Classical Latin Vowels, Diphthongs And Consonants

Front 1

ā

Back 1

ā as in father : dās, cāra

Front 2

a

Back 2

a as in Dinah: dat, casa

Front 3

ē

Back 3

ē as in they : mē, sēdēs

Front 4

e

Back 4

e as in pet: et, sed

Front 5

ī

Back 5

ī as in machine: hīc, sīca

Front 6

i

Back 6

i as in pin: hic, sicca

Front 7

ō

Back 7

ō as in clover: ōs, mōrēs

Front 8

o

Back 8

o as in orb, off: os, mora

Front 9

ū

Back 9

ū as in rude: tū, sūmō

Front 10

u

Back 10

u as in put: tum, sum

Front 11

ȳ or y

Back 11

ȳ as in (french) tu or (german) über

Front 12

ae

Back 12

as ai in aisle: cārae, saepe

Front 13

au

Back 13

au as ou in house: aut, laudō

Front 14

ei

Back 14

ei as ei in reign: deinde

Front 15

eu

Back 15

eu as Latin e + u, pronounced rapidly as a single syllable: seu.

Front 16

ui

Back 16

ui as in Latin u + i, spoken as a single syllable like Spanish muy, or like English gooey, pronounced quickly as a single syllable. This diphthong occurs only in: huius, cuius, huic, cui, hui.

Elsewhere the two letters are spoken separately as in: fuit, frūctuī

Front 17

bs or bt

Back 17

bs and bt were pronounced ps and pt: (urbs, obtineō); otherwise Latin b had the same sound as our English letter b : bibēbant.

Front 18

c

Back 18

Latin c (English c) was always hard as in can, never soft as in city: cum, cīvis, facilis.

Front 19

g

Back 19

g was always hard as in get, never soft as in gem: glōria, gerō. When it appeared before n, the letter g represented a nasalized ng sound as in hangnail: magnus.

Front 20

h

Back 20

h was a breathing sound, as in English, only less harshly pronounced: hic, haec.

Front 21

i (consonant)

Back 21

y as in yes when used before a vowel at the beginning of a word: iūstus

Between two vowels i served is a diphthong and a consonant like English y: reiectus ( = rei yectus) maior ( = mai yor), cuius ( = cui yus.)

Consonantal i turns into a j during medieval latin: maior = major, Iūlius = Julius.

Front 22

m

Back 22

m as in monet: with lips closed. M at the end of a word, following a vowel, was pronounced with the lips open, producing a nasalization of the preceding vowel: tum, etiam.

Front 23

q

Back 23

q, as in English, is always followed by consonantal u, the combination having the sound kw: quid, quoque.

Front 24

r

Back 24

r was trilled; Rōma, cūrāre.

Front 25

s

Back 25

s was always voiceless as in see, never voiced as in our word ease: sed, posuissēs, mīsistis.

Front 26

t

Back 26

t always had the sound of t as in tired, never of sh as in nation or ch as in mention: taciturnitās, nātiōnem, mentiōnem

Front 27

v

Back 27

v had the sound of our w: vīvō, vīnum.

Front 28

x

Back 28

x had the sound of ks as in axle, not of gz as in exert: mixtum, exerceō.

Front 29

ch

Back 29

ch represented Greek chi and had the sound of ckh in block head, not of ch in church: chorus, Archilochus.

Front 30

ph

Back 30

ph represented Greek phi and had the sound of ph in uphill, not of ph in our pronunciation of philosophy: philosophia.

Front 31

th

Back 31

th represented Greek theta and had the sound of th in hot house, not of th in thin or the: theatrum.

Front 32

double consonants

Back 32

pronounced double consonants as two separate consonants. The rr in the Latin word currant was pronounced as two separate r's, like the two r's in the cur ran; likewise the tt in admittent sounded like the two t's in admit ten.