Chapter IV: Sounds of the Letters

_1. A: ā had the sound of _a_ in English "far"; ă had the sound of _a_ in English "trespass."_

There is no disagreement of opinion regarding the proper pronunciation of Latin _a_. All the modern languages derived from the Latin practically agree in the sounds which they give to this character. Furthermore, its pronunciation is described for us by Terentianus Maurus (p. 328 in the edition by Keil); by Marius Victorinus (p. 32 in the edition of the same editor); and also by Martianus Capella (III. 261).

[NOTE.--It must be remembered in the pronunciation of the Latin vowels that the short vowel does not differ in _quality_ from the corresponding long one, but only in _quantity_, i.e. it occupied less time in pronouncing. This is an important distinction between Latin and English.]

_2. B: had in general the sound of English _b_; but before _s_ or _t_, the sound of _p_._

(_a_) The ordinary sound of Latin _b_ is described for us by Martianus Capella (III. 261); and by Marius Victorinus (p. 32 Keil).

(_b_) That it was sounded like _p_ when it stood before _s_ we know because very often in inscriptions it is so written, e.g. _pleps_ for _plebs_; Araps for Arabs; _urps_ for _urbs_. In certain verbs this usage has modified the common orthography, e.g. _scripsi_ for _scribsi_ from _scribo_; and _opseguor_ for _obsequor_. And so before _t_, as we learn both by the spelling of certain words (_optulit_, _scriptum_); and from the statement of Quintilian (I. 7. 7): "When I pronounce the word _obtinuit_, our rule of writing requires that the second letter should be _b_: but the ear catches the sound of _p_."

_3. C: always had the sound of English _k_._

The facts upon which this statement is founded are as follows:

(_a_) The pronunciation of this letter is so described for us by Martianus Capella (III. 261) as to prove it a hard palatal.

(_b_) _C_ took the place of an original _k_ in the early alphabet as previously stated; and in succeeding ages at times _c_ reappears in inscriptions indifferently before the various vowels. Thus we have the form _Caelius_ alternating with _Kaelius_, _Cerus_ with _Kerus_, and _decembres_ with _dekembres_,--showing that _c_ and _k_ were identical in sound. Quintilian (I. 7. 10) says: "As regards _k_, I think it should not be used in any words...This remark I have not failed to make, for the reason that there are some who think _k_ necessary when _a_ follows; though _there is the letter C, which has the same power before all vowels_."

(_c_) In the Greek transliteration of Latin names, Latin _c_ is always represented by _k_; and in Latin transliteration of Greek names, _k_ is always represented by Latin _c_. And we know that Greek _k_ was never assibilated before any vowel. Suidas calls the C on the Roman senators' shoes, "the Roman kappa."

(_d_) Words taken into Gothic and Old High German from the Latin at an early period invariably represent Latin _c_ by _k_; thus, Latin _carcer_ gives the Gothic _karkara_ and the German _Kerker_; Latin _Caesar_ gives the German _Kaiser_; Latin _lucerna_ gives the Gothic _lukarn_; the Latin _cellarium_ gives the German _Keller_; the Latin _cerasus_ gives the German _Kirsche_. Also in late Hebrew, Latin _c_ is regularly represented in transliteration by the hard consonant _kôph_.

[Advocates of the English system claim that Latin _c_ had the sound of _s_ before _e_ or _i_ because every modern language derived from the Latin has in some way modified _c_ when thus used. It is true that modern languages have so modified it; but, as already noted, the modern languages are the children not of the classical Latin spoken in the days of Cicero, but of the provincial Latin spoken five or six centuries later. There is no doubt that at this late period, Latin _c_ had become modified before _e_ or _i_ so as to be equivalent to _s_ or _z_. Latin words received into German at this time represent _c_ before _e_ or _i_ by _z_. But had this modification been a part of the usage of the classical language, it would have been noticed by the grammarians, who discuss each letter with great minuteness. Now no grammarian ever mentions more than one sound for Latin _c_. Again, if Latin _c_ had ever had the sound of _s_, surely some of the Greeks, ignorant of Latin and spelling by ear, would at least occasionally have represented Latin _c_ by _σ_,--a thing which none of them has ever done. It is probable that the modification of _c_ which is noticed in the modern languages was a characteristic of the Umbrian and Oscan dialects and so prevailed to some extent in the provinces, but there is absolutely not the slightest evidence to show that it formed a part of the pronunciation of cultivated men at Rome.]

_4. D: had regularly the sound of English _d_; but at the end of words nearly that of _t_._

(_a_) The position of the vocal organs in uttering this letter is described by Terentianus Maurus (p. 331 Keil); Marius Victorinus (p. 33); and Martianus Capella (III. 261).

(_b_) That final _d_ was sounded like _t_ is clear from the positive statements of Quintilian and from the fact that in inscriptions, as well as in the best manuscripts of Plautus and Vergil, we find almost indifferently _ad_ and _at_, _apud_ and _aput_, _haud_ and _haut_, _quid_ and _quit_, as well as _adque_ and _atque_ and many others.

[At about the fourth century A.D., _di_ before a vowel began to be pronounced somewhat like the French _j_, just as in Aeolic Greek we find _ζά_ for _διά_. Hence in the modern languages _g_ and _j_ arise out of Latin _di_. Compare Latin _diurnus_ with the Italian _giorno_ and the French _jour_.]

_5. E: _ē_ had the sound of English _e_ in "they" or of the French _ê_; _ĕ_ had the sound of English _e_ in "net"._

(_a_) The position of the vocal organs in pronouncing _e_ is described by Terentianus Maurus (p. 329 Keil); Marius Victorinus (p. 32); and Martianus Capella (III. 261). It is regularly represented in Greek transliterations by _ε_ when short, and by _η_ when long.

(_b_) The sound of the letter _e_ seems to have varied more than was the case with other vowels. The later grammarians give to _ē_ a sound approximating to the sound of _i_. (Cf. Donatus in Servius p. 421, Keil [1]). And confusion of _ĕ_ and _ĭ_ in words like _timidus_, _navibos_ (written _timedus_, _navebos_) is to be seen in early Latin. But too much importance has been given to this. The fact is that one short unaccented vowel is very likely to be mistaken, for another, especially by the uneducated and by careless speakers. The hearer cannot detect the difference, and in fact there is none, practically. The extremely accurate and discriminating elocution of which we hear was in all probability confined to the highly cultivated classes.

_6. F: had practically the sound of English _f_._

Latin _f_ is not like the Greek _φ_, which was a double sound rather than a single one, namely _p_ + _h_ with each element distinctly audible, as in English _top-heavy_, _uphill_. Quintilian says: "The Greeks are accustomed to aspirate; whence Cicero in his oration for Fundanius ridicules a witness who could not sound the first letter of that name." [2] The descriptions given by Priscian and Terentianus Maurus of the position of the lips and teeth in pronouncing _f_ show that it was formed precisely as our _f_, i.e. with the lower lip against the upper teeth.

_7. G: _g_ always had the hard sound of English _g_ in "get"._

(_a_) "When _g_ comes before an _s_ it produces _x_, thus showing that it is a guttural: e.g. _lex_ = _leg_ + _s_; and _rex_ = _reg_ + _s_.

(_b_) No Roman grammarian mentions more than one sound as belonging to _g_, although they treat of the letters minutely.

(_c_) All the vowels readily interchange after _g_ in the same root, which would hardly be the case if _g_ had had more than one sound. Thus we have _maligenus_ and _malignus_; _lego_, _legis_, _legit_; _gigeno_ and _gigno_; _tegimen_ and _tegmen_.

(_d_) Latin _g_ is invariably represented by Greek _γ_, and the Greek _γ_ is invariably represented by Latin _g_. St. Augustine remarks: "When I say _lege_, a Greek understands one thing and a Roman another in these two syllables." This shows that Latin _lege_ and Greek _λέγε_ had precisely the same sound.

[About the fifth century A.D., _g_ began to have the soft sound before _e_ and _i_ that is now found in the modern languages. The first change from the old hard sound was to a _y_ sound like that given to _g_ by those who speak the _Berliner Dialekt_ in Germany to-day, and said to be found also in Lowland Scotch. Such variations as _magestas_ for _maiestas_, and in Greek _βειέντι_ for _viginti_, occur.]

_8. H: had the sound of English _h_._

(_a_) H is described as a simple breathing by Marius Victorinus, p. 34 (Keil); Terentianus Maurus, p. 331; and Martianus Capella, III. 261. It is represented in Greek by the rough breathing, and in turn it represents that breathing.

(_b_) There seems to have existed among the uneducated Romans that irregularity in the use of _h_ which marks the language of the English cockney to-day. Nigidius Figulus, the grammarian, said: "Your speech becomes boorish if you aspirate wrongly." Catullus in one of his epigrams ridicules the cockneyism of a person who said _chommoda_ for _commoda_, and _hinsidiae_ for _insidiae_. [3] In later Latin, the varying spelling shows the growing irregularity of usage. _H_ seems to have been omitted or inserted almost at pleasure; thus _hauctoritas_, _hii_, and _hinventio_, stand beside _inospita_, _omini_ (_homini_), and _abitat_ (_habitat_). The reason for this irregularity seems to have been the gradual weakening of the sound until _h_ became a silent letter, as it is in modern Spanish and Italian. [4]

_9. I consonant (J): had the sound of English _y_._

(_a_) That _i_ had a consonant sound as distinct from its vowel sound is clear from the statement of Priscian (I. p. 13, Keil). Before a vowel and not preceded by an accented syllable with final consonant, he says that _i_ "passes over to the force of a consonant." That it differs from _i_ the vowel, is also clear from the fact that in prosody it lengthens the preceding vowel.

(_b_) That it was not like English _j_ is clear from the fact that it readily passes into _i_, which proves the two sounds to have been closely akin; and in Greek transliterations it is always represented by _ι_. Thus _Julius_ = _Ιούλιος_.

(_c_) Nigidius Figulus cautioned his readers that the _i_ (_j_) in such words as _iam_, _iecur_, _iocus_ is not a vowel,--a caution that would have been absurdly unnecessary if _i_ had had any such sound as that of English _j_.

(_d_) The true sound of the letter is seen in the alternative spelling _Eanus_ for _Janus_ proposed by some of the ancients, who derived the name from _eo_, _ire_. About 300 A.D. the letter got the sound of _z_ or _gi_.

_10. I (vowel): _ī_ as in English "machine"; _ĭ_ as in English "din"._

(_a_) Martianus Capella says: "I is a breathing with the teeth nearly closed."

(_b_) It is represented in Greek by _ι_.

(_c_) All the derived modern languages give _i_ this sound.

[In the vulgar language and the _sermo rusticus_, _ī_ seems to have varied with _ĕ_ and to have been confused with it. So Augustus Caesar said _heri_ for _here_; and we find _sibe_ for _sibi_. Cf. Cic. de Orat. III. 12. 46.; Quint, I. 7.; Aulus Gellius, X. 24. Also a confusion appears between _ĭ_ and _ŭ_, as in the forms _optumus_ and _optimus_; _lubet_ and _libet_. But we are only concerned with the normal sound of the letter, which is that given above.]

_11. L: had the sound of English _l_._

It is always represented in Greek by _λ_. The position of the vocal organs in uttering it is described by Marius Victorinus, p. 34. Martianus Capella (III. 261) says: "L grows soft upon the tongue and palate."

[For _l_ as a corruption of _r_, see 17. _b_.]

_12. M: had the sound of English _m_, but was much weakened at the end of words._

The fact that _m_ was weakly sounded at the end of words is shown by the elision of a final _m_ before an initial vowel in poetry (synaloepha); by the fact that in the early inscriptions it is often omitted in writing; and by the positive statements of the Roman writers themselves. [5] Because at the end of a word before a following vowel it was practically a silent letter, Verrius Flaccus wished to represent it in that position by a different character, [Picture: alternate form of M].

Quintilian (XII. 10, 31) says: "We close many of our words with the letter _m_, which has a sound something like the lowing of an ox, and in which no Greek word terminates." Priscian remarks, "M sounds obscurely at the end of words."

_13. N: usually had the sound of the English _n_, "but before _c_, _q_, _g_, or _x_ the sound of the English _ng_ in "linger"._

This _n_ before a guttural, and technically known as a "guttural nasal," was called "_n adulterinum_;" so, according to Varro, the early Roman writers in such cases wrote it as a _g_; thus, _agceps_ for _anceps_; _agyulus_ for _angulus_; and so on, after the fashion of the Greeks.

_14. O: _ō_ practically had the sound of _o_ in English "note"; _ŏ_ like _o_ in English "not"._

The _ō_ is regularly represented in Greek by _ω_, and the _ŏ_ by Greek _ο_. Marius Victorinus (p. 33, Keil) says that _o_ is produced with the lips extended and the tongue quiescent in the middle of the mouth. Martianus Capella (III. 261) says: "O is produced by breathing through the mouth made round." The character O is, in fact, believed to have been originally a pictorial representation of a rounded mouth.

_15. P: always had the sound of English _p_._

The position of the vocal organs in uttering _p_ is described by Martianus Capella (III. 261). It is always represented in Greek by _π_.

_16. Q: is always followed by _u_, and had the sound of _qu_ in English "queen"._

(_a_) _Qu_ is represented in Greek by _κου_, _κυ_, or _κο_. Thus, _Quintus_ = _Κοίντος_; _Quintilius_ = _Κυιντίλιος_; _Quintilianus_ = _ Κουιντιλίανος_.

(_b_) Q represents the old Greek letter _koppa_ and is a sharp guttural mute. Colloquially _qu_ may have been carelessly sounded like _k_, or like _qu_ in modern French. A candidate for office whose father had been a cook, once approached Cicero and asked a bystander for his vote; whereupon Cicero, who was an inveterate punster, said: "Ego quoque tibi iure favebo," pronouncing _quoque_ "_koké_" so as to suggest _coque_, the vocative of _coquus_, a cook. (Quint, VI. 3. 47.)

_17. R: in general had the sound of the English _r _with a slight trill; i.e. that of the Italian _r_._

(_a_) Because of its snarling sound it is called by the satirist Persius "the dog's letter" (_littera canina_).

(_b_) The Romans seem not to have liked a too frequent repetition of this letter, for it is omitted often when a following syllable contains it; as _pejero_ for _perjero_; and grammarians have noticed that the genitive plural of the future participle is of rare occurrence. In the colloquial and provincial Latin, _r_ is often dulled into _l_. Thus on one of the walls at Pompeii a part of the first line of the Aeneid was found written, "ALMA VILVMQVE CANO TLO"--a rendering which might have been produced by a modern Chinese. Cf. the playful use of _Hillus_ for _Hirrus_ in one of Cicero's letters (ad Fam. ii. 10. 1.)

_18. S: had regularly the sound of the English initial _s_ sharp as in "sip"; at the end of words it was barely audible._

(_a_) That s was a sharp hiss is clear from the fact that it maintains its place before the sharp consonants, as in _sto_, _spes_, _squama_, _scelus_; and does _not_ maintain its place before flat consonants, as in _cano_ (_casno_), _iudex_ (_iusdex_), _dilabor_ (_dislabor_), _diripio_ (_disripio_), _trado_ (_transdo_), _viden_ (_videsne_); while it regularly changes a preceding flat consonant to a sharp, as _scripsi_ (_scribsi_), and _rexi_ (_regsi_).

(_b_) That it was very lightly sounded at the end of words is clear from the fact that until after Cicero's time it was neglected in scanning when the next word began with a consonant; that in the early inscriptions it is frequently omitted in writing, as _Cornelio_ for _Cornelios_; and that in a great number of words it fell away altogether at all periods of the language; as in _ipse_ for _ipsus_, _pote_ for _potis_, _vigil_ for _vigilis_, _puer_ for _puerus_; and compare such forms as _poeta_, _nauta_ and _luxuria_ with _ποιητής_, _ναύτης_, _luxuries_: and so in modern Italian.

[The neglect of final _s_ in scanning is extremely frequent. Cf. such a line as this hexameter from Ennius, where the _s_ is suppressed three times:

"Tum laterali(s) dolor certissimu(s) nuntiu(s) mortis."]

_19. T: had the sound of English _t_, always hard._

(_a_) The English system of pronouncing Latin gives to _ti_ the sound of _sh_ before a vowel, as in the words _militia_, _oratio_. An assibilation was undoubtedly a characteristic of the Umbrian and Oscan dialects at an early period, and fastened itself upon the Latin after the sixth century A.D.; for Isidores states that _tia_ should be sounded _zia_: and in Greek transliterations of the sixth century we find such forms as δωναζιόνεμ for donationem, and _ἄκτζιο_ for actio. Pompeius says that whensoever a vowel follows _ti_ or _di_, the _ti_ or _di_ becomes sibilant. So again on Christian epitaphs we find _Constantso_ for _Constantio_, etc. But in the classical period of the language, there is no reason for thinking that this assibilation existed, for the Greek transliterations of that period invariably denote Latin _ti_ by τι, as _Οὐαλεντία_ for _Valentia_. It is this classical tradition which Servius retains, when he lays it down as a rule that in all cases _di_ and _ti_ are to be pronounced exactly as written. [7]

(_b_) At the end of a word the letter _t_ seems to have been less strongly sounded, for we find such forms as _ama_, _apu_, for _amat_, _aput_. This was a characteristic of the Umbrian and Volscian and affects the forms of the modern Italian.

_20. V vowel (U): _ū_ sounded like _oo_ in English "fool"; _ŭ_ like _u_ in English "full"._

(_a_) Latin _u_ is frequently represented in Greek by _ου_ whether it be long or short; thus, _Ποστούμιος_ = _Postŭmius_; _Βελλούτου_ = _Bellūti_.

(_b_) Plautus represents the hoot of an owl by _tutu_ in the _Menaechmi_, 654; and in the _Carm. Philom._ 41, the onomatopoetic verb _tutubo_ is used of the same bird. Cf. _cuculo_, "to cry cuckoo" (_Carm. Philom_. 35).

(_c_) In early Latin _ū_ is sometimes written _ou_; thus, _ious_, _ioudex_, _douco_, for _ius_, _iudex_, _duco_.

_21. V (consonant): had the sound of English _w_._

That the character _V_ had both a consonantal and a vowel sound is clear from the unanimous statements of the Roman grammarians, who say that frequently when before a vowel it becomes consonantal. [8] Also as stated above in Chap. III., the Emperor Claudius invented a new character to represent the consonantal sound of _v_ as distinguished from the vowel sound.

That the consonant sound of _v_ was practically that of the English _w_ may be inferred from the following facts:

(_a_) The consonant sound and the vowel sound were closely akin. This is seen by the fact that the consonant _v_ often melts into vowel _v_ and is so scanned, as in such words as _silva_, [9] (scanned _silüa_), and its absorption in such words as _fautor_ for _favitor_, _cautum_ for _cavitum_. (See Plaut. _Menaechmi_, 155). Cicero says that when Marcus Crassus was at Brundisium, about to cross over to Greece, a vendor of figs began crying out "_Cauneas!_" (the name of a kind of figs.) [10] This, Cicero says, was taken as an omen; for it sounded like "_Cave ne eas_," which must therefore have been pronounced _Cau' n' eas_. Conversely, in poetry, the vowel _v_ sometimes strengthens into consonant _v_. Thus in Plautus, Lucretius, and even in Vergil and Statius, this happens in such words as _puella_, _suo_, _genua_, _larua_, and _tenuis_. Finally, the fact that both sounds of _v_ are represented by the same character, is evidence that those sounds must have been nearly alike. But the consonant sound that is nearest to the vowel sound of _u_, is the sound of the English _w_. (Cf. Consent, p. 395 K).

(_b_) Nigidius Figulus [11] says that when we pronounce the word _vos_ we gradually thrust out the ends of our lips. This remark describes perfectly the position of the mouth in pronouncing _vos_ if we assume that v had the sound of English _w_.

(_c_) The Greek writers in transliterating Latin names generally represent consonantal _v_ by _ου_; thus, _Οὐαλήριος_ for _Valerius_; _Οὐόλσκι_ for _Volsci_; _Ιουουενάλια_ for _Iuvenalia_; _Οὐᾶρος_ for Varus. Sometimes, to be sure, _v_ is represented by _β_, but this is chiefly in Plutarch, who is a Boeotian and confesses his own ignorance of Latin [12]; or else it is done in proper names in which by using _β_ the word becomes in appearance more like a Greek one; that is, its form becomes Hellenized: as for instance, _Λίβιος_, _Φούλβιος_ etc., for _Livius_ and _Fulvius_,--the termination –βιος being common in Greek.

_22. X: had the sound of _x_ in English._

The grammarians say that the character a_x_is a monogram representing _cs_ or _gs_. Quintilian remarks that _x_ is not an indispensable letter in Latin, implying that _cs_ and _gs_ could take its place. In early Latin, _cs_ was often written for _x_. (Max. Victor, p. 1945 P).

_23. Y: had the sound of French _u_ or German _ü_._

See III, supra.

_24. Z: had the sound of English _z_ and modern Greek _ζ_._ See p. 12.

Z was a letter used by the Umbrians and Oscans, but it appears first in ordinary Latin about Cicero's time in the transliteration of Greek words. Before this time, ζ had been imperfectly represented in the Latin by _s_ or _ss_, as _sona_ for _ζώνη_, and _badisso_ for _βαδίζω_. It was, in classical times, always regarded by the Romans as a Greek letter. Marius Victorinus remarks: "If _z_ were essential to the Latin language, we should represent it by _ds_."

[1] Seelmann, _Die Aussprache des Latein_, p. 175 sqq.

[2] Quint. I. 4, 14.

[3] Carm. LXXXIV.

'_Chommoda_' dicebat, si quando '_commoda_' vellet
Dicere et '_insidias_' Arrius '_hinsidias_'.
Et tum mirifice sperabat se esse locutum,
Cum, quantum poterat, dixerat '_hinsidias_'.
* * * * * *
Hoc misso in Syriam, requierant omnibus aures,
Audibant eadem haec leniter et leviter.
Nec sibi postilla metuebant talia verba;
Cum subito adfertur nuntius horribilis:
Ionios fluctus, postquam illuc Arrius isset,
Iam non '_Ionios_' esse sed '_Hionios_'!

Which Martin has very cleverly translated:

"Whenever Arrius wished to name
'Commodious,' out 'chommodious' came:
And when of his intrigues he blabbed,
With his 'hintrigues' our ears he stabbed;
And thought moreover, he displayed
A rare refinement when he made
His h's thus at random fall
With emphasis most guttural.
When suddenly came news one day
Which smote the city with dismay,
That the Ionian seas a change
Had undergone, most sad and strange;
For since by Arrius crossed, the wild
'Hionian Hocean' they were styled!"

[4] Gellius (II. 3) gives a number of words formerly written with _h_ but in his time no longer aspirated. Between two vowels, _h_ was silent. Hence _nil_ for _nihil_, etc.

[5] Quint, ix. 4, 40; Prise. 1, p. 29 (Keil).

[6] Velius Lougus, p. 80 (Keil).

[7] Don. in Serv. p. 445.

[8] Cf. for instance Quint. 1, 7, 26; Marius Victorinus, p. 13 (Keil); Velius Longus, pp. 50, 58, 67 (Keil); Consentius, p. 395 (Keil). The position of the vocal organs in pronouncing _v_ is described by Terentianus Maurus, p. 319 (Keil); Marius Victorinus, p. 33 (Keil); and Martianus Capella, III. 261.

[9] Cf. Horace, Odes, I. 23, 4.

[10] _De Div._ II. 40. 84.

[11] Quoted by Gellius, X. 44.

[12] The statistics on this point will be found in the introduction to Roby's Latin Grammar, pp. XXXVII-XLI. Plutarch, who oftenest uses _β_ for _v_, expressly states in his life of Demosthenes his own deficiency as a Latin scholar, and this fact impairs the value of his testimony in general except as corroborating better witnesses. Prof. F. D. Allen (_Class. Review_, Feb. 1891) regards the use of _β_ as characteristic only of the later Greeks.