37. The following English sounds come nearest to the Latin pronunciation
of the vowels:
38. LONG VOWELS. #ā# had the sound of _a_ in _father_; #ē# that of _a_
in _fate_ (but see 39); #ī# that of _i_ in _machine_; #ō# that of _o_ in
_tone_; #ū# that of _u_ in _rule_.
39. It must be noted, however, that all English long vowels, save _a_ as
in _father_, are more or less diphthongal, that is, they become
gradually closer (46); _a_ in _fate_ ends in a vanishing sound of _ee_
(not heard in the _ê_ of French _fête_), and _o_ in _no_ ends in the
sound of _oo_. Similarly the long _e_ sound in _he_ becomes closer and
ends in a sound similar to the _y_ in _year_. In Latin all long vowels
had one sustained sound.
40. SHORT VOWELS. #a# sounded approximately like the English _a_ in the
first syllable of _aha_; #e#, #i#, #o#, and #u# sounded like _e_ in
_step_, _i_ in _pit_, _o_ in _obey_, and _u_ in _pull_ respectively.
41. Latin short #a# did not differ, except in quantity, from long #ā#;
it never had the ‘flat’ sound of English _a_ in _pat_. In the case of
the other vowels, #i#, #e#, #o#, and #u#, the long vowels were closer
(46) than the short ones. This is the same difference which the English
shows in _keen_ (long and close) and _kin_ (short and open); _pool_
(long and close) and _pull_ (short and open). For this reason, open #i#
is sometimes represented by #e# in inscriptions: as, ANEMA for #anima#,
_soul_; and #vea# was the rustic pronunciation for #via#, _road_ (Varro,
_R. R._ 1, 2, 14).
42. #Y#, which was a sound borrowed from the Greek (17), sounded like
German _ü_. The sound, which is missing in English, is formed with the
tongue in position for _i_ (in _kin_) and the lips rounded as for _oo_
(in _moon_).