This appears the proper place for a rapid survey of the
pronunciation[1] of the Latin language, as spoken in its best days.
37. CONSONANTS.--(i.) _Back palatal._ Breathed plosive _c_, pronounced
always as _k_ (except that in some early inscriptions--probably none
much later, if at all later, than 300 B.C.--the character is used also
for _g_) until about the 7th century after Christ. _K_ went out of use
at an early period, except in a few old abbreviations for words in
which it had stood before _a_, e.g., _kal._ for _kalendae_. _Q_,
always followed by the consonantal _u_, except in a few old
inscriptions, in which it is used for _c_ before the vowel _u_, e.g.
_pequnia_. _X_, an abbreviation for _cs_; _xs_ is, however, sometimes
found. Voiced plosive _g_, pronounced as in English _gone_, but never
as in English _gem_ before about the 6th century after Christ.
Aspirate _h_, the rough breathing as in English.
(ii.) _Palatal._--The consonantal _i_, like the English _y_; it is
only in late inscriptions that we find, in spellings like _Zanuario_,
_Giove_, any definite indication of a pronunciation like the English
_j_. The precise date of the change is difficult to determine (see
Lindsay's _Latin Lang._ p. 49), especially as we may, in isolated
cases, have before us merely a dialectic variation; see PAELIGNI.
(iii.) _Lingual._--_r_ as in English, but probably produced more with
the point of the tongue. _l_ similarly more dental than in English.
_s_ always breathed (as Eng. _ce_ in _ice_). _z_, which is only found
in the transcription of Greek words in and after the time of Cicero,
as _dz_ or _zz_.
(iv.) _Dental._--Breathed, _t_ as in English. Voiced, _d_ as in
English; but by the end of the 4th century _di_ before a vowel was
pronounced like our j (cf. _diurnal_ and _journal_). Nasal, _n_ as in
English; but also (like the English _n_) a guttural nasal (_ng_)
before a guttural. Apparently it was very lightly pronounced, and
easily fell away before _s_.
(v.) _Labial._--Breathed, _p_ as in English. Voiced, _b_ as in
English; but occasionally in inscriptions of the later empire _v_ is
written for _b_, showing that in some cases _b_ had already acquired
the fricative sound of the contemporary [beta] (see § 24, iii.). _b_
before a sharp _s_ was pronounced _p_, e.g. in _urbs_. Nasal, _m_ as
in English, but very slightly pronounced at the end of a word.
Spirant, _v_ like the _ou_ in French _oui_, but later approximating to
the _w_ heard in some parts of Germany, Ed. Sievers, _Grundzüge d.
Phonetik_, ed. 4, p. 117, i.e. a labial _v_, not (like the English
_v_) a labio-dental _v_.
(vi.) _Labio-dental._--Breathed fricative, _f_ as in English.
38. VOWELS.--_a_, _u_, _i_, as the English _ah_, oo, _ee_; _o_, a
sound coming nearer to Eng. _aw_ than to Eng. _o_; _e_ a close Italian
_e_, nearly as the _a_ of Eng. _mate_, _ée_ of Fr. _passée_. The short
sound of the vowels was not always identical in quality with the long
sound. _a_ was pronounced as in the French _chatte_, _u_ nearly as in
Eng. _pull_, _i_ nearly as in _pit_, _o_ as in _dot_, _e_ nearly as in
_pet_. The diphthongs were produced by pronouncing in rapid succession
the vowels of which they were composed, according to the above scheme.
This gives, _au_ somewhat broader than _ou_ in house; _eu_ like _ow_
in the "Yankee" pronunciation of _town_; _ae_ like the vowel in _hat_
lengthened, with perhaps somewhat more approximation to the _i_ in
_wine_; _oe_, a diphthongal sound approximating to Eng. _oi_; _ui_, as
the French _oui_.
To this it should be added that the Classical Association, acting on
the advice of a committee of Latin scholars, has recommended for the
diphthongs _ae_ and _oe_ the pronunciation of English _i_ (really
_ai_) in _wine_ and _oi_ in _boil_, sounds which they undoubtedly had
in the time of Plautus and probably much later, and which for
practical use in teaching have been proved far the best.