The Roman Pronunciation of Latin - Why we use it and how to use it

Frances Ellen Lord

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• Publié par: urki
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 20
• Langue: English

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Project Gutenberg's The Roman Pronunciation of Latin, by Frances E. Lord This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

Title: The Roman Pronunciation of Latin Author: Frances E. Lord Posting Date: July 8, 2010 [EBook #7528] Release Date: February, 2005 First Posted: May 14, 2003 Last Updated: May 24, 2007 Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROMAN PRONUNCIATION OF LATIN ***

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THE

   

   

   

R OMAN P RONUNCIATION   OF L ATIN

W HY   WE   USE   IT   AND H OW   TO   USE   IT

BY FRANCES E. LORD P ROFESSOR   OF L ATIN   IN W ELLESLEY C OLLEGE

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BOSTON, U.S.A. B L I 1894

C OPYRIGHT , 1894 B Y FRANCES E. LORD ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Contents (added by transcriber)

Introduction PART I. Why We Use It. Sounds of the Letters. Vowels. Diphthongs. Consonants. Quantity. Accent. Pitch. PART II. How To Use It. Elision. Quantity. Accent.

INTRODUCTION.

T HE argument brought against the ‘Roman pronunciation’ of Latin is twofold: the impossibility of perfect theoretical knowledge, and the difficulty of practical attainment. If to know the main features of the classic pronunciation of Latin were impossible, then our obvious course would be to refuse the attempt; to regard the language as in reality dead, and to make no pretence of reading it. This is in fact what the English scholars generally do. But if we may know substantially the sounds of the tongue in which Cicero spoke and Horace sung, shall we give up the delights of the melody and the rhythm and content ourselves with the thought form? Poetry especially does not exist apart from sound; sense alone will not constitute it, nor even sense and form without sound. But if it is true that the task of practical acquisition is, if not impossible, extremely difficult, ‘the work of a lifetime,’ as the objectors say, do the results justify the expenditure of time and labor? The position of the English-speaking peoples is not the same in this as that of Europeans. Europeans have not the same necessity to urge them to the ‘Roman pronunciation.’ Their own languages represent the Latin more or less adequately, in vowel sounds, in accent, and even, to some extent, in quantity; so that with them, all is not lost if they translate the sounds into their own ton ues; while with us, nothin is left—sound, accent, uantit , all is one;

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THE ROMAN PRONUNCIATION OF LATIN.

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PART I. WHY WE USE IT.

I N of our knowledge of the pronunciation of Latingeneral, the greater part comes from the Latin grammarians, whose authority varies greatly in value; or through incidental statements and expressions of the classic writers themselves; or from monumental inscriptions. Of these three, the first is inferior to the other two in quality, but they in turn are comparatively meagre in quantity. In the first place, we know (a most important piece of knowledge) that, as a rule, Latin was pronounced as written. This is evident from the fact, among others, that the same exce tions recur, and are mentioned over and over a ain, in the

orudec,do  rvene suggested, in E             enonf  oesthise ep r

 she e t uc g;inndouaht dna iuQ fi tian ntilacitor Teptlsus ro da w  icog palpleotoe v ko tsaniapot s make the writin gxecalt yerrpdo feihc eerhT ”.ylt ss ere arstoac f eaL ohtlat neit, anuagelangtin   yltmorfffidnere Lir , vyceCi oropsko etieha sl odifferen so far  mit c al nued  onawe w if  layould unorp nanoitaicninndtarsom Rofg  umts ebk onnww ti d each of these  o eeec fiatr,ytnsoh  gmed oogrde t.ccen3) A ty; ( nait )uQ ;) 2( nast

SOUNDS OF THE LETTERS.

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 the letounds of er ( : )1S  T . ehesa  co, onnsthphgsonslewid ,sretov(  rous. Theen numeevt eha new  eah e thseca bven ee oitpb sn dah  ecxe . Heghero hiis nehs fot ka ss ep inQuf  otyrihout  mohw naht—nailit m da efoc moapartively, and confmargiram,snadna ha tsot uc mish  ewm hc , eusyab woulre, t had no ,yldesse fingisnipot anicSu. tsin               lyalin fhe, nsiatam eht pu smus ollohe fin tter actninifs giiwgn  id. vb. rdwo [ I s: ] .13 dnI   .ii ,03 tem suumicium aucisui tng armmta irua tebxe tse slie erigumarerttso B ?s no tfretua ing  cit of somesohtdi eysoiarcnessihi w acheapp rnot ehp gaseo f all the grammar  aesirilp euneai inguereo ac mod dure euqouq mamisislt areceerexd  is.t nA d itmap soac scienitionem  juc ilsu .7 . nA ] ib. iv.  yssa Id : [ mmar gra: [ Qu iansteeibultt eh sfo orriteInt luvea   .I .tni  ] .6 .vi ntibus apparebitasrc iuhuj sdaue itil, asaequon n lum r atmure tbus essoProfnro r Mu “ : eW assy i  ns ee cof  oeeestnecrr iht nO .s  tniop s nce the languagew ti h g a oo dedrg e thamgrrimas,anael t nrrp ouonoitgng , te ooskybb  rom es f rul the  ,egaugnal nailay mae ont ha tsohcracaettsli l af the Itristic o id drutctnebouq  isThs  i sui s.mu pxe di e ed eremirbutienegquta is,mur sotitnl deadet vces  depelutc tu  otsunaidov t ususit lratem,ru.tH cie in mse tco, quomodo sonadijue quidqum dunebircs cis tireubtindo ouetuconsou disq  )ine ogtenohe t Et. (go mumebedp erirulhoc vale bus; namih smoinreopan t m he tins.hi h I eva ehtvnocitcion that in theirb se d t ya shplilo stmoalf  wryve edna ;droomla ni  ery  st ev we caseda ylaerwot ofll w ;lnk e dluleps abll ole  tow sy he htyep al nhwci haccent oced the  eW“ :niaga dnA ”.c hoy tlacexw no kuQnio  recor wiCr coid oan dtili ,sa qeou,s eauc;s era, cura; aiquo qmuc ,eu.ctete ,ue qumice,quui q etams t sy lhcitac pellof smeaning  c :noitaoc ,ariof  ogeanciunonpr en beforpread opgnauegs  fot eh alha ce nge uratthef ds lesu ena , us ICorpthe  of ulem tovifsrht e, rewet  ias, apm a .nitaL .rcsn