Ch 1 · Lesson 29Latin · Chapter 1 · Lesson 29 · Pronunciation
The sounds of Latin
Classical v is w, c is always hard, ae is 'eye'. Watch both Latins side by side and pick your era.
Pick a sound, watch the mouth make it, then play the example words and copy them aloud. When a slider appears, drag it slowly and watch which part of the mouth moves - that moving part is the whole difference between the two sounds.
Classical vs Ecclesiastical (Church): what actually differs
Both are correct. Pick the one you are learning towards, be consistent, and know the other when you hear it.
c before ae/e/i
Classical: caelum/kae̯lum/ - always a hard k
Ecclesiastical (Church): caelum/tʃelum/ - 'chelum', as in Italian
the letter v
Classical: via/wia/ - v IS u: 'wee-a'
Ecclesiastical (Church): via/via/ - a modern v
g before e/i
Classical: genus/ɡenus/ - hard g
Ecclesiastical (Church): genus/dʒenus/ - 'jenus'
-ti- before a vowel
Classical: oratio/oratio/ - plain ti
Ecclesiastical (Church): oratio/oratsio/ - 'oh-RAH-tsee-oh', the sung-Mass sound
We have no Ecclesiastical (Church) voice yet, so only the Classical side plays: the Ecclesiastical (Church) side is described, not recorded. We will not play you a Classical clip and call it Ecclesiastical (Church).
Hear it, pick it
One of the two words plays - which did you hear? This is the single highest-value pronunciation exercise there is.
Ear check
0/6
Real words, one sound each: how is the highlighted part pronounced?
How do you pronounce the highlighted c in Classical Latin?
caelum
word pageLesson 29 of 42 in this chapter