Mi-ˈle-tus, Eu-ˈter-pe, Pla-ˈtae-a, Ca-ˈmillus, Mar-ˈcel-lus, Ly-ˈsan-der.
A minor exception exists for bl, gl and tl.50
A bl is divided when after a u, e.g., ˈPub-li-us, Pub-ˈlic-o-la.
A tl is divided after an a, e.g., ˈAt-las, At-ˈlan-tis, At-ˈlan-tes.
A gl is divided after an a, i, or o, e.g., Ag-ˈla-o-phon, Ag-ˈlau-ros, Ag-ˈla-i-a, ˈsig-lum,
Trog-ˈlod-y-tae.
2.2
Antepenultimate syllables and secondary stressed syllables
There is, however, a major exception to rule 2.1, one which is different from the syllabic principles
of Classical Latin: the syllabification of the antepenult and secondary stressed syllables.
In accented antepenultimate or secondary syllables, the traditional English system of
syllabification of Latin words has the following consonant included in that syllable (not
joined with the next) to form a closed syllable, and two consonants are divided, including a
mute and a liquid. This will shorten the vowel in pronunciation: vowels in closed, stressed
syllables are, as a rule, short. One should note, however, that this written tradition of
syllabifying Latin words in this way is at variance with the actual syllabification of modern
phonetic/phonemic transcriptions, where the intervocalic consonant in such circumstances
often goes with the following syllable. But the shortening of the vowel is in line with the
English trisyllabic shortening rule, a centuries-old characteristic of the English language
which has existed since late Middle English, and possibly before 1100, as noted by Chomsky
and Halle.51 Thus we have ˈCic-e-ro, ˈRom-u-lus, ˈSen-e-ca, ˈNic-i-as, ˈNem-e-sis, ˈLyd-i-a,
49 Note that a single intervocalic h, when preceded by a stressed vowel, is usually ignored for purposes of
syllabification (Fisher (1885) 15; Sargeaunt (1898) 274), e.g., Vahalis (syllabified as if it were ˈVa-a-lis), ex nihilo
(syllabified as if it were ex ˈni-i-lo). In both cases, the stressed open vowel is traditionally pronounced long in
English.
50 Miller (1935) 331; King (1880) 18.
51 Chomsky and Halle (1968) 253. See also Attridge (1974) 22–3.
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T H E E N G L I S H P R O N U N C I A T I O N O F L A T I N 35
ˈSal-a-mis, ˈHec-a-te, Bi-ˈthyn-i-a, ˌAr-is-ˈtoph-a-nes (with secondary, accented syllable closed),
ˌAr-is-ˈtar-chus, Eu-ˈrip-i-des, Thu-ˈcyd-i-des, He-ˈrod-o-tus, ˌAr-is-ˈti-des.52
2.3 Exceptional open antepenults
There are only two cases where the antepenult is open, as follows:
(a) The vowel u
The vowel u is exempt from rule 2.2 when in an accented, antepenultimate syllable (and in
accented secondary syllables), and the single consonant or mute-plus-liquid goes with the
following vowel, just as in rule 2.1.
But, when u is followed by bl, or two consonants other than a mute-plus-liquid, these are
usually divided (even when the u is not accented).53 Thus we have ˈJu-pi-ter, ˈU-ti-ca, ˈRu-bicon, ˈCu-bri-tus, ˈSu-tri-um, ˈU-ra-nus, but Sub-ˈlic-i-us, ˈPub-li-us, ˈTul-li-a, ˈMum-mi-a,
ˈUl-pi-us, ˈUr-bi-cus, ˈTus-cu-lum.
(b) The endings -ius, -ium, -ia, -ie, -ii, -ya, -yia, -eia, etc.
An accented antepenultimate syllable with a, e, ae, oe, o, or u (but not i or y) followed by a
single consonant (or a mute and a liquid) and then a penultimate i, y, or e (or ae or oe) plus
another vowel in the final syllable is not closed but open, i.e., the consonant (or mute-plusliquid) goes with the following syllable: An-ˈto-ni-a, Hy-ˈpa-ti-a, ˈLae-vi-us, Ma-ˈcro-bi-us,
Pal-ˈla-di-um, Ar-ˈca-di-a, Au-ˈso-ni-us, ˌBac-cha-ˈna-li-a, ˈClo-di-us, E-ˈge-ri-a, ˈFa-bi-a,
Pom-ˈpo-ni-us, ˈRe-gi-a, Si-ˈdo-ni-us, I-ˈo-ni-a, ˈU-bi-i.
But note that i or y in antepenultimate syllables is exempt from this, and will be short, as in
2.2 above, e.g., ˈClyt-i-a, Nu-ˈmid-i-a, Bi-ˈthyn-i-a, Il-ˈlyr-i-a, ˈClin-i-as, Tri-ˈphyl-i-a.
2.4 Other stressed syllables
As noted above, all the rules expressed in 2.2 and 2.3 apply fully to secondary stressed
syllables, e.g., ˌMax-i-ˈmi-nus, ˌPo-ly-ˈae-nus, ˌPhil-e-ˈde-mus, ˌTir-i-ˈda-tes, ˌHe-li-ˈop-o-lis,
ˌHe-li-o-ˈgab-a-lus. Sometimes, however, anomalous pronunciations have arisen by ignoring
the rules governing syllabification of secondary syllables, e.g., ˌPol-y-ˈae-nus for ˌPo-ly-ˈaenus, ˌPol-i-or-ˈce-tes for ˌPo-li-or-ˈce-tes.
2.5 Double consonants
Although double consonants should be carefully syllabified according to the principles
discussed above, note that, when one finally pronounces a word, one of the double
consonants will be suppressed in pronunciation, in accordance with this standard
characteristic of English, e.g., Apollo (A-ˈpol-lo but pronounced [ə-ˈpɒl-əʊ]), Hippias
(ˈHip-pi-as but pronounced [ˈhɪp-i-æs] or [ˈhɪp-i-əs]), Thessalia (Thes-ˈsa-li-a but
pronounced [θe-ˈseɪ-li-ə]), Assyria (As-ˈsyr-i-a but [ə-ˈsɪr-i-ə]).
52 This was noted by Mitford (1972) (1774): 226; and Walker, Key, 27–28.
53 Miller (1935) 331.
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36 A N D R E W C O L L I N S
2.6 Exceptions due to irregular closed syllables
Some words which should be accented in an open syllable have come, through longstanding English usage, to be closed by taking up the following consonant,54 e.g., Diana
(originally Di-ˈa-na but now Di-ˈan-a), Patroclus (Pa-ˈtro-clus but now Pa-ˈtroc-lus)55,
Cleopatra (ˌCle-o-ˈpa-tra but now ˌCle-o-ˈpat-ra), Mithras (ˈMi-thras but now ˈMith-ras),
atrium (ˈa-tri-um but now sometimes ˈat-ri-um), macron (ˈma-cron but now ˈmac-ron).
Note that a closed syllable shortens the vowel, e.g., Diana (once pronounced as [daɪ-ˈeɪ-nə] but
now [daɪ-ˈæn-ə]). Though this has occurred in some proper names and Latin-derived words,
these are generally well known.
B. Vowel length and pronunciation
3. Vowels
3.1 Sounds
The long and short vowel sounds in English pronunciation are as follows:
long a = IPA [eɪ], as in ‘take’, ‘make’, ‘fake’.
short a = IPA [æ], as in ‘mat’, ‘sat’, ‘hat’.
long e = IPA [i:], as first e in ‘scene’.
short e = IPA [e], as in ‘set’, ‘bet’.
long i = IPA [aɪ], as in ‘site’, ‘kite’.
short i = IPA [ɪ], as in ‘sit’, pit’.
y = i.
long o = IPA [əʊ], as in ‘wrote’, ‘no’.
short o = IPA [ɒ], as in ‘not’, ‘hot’.
long u = IPA [ju:] as in ‘mute’ (the semivowel [j] tends to appear before long u).
short u = IPA [ᴧ], as in ‘cup’, ‘puck’.
Because of the Great Vowel Shift (as described above in Section III.3), the so-called ‘long’ a, i
and o are now diphthongs in English, and not really long vowels, though the convention has
been to continue to call them ‘long’ vowels in the traditional English pronunciation of Latin.
For example, the modern pronunciation of the long a began in the sixteenth century during
the Great Vowel Shift, became common after 1650, and then standard English in the early
54 Miller (1935) 330.
55 Note that a further current pronunciation is ˈPat-ro-clus, owing to the recessive accent.
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T H E E N G L I S H P R O N U N C I A T I O N O F L A T I N 37
eighteenth century.56 In earlier centuries, the long a had taken a number of values, including
the a of ‘father’.57
3.2
Long vowels
3.2.1
Vowels are long when in an open, stressed position
(a) In the examples I give below, the word, its syllabification, and then its pronunciation in
IPA symbols are given, e.g., Tigris (ˈTi-gris [ˈtaɪ-grɪs]), Numa (ˈNu-ma [ˈnju:-mə]), Delos
(ˈDe-los [ˈdi:-lɒs]), Plato (ˈPla-to [ˈpleɪ-təʊ]), Draco (ˈDra-co [ˈdreɪ-kəʊ]), Darius (Da-ˈri-us
[də-ˈraɪ-əs]), Psyche (ˈPsy-che [ˈsaɪ-ki:]), verbatim (ver-ˈba-tim [vɜ-ˈbeɪ-tɪm]), datum (ˈdatum [ˈdeɪ-təm]), stratum (ˈstra-tum [ˈstreɪ-təm]), Lucius (ˈLu-ci-us [ˈl(j)u:-si-əs] or [ˈl(j)u:shəs] or [ˈl(j)u:-shi-əs]), Musonius (Mu-ˈso-ni-us [mju-ˈsəʊ-ni-əs]), genius (ˈge-ni-us
[ˈʤi:-ni-əs]), Petronius (Pe-ˈtro-ni-us [pe-ˈtrəʊ-ni-əs] or [pə-ˈtrəʊ-ni-əs]), Deucalion (Deuˈca-li-on [d(j)u:-ˈkeɪ-li-ən]), Palladium (Pal-ˈla-di-um [pə-ˈleɪ-di-əm]), Pausanias (Pau-ˈsani-as [pɔ:-ˈseɪ-ni-əs]), alias (ˈa-li-as [ˈeɪ-li-əs]), Utica (ˈU-ti-ca [ˈ(j)u:-ti-kə]), Phaëthon
(ˈPha-e-thon [ˈfeɪ-ə-θən]), Niobe (ˈNi-o-be [ˈnaɪ-ə-bi]).
(b) The vowels i, e, and o are long when in final position (although the long e can be IPA
[i:] or [i]), e.g., Io (ˈI-o [ˈaɪ-əʊ]), Parmenio (Par-ˈme-ni-o [pɑ:-ˈmi:-ni-əʊ]), Circe (ˈCir-ce
[ˈsɜ:-si]), Phoebe (ˈPhoe-be [ˈfi:-bi]), sine die (ˈsi-ne ˈdi-e [ˈsaɪ-ni ˈdaɪ-i:]), alibi (ˈal-i-bi
[ˈæl-ɪ-baɪ]).58
(c) In open, unstressed position before another vowel, a, e, or o can be long, for euphony,
e.g., Laomedon (La-ˈom-e-don [leɪ-ˈɒm-ə-dən]), Laertes (La-ˈer-tes [leɪ-ˈɜ:-ti:z]), Danaus
(ˈDan-a-us [ˈdæn-eɪ-əs]), Heroopolis (ˌHer-o-ˈop-o-lis [ˌher-əʊ-ˈɒp-ə-lɪs]), Meroë (ˈMer-o-e
[ˈmer-əʊ-i:]), Arsinoë (Ar-ˈsin-o-e [ɑ:-ˈsɪn-əʊ-i:]).
(d) An e is long in a final, closed syllable ending in s, e.g., Hades (ˈHa-des [ˈheɪ-di:z]),
Aristophanes (ˌAr-is-ˈtoph-a-nes [ˌær-ɪs-ˈtɒf-ə-ni:z]).
(e) When a or e occurs as a single word in Latin phrases, it is pronounced long, e.g., a
priori (a pri-ˈo-ri [eɪ praɪ-ˈɔ:-raɪ]), a posteriori (a pos-ˌte-ri-ˈo-ri [eɪ pɒs-ˌtɪə-ri-ˈɔ:-raɪ]), e
pluribus unum (e ˈplu-ri-bus ˈu-num [i: ˈplu:-ri-bəs ˈ(j)u:-nəm]).
56 Dobson (1968) 594; Copeman (1992) 121 and 197.
57 Brittain (1955) 59. As late as the nineteenth century, the pronunciation of some Latin proper names in the theatre
apparently still retained the old quantities. See Walker, Key, 21 (note):
[t]he pronunciation of Cato, Plato, Cleopatra [viz., as ˈkeɪ-təʊ, ˈpleɪ-təʊ, ˌkli:-ə-ˈpeɪ–trə], &c has been lately
adopted. Quin, and all the old dramatic school, used to pronounce the a in these and similar words like
the a in father [i.e., as ˈkɑ:-təʊ, ˈplɑ:-təʊ, ˌkli:-ə-ˈpɑ:-trə]. Mr Garrick, with great good sense, as well as
good taste, brought in the present pronunciation, and the propriety of it has made it now universal.
It is also possible that the long a (as in ‘father’) in these names was simply the result of the influence of Italian
(Sargeaunt and Bradley (1920) 29–30).
58 On the long final i, Walker noted that ‘this sound we give to this vowel in this situation, because the Latin i final in
genitive, plurals, and preterperfect [perfect] tenses of verbs, is always long’ (Walker, Key, 21).
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38 A N D R E W C O L L I N S
(f) (i) The o in the Latin preposition and adverb ‘post’ and its compound verbs was
pronounced long, e.g., postpono (post-ˈpo-no [ˈpəʊst-ˈpəʊ-nəʊ]).59
(ii) In certain compound verbs, a prefix that normally has a short vowel will keep the short
vowel in pronunciation, e.g., redeo (ˈred-e-o [ˈred-i-əʊ]), ineo (ˈin-e-o [ˈɪn-i-əʊ]).60
3.3 Short vowels
(a) Vowels are short when in a closed, stressed syllable, e.g., Appius (ˈAp-pi-us [ˈæp-i-əs]), Cunaxa
(Cu-ˈnak-sa [k(j)u:-ˈnæk-sə]), anno Domini (ˈan-no ˈdom-i-ni [ˈæn-əʊ ˈdɒm-ɪ-naɪ]), animus
(ˈan-i-mus [ˈæn-ɪ-məs]), Demophon (ˈDem-o-phon [ˈdem-ə-fɒn] or [ˈdem-ə-fən]),
Megabyzus (ˌMeg-a-ˈby-zus [ˌmeg-ə-ˈbaɪ-zəs]), Vettius (ˈVet-ti-us [ˈvet-i-əs]), Tibullus (Tiˈbul-lus [tɪ-ˈbᴧl-əs]), Catullus (Ca-ˈtul-lus [kə-ˈtᴧl-əs]), Tullia (ˈTul-li-a [ˈtᴧl-i-ə]), Dolabella
(ˌDol-a-ˈbel-la [ˌdɒl-ə-ˈbel-ə]), Domitilla (ˌDom-i-ˈtil-la [ˌdɒm-ɪ-ˈtɪl-ə]), Philocrates (Phiˈloc-ra-tes [fɪ-ˈlɒk-rə-ti:z]), Lycidas (ˈLyc-i-das [ˈlɪs-ə-dæs] or [ˈlɪs-ə-dəs]), Cicero (ˈCic-e-ro
[ˈsɪs-ə-rəʊ]), Romulus (ˈRom-u-lus [ˈrɒm-jʊ-ləs]), Seneca (ˈSen-e-ca [ˈsen-ə-kə]), Nemesis
(ˈNem-e-sis [ˈnem-ə-sɪs]), Lydia (ˈLyd-i-a [ˈlɪd-i-ə]), Pericles (ˈPer-i-cles [ˈper-ɪ-kli:z]),
Thucydides (Thu-ˈcyd-i-des [θju-ˈsɪd-ɪ-di:z]).
(b) In the words tibi, sibi, ibi, quibus, tribus, Paris, eram, eras, erat (and the other
imperfect and future forms of the verb ‘sum’), the penultimate vowel was pronounced
short, an exception to the normal rule.61
3.4
Unstressed vowels
(a) The vowels a, e, o, and i are generally short or obscure, when in medial, open and
unstressed syllables, and are often merely pronounced as the schwa [ə], e.g., Salamis
(ˈSal-a-mis [ˈsæl-ə-mɪs]), Molossus (Mo-ˈlos-sus [mə-ˈlɒs-əs]), Orion (O-ˈri-on [ə-ˈraɪ-ən]),
Persepolis (Per-ˈsep-o-lis [pɜ-ˈsep-ə-lɪs]).
(b) In open, unaccented syllables, u generally has the sound of IPA [u] or [ʊ],62 e.g.,
Lucretius (Lu-ˈcre-ti-us [lju-ˈcri:-ʃəs]), Bibulus (ˈBib-u-lus [ˈbɪb-ju-ləs] or [ˈbɪb-jʊ-ləs]),
nebula (ˈneb-u-la [ˈneb-ju-lə] or [ˈneb-jʊ-lə]), Corbulo (ˈCor-bu-lo [ˈkɔ:-bu-ləʊ]).
(c) The final a is pronounced as the schwa [ə]. This convention has existed for over two
centuries: ‘A, ending an unaccented syllable, has the same obscure sound as in the same
situation in English words’ (Walker, Key, 23),63 e.g., Electra (E-ˈlec-tra [ɪ-ˈlek-trə]),
Atalanta (ˌAt-a-ˈlan-ta [ˌæt-ə-ˈlæn-tə]), Macedonia (ˌMac-e-ˈdo-ni-a [ˌmæs-ɪ-ˈdəʊ-ni-ə]).
59
60
61
62
63
Sargeaunt and Bradley (1920) 10.
Sargeaunt (1898) 274.
Sargeaunt and Bradley (1920) 10.
See Miller (1935) 331.
See also Chandler (1889) 172; Miller (1935) 331.
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T H E E N G L I S H P R O N U N C I A T I O N O F L A T I N 39
4. An a in the combination quadrWhen a occurs in the Latinate prefix quadr-, it often has the sound of IPA [ɒ] (the short ‘o’ as
in ‘not’), though this occurs more frequently in common nouns rather than in proper
names, e.g., quadra (ˈquad-ra [ˈkwɒd-rə]), quadratus (qua-ˈdra-tus [kwɒ-ˈdreɪ-təs]).64
5. The i or y
Note that Classical Latin y was a vowel representing the Greek upsilon (υ), and had roughly the
sound of the German u with umlaut (IPA [y]).65 In English, however, y is treated exactly as if it
were an i, so y = i in all instances. Thus a long ‘y’ = a long ‘i’ and a short ‘y’ = a short ‘i’.
5.1 Intermediate i/y
In an unstressed, open and medial syllable, when followed by a vowel, i or y generally has an
intermediate sound represented by IPA [i]. Walker himself noted that ‘the last syllable but
one of Fabii, the Horatii, Curiatii etc. is pronounced as if written Fa-be-i, Ho-ra-she-i, Cu-re-a-shei’ (Walker, Key, 22), e.g., Antonius (An-ˈto-ni-us [æn-ˈtəʊ-ni-əs]), Fabius (ˈFa-bi-us [ˈfeɪ-biəs]), ratio (ˈra-ti-o [ˈreɪ-ʃi-əʊ]).
5.2 An i/y in an initial, unstressed and open position
(a)
With a vowel beginning the next syllable
An i or y in an initial, unstressed and open syllable, when followed by a vowel in the next
syllable, is usually long, e.g., Iambe (I-ˈam-be [aɪ-ˈæm-bi]), Dione (Di-ˈo-ne [daɪ-ˈəʊ-ni]).
(b) With a consonant beginning the next syllable
When a consonant (or a mute and liquid) follows the i or y in the next syllable, there was
originally no consistent rule for determining the length of the vowel in such instances, a
state of affairs which Walker (Key, 23) noted at the end of the eighteenth century:
[the i or y] is sometimes long and sometimes short, when ending an initial syllable
not under the accent, as Ly-cur-gus, pronounced with the first syllable like lie . . . and
Lysimachus with first syllable like the first of legion.66
Even at the end of the nineteenth century, it was admitted that consistency was still absent.67
64 Another irregular type of pronunciation is heard in ‘Aldus’, which is a Latinised proper name that arose in the
Middle Ages from Italian ‘Aldo’. The pronunciation of Al- as [ɔ:l] in English has presumably arisen by analogy
with pronunciations such as ‘alderman’, ‘Aldrin’, ‘Aldrich’, etc. Actual Classical names do not follow this
convention.
65 Allen (1987) 52.
66 Richmond (1905) 30.
67 In a guide to pronunciation of proper names from 1859, it is admitted that,
when i, or its equivalent y, ends an unaccented first syllable of a word, it has, in some cases, its long sound,
as in Bianor; in some, it takes the indistinct sound of e, as in Cilicia; and in some it is difficult to determine
which of these sounds is to be preferred, as there is a want of agreement with respect to them both among
orthoepists and speakers (Abbot (1859) 1703).
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40 A N D R E W C O L L I N S
Arguments are sometimes heard in Classics departments in which it is asserted that the
length of an i or y in this position in a Latin proper name when pronounced in English
should be determined by its quantity in Latin (e.g., that there should really be a short i in
the first syllable of Tiberius, because the i is short in Latin). But this type of argument is
quite misplaced, for in English pronunciation euphony and convention have traditionally
governed the length of an i or y in such a position. Hence tradition gives us Tiberius (Tiˈbe-ri-us [taɪ-ˈbɪə-ri-əs]), Hymettus (Hy-ˈmet-tus [haɪ-ˈmet-əs]), Lyceum (Ly-ˈce-um [laɪˈsi:-əm]), Lycurgus (Ly-ˈcur-gus [laɪ-ˈkɜ-gəs]), Lysander (Ly-ˈsan-der [laɪ-ˈsæn-də]),
Isocrates (I-ˈsoc-cra-tes [aɪ-ˈsɒk-rə-ti:z]), Lysistrata (Ly-ˈsis-tra-ta [laɪ-ˈsɪs-trə-tə]), but
Vitellius (Vi-ˈtel-li-us [vɪ-ˈtel-i-əs]), Tibullus (Ti-ˈbul-lus [tɪ-ˈbᴧl-əs]), Philostratus (Phi-ˈlostra-tus [fɪ-ˈlɒs-trə-təs]), and Vitruvius (Vi-ˈtru-vi-us [vɪ-ˈtru:-vi-əs]).68
6. An i as a semivowel: accented ai, ei, oi, and yi
6.1
Original rule
When the combinations ai, ei, oi, or yi take the accent on the first vowel and are then
followed by another vowel, the i changes to the semivowel [j] (the yod, as in ‘yellow’)
and the first vowel becomes long,69 e.g., Veii (ˈVe-ii [ˈvi:-jaɪ]), Achaia (A-ˈcha-ia [ə-ˈkeɪjə]),70 Pompeius (Pom-ˈpe-ius [pɒm-ˈpi:-jəs]), Cocceius (Coc-ˈce-ius [kɒk-ˈsi:-jəs]),
Pleiades (ˈPle-ia-des [ˈpli:-jə-di:z]), Apuleius (ˌAp-u-ˈle-ius [ˌæp-ju-ˈli:-jəs]), Graius (ˈGraius [ˈgreɪ-jəs]), Dryopeia (ˌDry-o-ˈpe-ia [ˌdraɪ-ə-ˈpi:-jə]), Ilithyia (ˌIl-i-ˈthy-ia [ˌɪl-ɪ-ˈθaɪ-jə]),
Veiento (Ve-ˈien-to [vi:-ˈjen-təʊ]), Maia (ˈMa-ia [ˈmeɪ-jə]).
Walker did not formulate this principle, though it was current in some words during his
time.71 It was not until the nineteenth century that this rule was properly developed, and was
Cf. Miller (1935) 331.
68 In some cases, there has been historical variation, e.g., Cilicia [saɪ-lɪʃ-(i)-ə], [saɪ-lɪs-(i)-ə], [sɪ-lɪʃ-(i)-ə] or [sɪ-lɪs-(i)ə].
69 Abbot (1859) 1704; Miller (1935) 332; Richmond (1905) 30.
70 Walker, Key, 161 (note on Achaia): ‘The vowels in this termination [viz., -aia] do not form a diphthong. The accent
is on the first a, the i pronounced like y consonant in year, and final a sounded like the a in father.’
71 For instance, Walker (Key, 162 [note on Elegeia]) argued that Pleiades should be pronounced as [ˈpli:-jə-di:z], and
regarded the ei as equivalent to long e, with a y inserted after it for euphony:
The general mode of pronouncing . . . [ei] with us is to consider . . . [it] as a diphthong, and to pronounce it
as long or double e; which, from its squeezed sound, approaches to the initial y, and makes these words
[viz., Elegeia and Hygeia] pronounced as if written El-e-je’-yah, Hy-je’-yah [i.e., pronounced as el-ə-ˈʤi:jə and haɪ-ˈʤi:-jə]. This is the pronunciation which ought to be adopted.
However, Walker did not apply this type of reasoning to oi or yi. On the alternative pronunciation of ei, see Walker,
Key, 127:
[A] considerable variety appears in the sound of the diphthong ei. Most speakers pronounce it like the
substantive eye . . .. [But the] analogical pronunciation of this diphthong in our own language is either as
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T H E E N G L I S H P R O N U N C I A T I O N O F L A T I N 41
widely applied until the twentieth century: hence the older pronunciation of words such as
Hygeia [haɪ-ˈʤi:-jə] and Pompeii [pɒm-ˈpi:-jaɪ]. However, the word ‘Pleiades’ has always
been an important exception to this rule, and the pronunciation [ˈplaɪ-ə-di:z] has been
used alongside [ˈpli:-jə-di:z] since the eighteenth century.72
6.2 After the late nineteenth century, the IPA [j] came to be simply elided in modern
pronunciation of such words, e.g., Hygeia [haɪ-ˈʤi:-ə], prosopopeia [ˌprɒs-ə-pə-ˈpi:-ə],
mythopoeia [ˌmɪθ-ə-ˈpi:-ə].
7. Lengthening and diphthongisation of a, e, i/y, o, and u before r
The combination of a vowel plus r before a consonant, or sometimes even before a vowel,
often changes the quality of the vowel (e.g., diphthongises the e or a).
7.1 The ar before a consonant
(a) When ar comes before any consonant other than r, when the a is accented and
sometimes when it is unaccented, the a is pronounced as IPA [ɑ:] (r is silent), e.g.,
Marcellinus (Mar-cel-ˈli-nus [ˌmɑ:-sə-ˈlaɪ-nəs]), Hipparchus (Hip-ˈpar-chus [hɪ-ˈpɑ:-kəs]),
Parthenius (Par-ˈthe-ni-us [pɑ:-ˈθi:-ni-əs]), Sparta (ˈSpar-ta [ˈspɑ:-tə]).
(b) Pronunciation of a in an open syllable
In cases where a should be long in an open, accented syllable, but is followed in the next syllable
by r plus another vowel, English tends to pronounce the a as the diphthong [eə], e.g., Apollinarus
(A-ˌpol-li-ˈna-rus [ə-ˌpɒl-ɪ-ˈneə-rəs]), Marius (ˈMa-ri-us [ˈmeə-ri-əs but now often ˈmɑ:-ri-əs]73),
heard in vein, rein, &c, or in perceive, receive &c. The latter is adopted by many speakers in the present as if
written Pleeades, but Plyades, though less analogical, must be owned to be the more polite and literary
pronunciation.
See also Walker Key, 22.
72 Note that, in archaic English writing, the consonantal i in words of this sort was changed to j, e.g., Pompejus,
Vejento, Pompeji, ejusdem generis (an older form of eiusdem generis, the legal phrase).
73 See LPD3, s.v. Marius. The older pronunciation can be found in English verse. Byron has the following rhyme:
Have filled their papers with their comments various,
...
(The hypocrite!) will banish them like Marius.
(Don Juan, Canto 12, LXXVIII)
See also John Hookham Frere, The Works (1872), Vol. I, Canto I, XXVI:
But his success in war was strangely various;
...
He seem’d a very Cæsar or a Marius;
...
Your prospect of success became precarious.
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42 A N D R E W C O L L I N S
lares (ˈla-res [ˈleə-ri:z]), Pharos (ˈPha-ros [ˈfeə-rɒs]), Charon (ˈCha-ron [ˈkeə-rɒn]74), denarius (deˈna-ri-us [dɪ-ˈneə-ri-əs]).
7.2 The e, i/y, or u followed by r
When e, i/y, or u are followed by r in a closed syllable and are followed by any consonant
except r, always when accented, though often when not under the accent, the vowels are
pronounced as IPA [ɜ:] (r is silent), e.g., Pergamum (ˈPer-ga-mum [ˈpɜ:-gə-məm]),
Euterpe (Eu-ˈter-pe [ju-ˈtɜ:-pi]);75 Curtius (ˈCur-ti-us [ˈkɜ:-ʃ(i)-əs]), Turnus (ˈTur-nus [ˈtɜ:nəs]), Dirce (ˈDir-ce [ˈdɜ:-si]), Hyrcania (Hyr-ˈca-ni-a [hɜ:-ˈkeɪ-ni-ə]).
7.3 Pronunciation of e in an open syllable
When a long e in an open, accented syllable is followed in the next syllable by r plus a
vowel, the e is pronounced as IPA [ɪə], e.g., Tiberius (Ti-ˈbe-ri-us [taɪ-ˈbɪə-ri-əs]), Ceres
(ˈCe-res [ˈsɪə-ri:z]), Chimera (Chi-ˈme-ra [kaɪ-ˈmɪə-rə] or [kɪ-ˈmɪə-rə]).
7.4
Pronunciation of o
(a) When followed by a consonant other than r, an or is pronounced with the long
vowel IPA [ɔ:] (r is silent), e.g., Orcus (ˈOr-cus [ˈɔ:-kəs]), Hortensius (Hor-ˈten-si-us [hɔ:ˈten-si-əs]).
(b) In cases where o is long in an open, accented syllable, but followed in the next
syllable by r plus a vowel, the o is pronounced as IPA [ɔ:], e.g., Apollodorus (A-ˌpol-loˈdo-rus [ə-ˌpɒl-ə-ˈdɔ:-rəs]), Sertorius (Ser-ˈto-ri-us [sɜ:-ˈtɔ:-ri-əs]).
C. Diphthongs
In English, the Latin diphthongs are generally pronounced as one of the long vowels.76
8. ae and oe
Two approaches to the pronunciation of the diphthongs ae and oe have existed over the past
two centuries.
74 Cf. Porter (1895), s.v., Charon, which gives an older pronunciation [ˈkeɪ–rɒn].
75 In some commonly used proper names, the er in an unaccented syllable can sometimes be reduced to the obscure
vowel (the schwa) in pronunciation, e.g., Persephone [pə–ˈsef–ə–ni].
76 I have not included the archaic Latin diphthongs ai, ou, or oi here. The archaic oi was, in English, pronounced as
the diphthong in ‘coin’ or IPA [ɔɪ] (King (1880) 19; Fisher (1885) 17). According to King (1880) 19, the archaic ou
was pronounced in English as the diphthong in ‘out’ = IPA [aʊ]. Note, too, that in traditional English
pronunciation the ui in Latin cui, hui, huic was pronounced as a long English i = IPA [aɪ], so that these words
were articulated as [kaɪ], [haɪ], [haɪk] respectively (King (1880) 19).
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T H E E N G L I S H P R O N U N C I A T I O N O F L A T I N 43
8.1
Original rule
(a) The original rule expounded by John Walker was that both oe and ae should follow the
example of e, in every position.77 Hence an ae or oe in an open, stressed syllable was to be
pronounced as a long e or IPA [i:], e.g., Laetus (ˈLae-tus [ˈli:-təs]), Croesus (ˈCroe-sus [ˈkri:səs]), Naevius (ˈNae-vi-us [ˈni:-vi-əs]), Philopoemen (ˌPhil-o-ˈpoe-men [ˌfɪl-ə-ˈpi:-mən]).
(b) An ae or oe in a closed, stressed syllable was pronounced like a short e (IPA [e] as in
‘bet’), e.g., Oedipus (ˈOed-i-pus [ˈed-ɪ-pəs]), Daedalus (ˈDaed-a-lus [ˈded-ə-ləs]),
Aeschines (ˈAes-chi-nes [ˈes-kɪ-ni:z]), Aeschylus (ˈAes-chy-lus [ˈes-kɪ-ləs]).
8.2 Ae and oe long in all positions
The system of 8.1 prevailed in the early and middle eighteenth century in Britain and
America. But, towards the end of the century, British Classical scholars contended that
the Latin diphthongs ae and oe were to be vocalised as IPA [i:] in almost every position,
e.g., Oedipus [ˈi:d-ɪ-pəs], Daedalus [ˈdi:d-ə-ləs], Aeschines [ˈi:s-kɪ-ni:z], Aeschylus [ˈi:skɪ-ləs]), Maecenas ([mi:-ˈsi:-nəs] or [mi:-ˈsi:-næs]), quaestor ([ˈkwi:s-tə] for [ˈkwes-tə]).78
Beginning in the 1880s, this reform was part of the ‘Victorian’ English pronunciation of
Latin, and therefore sought to mark Classical quantities or diphthongs with English
sounds (see Section VI below). The new sound became common in the 1890s, and then
standard English in the early twentieth century.79 Thus a divergence between British and
American pronunciation occurred – one which is still extant. But some Victorian
traditionalists were strongly opposed to the change. As early as the 1880s, conservative
opinion railed against the new pronunciation.80 In America it was derided by scholars,
amongst whom was one Professor George Hempl. He declared that
[the long e] has, indeed, already introduced into English learned circles such
absurdities as Æschylus and Œdipus [ˈi:s-kɪ-ləs and ˈi:d-ɪ-pəs], and, what is more,
it has even tainted the pronunciation of learned English words – witness those
linguistic pearls æsthetics and asafœtida.81
77 Walker, Key, 22:
[the] diphthongs æ and œ, ending a syllable with the accent on it, are pronounced exactly like a long English
e, as Cæsar . . . as if written Cee’sar . . . ; and like the short e, when followed by a consonant in the same syllable,
as Dædalus, [Oedipus] &c. pronounced as if written Deddalus, Eddipus &c.
See also Porter (1895) 1882; Chandler (1889) 172; Miller (1935) 332.
78 An important exception is Aetna.
79 Hatch (1968–9): 214–15. See OED2, s.v. æ: ‘there is a strong tendency with Classical scholars (at variance with their
practice as to the other long . . . [Latin and Greek vowels]) to make it [sc. ae] long . . . [= first e in ‘scene’] in all
positions.’ This is also cited by Kelly (1986) 35–6.
80 Chandler (1889) 172: ‘[ae and oe] are always sounded as e in the same situation would be. They are often wrongly
sounded long when they should be short.’
81 Hempl (1898) 416.
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44 A N D R E W C O L L I N S
Nevertheless, the process that he disparaged did indeed give us the customary long e in
aesthete [ˈi:s-θi:t] and aesthetic [ˈi:s-θet-ɪk], and other words,82 pronunciations which are
not standard in America, where a short e still predominates.83 But British English now
uses IPA [i:] for these Latin diphthongs, especially when they are in accented syllables.
9. au
9.1 In English, the Latin diphthong au has customarily been pronounced as IPA [ɔ:], even
when it occurs in an unstressed syllable,84 e.g., Augusta (Au-ˈgus-ta [ɔ:-ˈgᴧs-tə]), Faustinus
(Faus-ˈti-nus [fɔ:s-ˈtaɪ-nəs]).
9.2 The au of the Greek suffix -aus in proper names is not treated as a long vowel in English;
rather, the two vowels are pronounced distinctly, e.g., Menelaus (ˌMen-e-ˈla-us [ˈmen-ə-ˈleɪ-əs]).
10. eu
10.1 Eu as long u
The Latin diphthong is pronounced as IPA [ju:] (as in ‘mute’), even when it occurs in a
closed or unstressed syllable,85 e.g., Eudoxus (Eu-ˈdok-sus [ju:-ˈdɒk-səs]), Eustathius
(Eus-ˈta-thi-us [ju:s-ˈtei-θi-əs]).
10.2
The Greek suffix -eus in Classical proper names
(a) Original rule
The Greek suffix -ευς , with the epsilon-plus-upsilon diphthong, appearing in Latin proper
names, was originally pronounced with separate vowels in English,86 e.g., Orpheus (ˈOrphe-us [ˈɔ:-fi-əs]), Odysseus (O-ˈdys-se-us [ə-ˈdɪs-i-əs]).
This was the rule of Walker, and it has continued into modern times.
(b) Suffix -eus with a long u
82 E.g., aestivate, aetiology.
83 It is peculiar that the three most commonly cited modern authors on English pronunciation of Latin proper names
– viz., W. Millar (1935), G. F. Else (1966–7) and H. A. Kelly (1986) – were all representatives of the American
Classical tradition, and retained the original system formulated by John Walker. Millar 1935: 332: ‘ae and oe are
pronounced like e in all cases.’ Kelly (1986): 35–6: ‘In American usage, ae and oe are rightly treated as identical
with e . . . In British usage they are usually pronounced [as long e] in all positions.’ Else (1966–7): 212:
‘[among] the half-educated who are aware of the original diphthong, a fashion has arisen of pronouncing [ˈi:skɪ-ləs and ˈi:d-ɪ-pəs]. This is a misguided innovation.’ This statement provoked an article by Hatch (1968–9): 213–
15, defending the long e for ae and oe.
84 Chandler (1889) 172; Miller (1935) 332; Sargeaunt and Bradley (1920) 9.
85 Chandler (1889) 172; Miller (1935) 332; Sargeaunt and Bradley (1920) 9.
86 See Walker, Key, 93 (note on ‘Idomeneus’). The e in -eus is thus treated as a short vowel in accentuation and
syllabification.
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T H E E N G L I S H P R O N U N C I A T I O N O F L A T I N 45
From the nineteenth century, the tendency arose to pronounce the eu as IPA [ju:],87 e.g.,
Orpheus (ˈOr-phe-us [ˈɔ:-fju:s]), Odysseus (O-ˈdys-se-us [ə-ˈdɪs-ju:s]).
This change arose as part of the ‘Victorian’ reform of English pronunciation of Latin (see
Section VI below), to mark the Classical diphthong. Though this pronunciation is still
widespread in modern British English, it has always existed alongside the alternative and
original pronunciation by which the vowels are separate.
D. Greek-derived diphthongs
11. ai (αι)
11.1 ai as English long i
(a) Since the alpha-and-iota diphthong in Greek was regularly transcribed as ae in Latin,88
no difficulty regarding its pronunciation normally arises. Very rarely the diphthong, or an ai
from separate Greek vowels, is treated as a diphthong, when before another vowel, and given
the sound of [aɪ], a sound which was once the value for the alpha-plus-iota diphthong in the
English system for pronouncing Greek,89 e.g., Achaia (A-ˈchai-a [ə-ˈkaɪ-ə], from Ἀχαΐα,
where ai is mistaken for the Greek diphthong).
11.2 For the alternative way of pronouncing words of this type, see rule 6 above.
12. ei (ει)
The Greek epsilon-and-iota diphthong occasionally appears as ei in some Latinised words,
rather than as the more usual Latin transcription, a long e or i. The ei can be pronounced as a
long i (as in ‘fight’ or IPA [ai]), a sound used for ei in the traditional English system for
pronouncing ancient Greek,90 e.g., Elegeia (ˌEl-e-ˈgei-a [ˌel-ə-ˈʤai-ə]), Pleiades (ˈPlei-ades [ˈplai-ə-di:z]).
For the alternative way of pronouncing words of this type, see rule 6 above.
It is curious that, though the long i (IPA [ai]) for Greek-derived ei was common even in
the eighteenth century, Walker condemned it as a scholarly eccentricity: ‘scholars who are
fond of displaying their knowledge of Greek, will be sure to pronounce Elegeia, Hygeia . . .
Antheia, Deiopeia, with the diphthong like the noun eye’.91 From the late nineteenth
87 Abbot (1859) 1703: ‘[the] termination eus in [sc. Greek] proper names . . . is to be pronounced as one syllable, the eu
being a diphthong.’
88 Verbrugghe (1999) 511.
89 Allen (1987) 147.
90 Allen (1987) 147; Walker, Key, 22. See also Phipson (1896) 543, who, speaking of the virtues of a Reformed
pronunciation of ancient Greek, condemned the ‘absurdity of sounding [Greek ei] ... as German ei [i.e., IPA
ai], as well as the pedantic spellings (Poseidon, Cleisthenes, eirebicon, seismic &c.) now fashionable.’ Note that, in
the English system of pronouncing Greek, long i, ei, and ai were all vocalised as long i = IPA [aɪ] (Allen (1987)
147; Phipson (1896) 543).
91 Walker, Key, 162.
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46 A N D R E W C O L L I N S
century, there began a tendency to sometimes write the Greek-derived diphthong ei in
Classical proper names, e.g., Cleitarchus for Clitarchus (both pronounced as [ˈklai-tɑ:kəs]), Cleitus for Clitus (both vocalised as [ˈklai-təs]), Heracleitus [ˌher-ə-ˈklai-təs],
Peisistratus [pai-ˈsɪs-trə-təs], Poseidon [pə-ˈsai-dən].
The name ‘Cleisthenes’ is now a special case. The word was normally spelt ‘Clisthenes’,
and was traditionally pronounced as [ˈklɪs-θə-ni:z]. Today the vowel of the accented syllable
has changed to [ai],92 with pronunciation as [ˈklais-θə-ni:z].93
E. Consonants
13. Soft c and g
13.1
C and g
(a) The consonant c is IPA [s] and g is IPA [ʤ] before i, y, e, ae, and oe, but hard in all other
cases,94 e.g., Cecrops (ˈCe-crops [ˈsi:-krɒps]), Gyges (ˈGy-ges [ˈʤaɪ-ʤi:z]), Leucippus (Leuˈcip-pus [lju:-ˈsɪp-əs]), but Gordias (ˈGor-di-as [ˈgɔ:-di-əs] or [ˈgɔ:-di-æs]), Galinthias (Gaˈlin-thi-as [gæ-ˈlɪn-θi-əs] or [gæ-ˈlɪn-θi-æs]).
(b) In a double c, the first c is hard when before a second soft c, e.g., Cocceius (Coc-ˈce-i-us
[kɒk-ˈsi:-jəs]), Tricce (ˈTric-ce [ˈtrɪk-si:]).
(c) A gg is reduced to one soft g, if the second g is soft, e.g., Agger (ˈAg-ger [ˈæʤ-ə]),
Aggenus (Ag-ˈge-nus [ə-ˈʤi:-nəs]).
13.2 Sc
Sc before i, y, e, ae, or oe is reduced to IPA [s] in pronunciation, e.g., Scylla (ˈScyl-la [ˈsɪl-ə]),
Scipio (ˈScip-i-o [ˈsɪp-i-əʊ]), Sciron (ˈSci-ron [ˈsaɪ-rɒn]), but Scamander (Sca-ˈman-der [skəˈmæn-də]), Scopas (ˈSco-pas [ˈskəʊ-pæs]).
14. ch
The Latin ch derives from the Greek chi (χ), and in English pronunciation ch is pronounced
as IPA [k],95 e.g., Charon (ˈCha-ron [ˈkeə-rən] or [ˈkeə-rɒn]), Charybdis (Cha-ˈryb-dis [kəˈrɪb-dɪs]).
92 This transliteration appeared as early as the 1890s, see Phipson (1896) 543, n. 141. See also Sargeaunt and Bradley
(1920) 16.
93 One can still hear the old sound for Greek ei in English common nouns or adjectives, some of which are scientific
neologisms, e.g., seismic (first occurrence c. 1858), kaleidoscope (c. 1818), meiosis (c. 1805), cleidoic (c. 1931),
eidetic (1924), eidolon (1828), eisegesis (1878). See OED2, s.vv. seismic, kaleidoscope etc.
94 Walker, Key, 24; Porter (1895) 1882; Chandler (1889) 172; Miller (1935) 333.
95 Walker, Key, 25; Chandler (1889) 171; Miller (1935) 333.
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T H E E N G L I S H P R O N U N C I A T I O N O F L A T I N 47
15. Difficult initial combinations: Bd, Cn, Chth, Ct, Gn, Mn, Ps, Pn, Pt, Phth, and Tm
15.1 A number of Latin words of Greek etymology contain difficult initial combinations of
consonants, and the convention, since the time of Walker, has been to suppress the first
consonant in pronunciation,96 e.g., Bdelius (ˈBde-li-us [ˈdi:-li-əs]), Cnidus (ˈCni-dus [ˈnaɪdəs]), Chthonia (ˈChtho-ni-a [ˈθəʊ-ni-ə]), Ctesias (ˈCte-si-as [ˈti:-ʃ(i)-əs]), Ctesiphon (ˈCtes-iphon [ˈtes-ɪ-fən]), Gnomon (ˈGno-mon [ˈnəʊ-mɒn] or [ˈnəʊ-mən]), Mnemosyne (Mne-ˈmosy-ne [nə-ˈmɒz-ɪ-ni:]), Psyche (ˈPsy-che [ˈsaɪ-ki:]), Pnytagoras (Pny-ˈtag-o-ras [naɪ-ˈtæg-ə-rəs]),
Phthia (ˈPhthi-a [ˈθaɪ-ə]), Tmolus (ˈTmo-lus [ˈməʊ-ləs]), Tzetzes (ˈTzet-zes [ˈzet-zi:z]).
However, tm- is sometimes an exception, e.g., tmesis [ˈtmi:-sɪs].
15.2 An exception is Tl-, which has traditionally been pronounced fully, e.g., Tlepolemus
[tlə-ˈpɒl-ə-məs].
16. S
16.1 A final s after e has the sound of a z,97 e.g., Damocles (ˈDam-o-cles [ˈdæm-ə-kli:z]).
16.2 A final s after n changes to z, Tiryns (ˈTi-ryns [ˈtaɪ-rɪnz]), Labens (ˈLa-bens [ˈleɪ-benz]).
16.3 In some cases, on the analogy of English, intervocalic s changes to IPA [z], e.g.,
Caesar (ˈCae-sar [ˈsi:-zə]), Arethusa (ˌAr-e-ˈthu-sa [ˌær-ə-ˈθju:-za]).98
17. A t, c, or s as IPA [ʃ], [ʒ], [z]
When a t, c, or s is preceded by the accent, and followed by an i or y (and eu in Walker’s
system99) plus another vowel in the final syllable, the s can change to IPA [ʒ] or [z], the c
to IPA [ʃ], and the t change into IPA [ʃ], and the i or y is sometimes elided.100
17.1
T or c
(a) In the original rule, a t or c always changes to IPA [ʃ] (as in ‘should’), e.g., Statius (ˈStati-us [ˈsteɪ-ʃəs]), Dacia (ˈDa-ci-a [ˈdeɪ-ʃ(i)-ə]), Propertius (Pro-ˈper-ti-us [prə-ˈpɜ-ʃəs]),
Pontius (ˈPon-ti-us [ˈpɒn-ʃəs]), Latium (ˈLa-ti-um [ˈleɪ-ʃ(i)-əm]), Cappadocia (ˌCap-pa-ˈdo96
97
98
99
Walker, Key, 26–7; Porter (1895) 1882; Chandler (1889) 171; Miller (1935) 333.
Miller (1935) 333–4.
Sargeaunt and Bradley (1920) 9.
‘T, S, and C, before ia, ie, ii, io, and eu, preceded by the accent, in Latin words, as in English, change to sh and zh, as
Tatian, Statius, [and] Portius ... pronounced Tashean, Stasheus, [and] Porsheus’ (Walker, Key, 24).
100 Abbot (1859) 1704; Porter (1895) 1882; Chandler (1889) 171–2; Miller (1935) 333.
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48 A N D R E W C O L L I N S
ci-a [ˌkæp-ə-ˈdəʊ-ʃ(i)-ə]), dementia (de-ˈmen-ti-a [də-ˈmen-ʃə]), ex gratia (ex ˈgra-ti-a [eks
ˈgreɪ-ʃ(i)-ə]), minutiae (mi-ˈnu-ti-ae [mɪ-ˈnju:-ʃi-i:] or [maɪ-ˈnju:-ʃ(i)-i:]).
(b) Some names, and often Latin phrases or nouns, were excluded from this rule in the
course of the twentieth century, owing to the influence of the Restored pronunciation,
e.g., Byzantium [bɪ-ˈzæn-ti-əm] or [baɪ-ˈzæn-ti-əm] for [baɪ-ˈzæn-ʃəm],101 Actium [ˈæk-tiəm] for older [ˈæk-ʃəm], a fortiori [eɪ ˌfɔ:-ti-ˈɔ:-raɪ] for older [eɪ ˌfɔ:-ʃi-ˈɔ:-raɪ].
(c) In other aberrant cases, c is sometimes changed to an s, e.g., Caecias [ˈsi:-si-əs] for
older [ˈsi:-ʃ(i)-əs], Lycia [ˈlɪs-i-ə] for older [ˈlɪʃ-(i)-ə].
17.2
The S
(a) Original rule
When s is preceded immediately by an accented vowel and is followed by i/y plus another vowel
in the final syllable, the s was originally changed to the sound of IPA [ʒ],102 e.g., Artemisia (ˌArte-ˈmis-i-a [ˌɑ:-tə-ˈmɪʒ-i-ə]), Aspasia (As-ˈpa-si-a [æs-ˈpeɪ-ʒ(i)-ə]).
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this was superseded by (b).
(b) The more recent tendency has been to change the s to a z, e.g., Aspasia (As-ˈpa-si-a
[æs-ˈpeɪ-zi-ə]), Elysium (E-ˈlys-i-um [ɪ-ˈlɪz-i-əm]).
This is now the general rule in English pronunciation of Classical names.
(c) In some cases, as Walker noted, an s sometimes changes to IPA [ʃ], particularly when
preceded by a consonant, e.g., Asia (ˈA-si-a [ˈeɪ-ʃə]), Persia (ˈPer-si-a [ˈpɜ-ʃə]), Athanasius
(ˌAth-a-ˈna-si-us [ˌæθ-ə-ˈneɪ-ʃəs]).
Note that double s was once governed by this rule, e.g., Cassius (ˈCas-si-us [ˈkæʃ-əs]).
However, British English now excludes the double s from this rule,103 e.g., Cassius (ˈCassi-us [ˈkæs-i-əs]), Cassiopeia (ˌCas-si-o-ˈpe-i-a [ˌkæs-i-ə-ˈpi-(j)ə]), Cassiodorus (ˌCas-si-ˈdorus [ˌkæs-i-ə-ˈdɔ:-rəs]).
In some few words, the [ʃ] in such a position survives in American pronunciation.104
17.3 Traditional exception: t unchanged
(a) A t is unchanged after s, t, or x. E.g., Sestius (ˈSes-ti-us [ˈses-ti-əs]), Sextius (ˈSek-sti-us
[ˈsek-sti-əs]), Mettius (ˈMet-ti-us [ˈmet-i-əs]), Ostia (ˈOs-ti-a [ˈɒs-ti-ə]), Hestia (ˈHes-ti-a
[ˈhes-ti-ə]), Attius (ˈAt-ti-us [ˈæt-i-əs]).
101
102
103
104
Jones, EPD1 (1921), s.v. Byzantium.
Chandler (1889) 172; Miller (1935) 333.
See Hempl (1898) 415 for an early reference to this trend, though it seems to refer to American English.
The pronunciation [ˈkæʃ-əs] survives in the United States for Cassius (as in Cassius Dio, Cassius Longinus), just as
it was in Walker’s system. Note also ‘cassia’, the name of the genus of plants: this is now pronounced as [ˈkæs-i-ə]
in British English, but [ˈkæʃ-ə] seems to have been current in the nineteenth century and is still standard in
America (LPD3, s.v. cassia).
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T H E E N G L I S H P R O N U N C I A T I O N O F L A T I N 49
(b) Note that Greek derivatives terminating in -tion or -tyon did not originally conform to
this rule, but took the normal sound of t (as in ‘rate’), e.g., Gration (ˈGra-ti-on [ˈgreɪ-ti-ən]),
Metion (ˈMe-ti-on [ˈmi:-ti-ən]), Eurytion (Eu-ˈryt-i-on [ju-ˈrɪt-i-ən]), Polytion (Po-ˈlyt-i-on
[pə-ˈlɪt-i-ən]), Amphictyon (Am-ˈphic-ty-on [æm-ˈfɪk-ti-ən]), and Sotion (ˈSo-ti-on [ˈsəʊ-tiən]).105
Two nineteenth-century exceptions were Theodotion [ˌθi:-ə-ˈdəʊ-ʃən] and Hephaestion.
The name ‘Hephaestion’ was first pronounced as to rhyme with question, i.e., [he-ˈfesʧən],106 but later as [he-ˈfes-ti-ən]. In the late nineteenth century, the pronunciation
changed to [he-ˈfi:s-ti-ən], by 8.2 above.
18. x
18.1 Initial x
An initial x is pronounced as a z,107 e.g., Xenophanes (Xe-ˈnoph-a-nes [ze-ˈnɒf-ə-ni:z]).
18.2 Medial x
(a) Medial x is pronounced as the double consonant ks: Xerxes (ˈXer-xes [ˈzɜk-si:z]).
(b) When the Latinate prefix ex precedes an accented vowel, it sometimes has the sound of
[gz] (especially in Latin common nouns), e.g., exemplum (eg-ˈzem-plum [ɪg-ˈzem-pləm] or
[eg-ˈzem-pləm]), exempli gratia (eg-ˈzem-pli ˈgra-ti-a [eg-ˈzem-plaɪ ˈgreɪ-ʃ(i)-ə]). In other
cases, the x is still pronounced as ks: exeat (ˈek-se-at [ˈek-si-æt]), exeunt (ˈek-se-unt [ˈeksi-ᴧnt]).
VI. The late nineteenth century
It was, curiously, not until the last decade of the nineteenth century that serious study of the
original Anglicised system for Latin was undertaken, and even then this was done because of
105 Walker, Key, 25.
106 Abbot (1859) 1704. This can be shown by the following rhyme in Byron:
‘To be or not to be! that is the question’,
Says Shakespeare, who just now is much in fashion.
I am neither Alexander nor Hephaestion,
Nor ever had for abstract fame much passion;
But would much rather have a sound digestion
(Don Juan, Canto 9, XIV)
Here the words ‘question’, ‘Hephaestion’, and ‘digestion’ are clearly rhymed.
107 Walker, Key, 27; Porter (1895) 1882; Miller (1935) 334.
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50 A N D R E W C O L L I N S
the threat posed to it by the new reforms and competing systems.108 For the universality of the dual
English system – one for proper names and a very similar one for nouns, phrases or texts – was
irreparably broken in the late nineteenth century, when different systems of pronouncing Latin
came into prominence. By 1890, the Restored, or Classical, system109 had been introduced, but
was not widely adopted for the secular study of Classics until the early twentieth century. The
Restored system, however, was only one of a welter of methods, which included
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
the Continental method,
the ‘Roman’ or modern Italian method (modern Church Latin),
the traditional English method, and
the ‘Victorian’ method, which marked some Latin quantities with English vowel
sounds.110
We should first consider the role of Latin in British churches, for methods (1) and (2) are
best discussed in this context. In the small Catholic Church in Britain, the English
pronunciation of Latin had always had a rival in the peculiar ‘Continental’ system which
adopted English sounds for the consonants, but so-called ‘Continental’ sounds for the
vowels.111 The scholar F. Brittain ascribed the form of the Continental method to the
conservatism of the English Catholic clergy, who had retained some of the Middle
English vowel qualities, sounds which were similar to those of modern Italian, even if the
evidence for this theory is not conclusive.112
But, by around 1871, Catholic communities in Britain had adopted a new method, owing
to the zeal of newly converted English Catholics who adopted the ‘Roman’, or modern
Italian,113 system, a process which was strongly opposed by Catholic traditionalists.114 We
should also note here that – though it is frequently forgotten – modern Church Latin did
108 John Sargeaunt (1898), a master at Westminster School, wrote a short essay in 1898 that was a serious attempt to
write down the rules of the English system. He later expanded this into a larger treatment in Sargeaunt and Bradley
(1920). See also Radcliffe (1938) 13 and Copeman (1992) 277–9 (where excerpts from Sargeaunt (1898) are given).
109 Note that the Classical system was sometimes called the ‘Roman’ method in the nineteenth century, but this
should not be confused with modern Church Latin.
110 I could also add the ‘German’ method to this list: this seems to have been briefly popular for teaching Latin from
1860–75 (Chandler (1889) 162), though it left no mark.
111 For an account of the Continental system, see Fisher (1885) 11–13, 20–9; King (1880) 10–13; Andrews and Stoddard
(1857) 11. A brief account can also be found in Kelly (1988) 195–207. The sounds for vowels and diphthongs in the
Continental system are essentially those of modern Italian, including the following: ae/oe = [eɪ] (ay as in ‘bay’,
‘say’); long i = [i:] (as ee in ‘meet’); long e = [eɪ] (ay as in ‘say’). It is possible that the pronunciation of the
diphthong ‘ae’ in ‘Timaeus’ as [taɪ-ˈmeɪ-əs] shows the influence of Continental sounds.
112 Brittain (1955; first edn 1934) 62–5; Copeman (1992) 118–19.
113 Copeman (1992) 202.
114 Brittain (1955) 65–8. Many of the new converts began to look upon the English Catholic traditionalists with scorn,
as ‘old Catholics’ who were insufficiently ‘Roman’. See also Oakeley (1871) 4:
Catholics in England have always adopted a mode of pronouncing Latin different from that which generally
prevails, and more in accordance with the foreign method . . . English Catholics now [i.e., c. 1871] very
generally adopt the strictly Italian . . . pronunciation of Latin, although it was not many years since they
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T H E E N G L I S H P R O N U N C I A T I O N O F L A T I N 51
not exist outside Italy as a universal ecclesiastical, or international, pronunciation of Latin
until the early twentieth century.115 Thus it was only in 1870, with the First Vatican
Council, that there occurred significant impetus for the adoption of the Italian
pronunciation of Latin in the wider Catholic Church. Some years later, Pope Pius X
(1903–1914) strongly encouraged this trend, both in his Motu proprio of 1903, which dealt
with pronunciation of sacred music, and in a letter to the Archbishop of Bourges of
1912.116 Although the older Continental system survived until about 1885 amongst English
Benedictines (at Downside and Ampleforth) and English Jesuits,117 modern Italian/Church
Latin eventually prevailed in the Catholic Church in England.
In the Anglican Church, there was, in contrast, a strong tendency towards the use of the
English pronunciation of Latin. From the sixteenth century onwards, in the singing of
Anglican hymns, anthems and other rites, Latin had been pronounced in the same way
as secular texts, even though, by the 1880s, the Continental system had been adopted in
some services.
These opposing systems naturally led to a state of confusion – and this can be seen from
reminiscences of contemporaries. When Bertrand Russell attended Cambridge in the 1890s,
he found that the Vice-Master of Trinity College
stuck to the English pronunciation of Latin, while the Master adopted the Continental
pronunciation. When they read grace in alternate verses, the effect was curious,
especially as the Vice-Master gabbled it, while the Master mouthed it with unction.118
By the late 1890s, the Classical system was introduced into some Anglican churches, and the
Italian pronunciation of Latin into others. This ‘Church’ Latin made very great progress in
the twentieth century,119 and it eventually effected minor changes in the English
pronunciation of secular Latin.
The early version of our modern Reformed system for pronouncing Latin also made its
appearance in the Victorian era, after decades of vociferous debate amongst philologists
about the original sounds.120 But surprising resistance hindered attempts to reform
pronounced Latin in the English way, with the single exception of the vowels [i.e., the Continental system].
115 Brittain (1955) 13–30 and 71–81.
116
117
118
119
120
Brittain (1955) 38–40.
Brittain (1955) 69–71.
Russell (2000) 64.
Brittain (1955) 80; Wray (1995) 75.
See Pyles (1939) 147–62. Note that the general ‘Reformed’ system should be distinguished from the more scientific
treatment of W. S. Allen:
[the Reformed system] can hardly be said to constitute a thoroughgoing reconstruction of the Classical
pronunciation. ... [it does] not go so far as to involve any actually non-English sounds, or even English
sounds in unfamiliar environments; and it is the bridging of the gap between ‘reformed’ and
‘reconstructed’ pronunciation that forms one of the purposes of this book (Allen (1989) 106).
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52 A N D R E W C O L L I N S
British universities and schools.121 Some even recoiled with horror from the sounds of
Restored Latin, when it first appeared.122
The famous reformers of the 1870s had included Professors Munro and Palmer, whose
Syllabus of Latin pronunciation was published in 1872.123 Their system was introduced into
University College (London) by Robinson Ellis, but had made little progress in other
institutions by 1880.124 A second attempt at reform came in 1886 with a report by the
Cambridge Philological Society which again recommended the widespread adoption of the
new system. In America, the reform was accepted with comparative alacrity, and had
made great progress even by 1900.125 In 1907 the British Board of Education approved the
Reformed syllabus. With the imposition of an official policy in schools funded by the
government, the final victory in Britain came in the 1920s, though the adoption of the
reform in public schools was not uniform or consistent.126
But the system the Reformed pronunciation replaced in the 1920s was not the original
English one. In fact, a spirit of dissatisfaction with the pure English method had been
121 Pyles (1939) 149–50. A Victorian student who first encountered the new pronunciation in these years even recalled
that
[in] 1874 the new pronunciation was still in its theoretical stage and an easy prey to conservative schoolboys
in search of a topic for ridicule . . . I shall never forget the feeling of relief on reading, on the first page of Dr
Kennedy’s Latin Grammar, that Latin was pronounced in the same way as English. My respect for the
Romans, already considerable, was confirmed (Fortescue Brickdale (1938) 6).
See also Stray (1998) 126–31.
122 Examples of polemic against the restored system can be found in Pyles (1939) 149–61.
123 Copeman (1992) 283.
124 Pyles (1939) 152–3. A professor of Latin noted in 1891 that
Cambridge has . . . in theory adopted the new pronunciation; Oxford has adhered to the ‘old’, or English
method. In both Universities, however, it appears that there are lecture-rooms where the pronunciation
adopted is exceptional, and differs from that in common use in the University’ (Strong (1891) 15).
See also Papillon (1891) 7, a tutor at New College in Oxford, who recalled:
I remember the occasion . . . when the majority of a meeting of resident Oxford teachers adopted a new
‘syllabus’ of Latin pronunciation – to which, I am afraid, most of us afterwards offered the ‘passive
resistance’ of continuing the old pronunciation. I thought then, and I still think, that the only practical
basis for uniformity among English-speaking scholars is our traditional pronunciation of Latin in the way
most natural to English organs of speech and to the use of everyday life.
125 Pyles (1939) 158: ‘[despite] occasional opposition ... in 1901 it was estimated that the reformed pronunciation was
in use by more than 86% of the students of Latin in American secondary schools.’
126 Moore Smith (1930) 175–6; Pyles (1939) 161. The opposition continued even in the 1920s, when Winston Churchill
delivered the annual oration . . . at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His subject was
‘The Study of English.’ . . . [sc. Churchill said that we] used to be assured that the best way to learn English
was to learn Latin. This argument had been somewhat destroyed by the new and – if he might say so –
ridiculous change in pronunciation which in recent years had become general . . .. This pernicious
innovation into which our schoolmen had plunged emphasized the need of a proper study of English
(Anonymous (1924) 14).
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T H E E N G L I S H P R O N U N C I A T I O N O F L A T I N 53
abroad from the 1870s, and some Victorian teachers of Latin prose and poetry had made an
attempt to mark the long and short vowels of Classical quantities by using English vowel
sounds, rather than Restored ones.127 The new and reformed English pronunciation
which resulted was later called the ‘Victorian’ system (method 4 above). A student of this
system, Percy F. Frankland, recalled its chief characteristic:
I look back . . . to the instruction in Latin which I received at University College School
under the distinguished headmastership of Thomas Hewitt Key . . . who was an
outstanding Professor at University College, of which the school, as an adjunct,
was his creation. I must be among the few surviving who had the privilege in the
seventies [i.e., 1870s] of being introduced to the classical world under his inspired
mentorship. The essential feature of Key’s method was his insistence on a
knowledge of the quantity of the vowels and its emphasis in their pronunciation, while retaining
their English character [my emphasis]. The knowledge of quantity he valued as
essential to a proper understanding of the etymological structure of words . . .. It
appears to me that by the rigorous pronunciation according to quantity many of
the objections urged against the ‘old’ or English pronunciation would disappear.
(Frankland (1938) 8)
Some examples are given below of pronunciations of Latin words under the Victorian system
(VS) with original English pronunciations (OEP) following:
sidera. VS [ˈsaɪ-də-rə]; OEP [ˈsɪd-ə-rə].
nomina. VS [ˈnəʊm-ɪ-nə]; OEP [ˈnɒm-ɪ-nə].
stamina. VS [ˈsteɪ-mɪ-nə]; OEP [ˈstæm-ɪ-nə].
Lydia. VS [ˈlaɪd-i-ə]; OEP [ˈlɪd-i-ə].
alias. VS [ˈæl-i-əs]; OEP [ˈeɪ-li-əs].
In the first four words, in which the antepenultimate vowels had been short in the previous
English system, the new pronunciation marked the long vowels in the initial syllables of the
Classical Latin sidus, nomen, stamen, and Lydia. In the last example, the short Classical quantity
of the initial a in alias produced the corresponding short sound in English, though this vowel
had been pronounced long under the old rules.128 A later variant of the Victorian system even
adopted a consistently hard pronunciation of the consonants g and c, as in Classical Latin.129
A trend also began to pronounce the Latin diphthongs ae and oe as [i:] (i.e., as the vowel
in ‘see’ or ‘keen’). Hence the names ‘Aeschylus’ and ‘Oedipus’, which had previously been
127 Allen (1989) 105. Copeman (1992) 282; Chapman (1939) 51; Sargeaunt (1898) 274–5 (rule 5). See also Sargeaunt and
Bradley (1920) 11–12 on vowel quantities pronounced in the Westminster Play. For a defence of this ‘Victorian’
system by a headmaster of Eton, as late as the 1930s, see Alington (1932) 2–4.
128 See Moore Smith (1930) 175; Sargeaunt (1898) 274–5.
129 Allen (1989) 106; Moore Smith (1930) 175.
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54 A N D R E W C O L L I N S
heard in British English as [ˈesk-ə-ləs] and [ˈed-ɪ-pəs], were now pronounced as the modern
[ˈi:sk-ə-ləs] and [ˈi:d-ɪ-pəs]. Furthermore, the Greek diphthong ‘eu’ (epsilon plus upsilon) in
the suffix -eus in Classical names was now pronounced as IPA [ju:], to mark its Classical
value, even though the traditional system had pronounced the vowels of this ending
separately (e.g., Orpheus was now heard as [ˈɔ:-fju:s] alongside the older [ˈɔ:-fi-əs]).
Curiously, both of these reforms survived to be applied to the pronunciation of Classical
proper names in modern RP, but the general ‘Victorian’ system itself was ephemeral and,
indeed, is largely forgotten today.
But the new reforms, inspired partly as they were by the criticisms of philologists –
though they were an attempt to deal with the major failing of the English method, its
tendency to ignore Classical quantities – quickly threw the old system into great
confusion.130 The main consequence was that many variant pronunciations arose. Hence
we can understand that the sheer chaos into which the venerable English system had
degenerated by c. 1900 made it an easy target for advocates of the Classical pronunciation.131
Moreover, the renewed emphasis on pronouncing Classical vowel quantities with English
sounds – and the variants which resulted – left some rather confused about the original
English system and its rules, especially for proper names.132 Thus the scholar T. E. Page,
a schoolmaster, opposed the Reformed pronunciation of Latin, but thought that the
name ‘Silius’ should take the diphthong [aɪ] (as in ‘high’) in the initial syllable, i.e., with
pronunciation as [ˈsaɪ-li-əs], because the i was long in Latin.133 An anecdote, which
illustrates the same point, is told by Moore Smith,134 who was a student in the 1870s. He
recalled that
one master not famous for discipline, if a boy said ‘scĭlicet’ [ˈsɪl-ɪ-set], had a stock
joke, ‘Well you are a silly set’. This being known, the pronunciation ‘scĭlicet’ [ˈsɪl-ɪset] was always used and the joke that followed greeted with uproarious applause.
This story is explicable in the following way: the master was using the new ‘Victorian’
English pronunciation of Latin, which sought to mark certain Classical quantities with
English sounds. The pronunciation that the master wanted was [ˈsaɪ-li-set],135 in order to
130 Hempl (1898) 416. Cyril Bailey (1938) 13, writing about the years before the introduction of the Reformed system,
noted that, ‘in the “English” days, . . . every school and every schoolmaster had his own degree of attention to, or
disregard for, quantity.’ This was undoubtedly the result of the Victorian system, used from c. 1870 to c. 1920.
131 Westaway (1933) 139–43.
132 Hempl (1898) 412–18. That the reformed ‘Victorian’ system was not to be applied to Classical proper names was a
point made by Sargeaunt and Bradley (1920) 29. H. W. Fowler (1926), s.v. ‘False quantity’, in the first edition of
Modern English Usage, noted that ‘in determining the quality of a vowel sound in English Classical quantity is of no
value whatever; to flout usage and say Sōcrates [ˈsəʊ-krə-ti:z] is the merest pedantry’.
133 Rudd (1981) 13.
134 Moore Smith (1930) 175, n. 1.
135 The pronunciation [ˈsaɪ-li-set] is, curiously, still used today, it being a legacy of the ‘Victorian’ reforms. Other
examples of exceptional modern pronunciations of Latin words, owing to the influence of the ‘Victorian’
system, or its principle of pronouncing a Classical long vowel with an English sound, include codices [ˈkəʊ-diDownloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 88.99.165.207, on 17 Jun 2017 at 22:24:12, subject to the Cambridge
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T H E E N G L I S H P R O N U N C I A T I O N O F L A T I N 55
mark the long i in the initial syllable of Classical Latin scilicet. The student gave, either
intentionally or not, the long-standing older English pronunciation [ˈsɪl-i-set],136 and was
rebuked with the master’s joke. The schoolmaster T. E. Page, as we saw, had used the
principles of the same Victorian system in his reasoning, when he demanded [ˈsaɪ-li-əs]
for normal English [ˈsɪl-i-əs].
VII. Conclusion
The English system of pronouncing Latin has a long history and its legacy is pervasive. We
have seen above how the system broke down in the late nineteenth century, owing to
increasing recognition of its limitations, and the confusion caused by competing systems.
The transitional period in which Victorians attempted to reform their English system to
mark Latin quantities without rejecting the sounds of the English language has been
neglected in modern scholarship. This paper has shed new light on that era and how the
Reformed pronunciation of Latin triumphed by the 1920s.
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