Lexington weekly intelligencer., 1878-02-23
THE PRONUNCIATION OF LATIN.

professor at the State University. We
qualified our praise by a protest against
his method OF pronunciation. Though
there are but few of our readers who
are interested in this question. Yet for
the sake of the intelligent few, we now
propose to briefly give the reasons tor
this protest.
There are three methods. more or less
popular. for the pronunciation OF the
Latin. The first is known As the Eng
lish. 1t is SO called because it is un-
known or unpractised by any e1cep:
those who speak the English language
No other people on the face OF the earth
So pronounce it. According TO this plan.
Latin words are spoken as though they
were English. French. German, Italian.
Spanish. Hebrew are taught in our
colleges Who thinks of directing his
pupils II pronounce them rs though
they were English ? Such an Idea
would be secuted. Is there any more
propriety in dealing so with the Latin ?
1t is answered perhaps. that we know
what the proper pronunciation OF those
other languages is; that we DO not
know the true sounds Of the Latin
letters. In reply we say. whether we
know the true sounds OF the Latin letters
1r not. we do know that they were
not sounded as our similar English
letters are: In this, q fraction OF Eng
llsh students set themselves against the
whole learned world. We have NO
means OF ascertainiug the exact pro-
portion. but it IS our belief that q
decided majority of the best English
Latinists of this country and Great
Britain discard this manifestly false
system Or. Fisher is tbe only good
Latin scholar, personally known to US,
who adopts the English method.
The second method is commonly
called the continental, because it is
alleged 10 be the system OF the Lstinists
otthe European continent. This differs
from the English in the pronunciation
of the vOwels Il, e, i, and u, and of the
diphthongs ae. oe, au. eu. and ei. Ac-
cerding to this plan, long is like in
father; long as 1t is in prey long as il
is in machine; long as it is in full.
Ae and oe are ike in fate; au as ou in
Our, ell ike eu in feud. and eli as in
ice. Our long sound OF is not known
in the system. and our long sound of
Is seen only in those very few word:
which have the diphthong ei. The shor'
sounds of the vowels and the vowel {
are called as in our language. 1t i:
urged in favor of this system. that it j,
the pronunciation given these letters By
al nations who use the Phenecian al
phabet in any oil its forms, with til,
single exception Of the English. ",
alone call 4, ay; G. e; and i, i. A.
other nations call 4, ah; e, ay; and i, e
The ItalI.ns. Spanish and French ar,
the lineal descendants OF those VIII,
originally spoke the Latin ss theI
vernacu!ar. All of these pronounc,
their own language and the Latin &C
cOrding to the system now given
These facts are to US conclusive proof
that, if we do not know exactly how
Cicero pronounced his silver sentences
We may be assured that the Rsmal
Fatrician OF to-day approximates it NOR
nearly than does the Norman, Anglo
Saxon Brton of northwestern Europe
The English mode of calling the vowel
Is as truly an island detached from tn
rest of Europe as is the soil OF Grea
Britain itself.
The third method is characterised a
the Roman. According to it a is alway
French a. broad; is always French c
with the acute accent, like English lon
4; is always English long e;
always long or open; is like 90 i
room. Diphthongs are pronounced az
cording to the separate sounds OF tn
vowels OF which they are composed
This method is especially peculiar in i,
manner Of pronouncing the consonant
c,g. j, :, and t. C and E are alway
hard, even before e, i. and Y. For e,
ample. Cicero is called heharo. j
always like y; for example, jam
yahm. 5 is always sibilant. I la
only Its regular dental sound. and
never sottcned into sh; for instance
ratio is not raShio but rahteo.
In this country this method is cor
nected with the name of Prof Richard
son. But there is some confusion as (
which Prof. Richardson. The Augu:
number of the University Monthly fc
1872 has an article taken from the y;
tional teacher, in which 1t is stated tn;
The Roman system W as revised In tn
country about twenty years ago, at III
University Of Rochester, by Prof. j. |
Richardson" The Christian Observ,
of the 9th inst. has letter from 4 co
respondent, in which the same hone
seems to be claimed for Prof. w. {
Richardson, now OF Central Uuiversit,
Richmond, Ky. Are they the san
man: The Christian Observer CORE
pondent gives a sketch of Prof w. {
Rs life. IN which no mention is made
any former connection with the Ur
versitv oil Rochester We shall send
copy OF this number of the paper
Prof, Richardson, OF Richmond. Ky, ar
here ask him to solve the difficulty.
Tie Roman system has been adoptt
by Harvard, Cornell, Michigan, Was
ington and Lee. and Central Uuiver:
ties and by Centre College, Ky. 1t
also doubtless used in other similar
stitutions. Prof. Max Muller, one
the most eminent OF English Latinist
favors it. Though taught the Con
mental, we give our preference to Il
Roman, which is now used in one
our Lexington SeminarieS.