School pronunciation of Latin

The school pronunciation of Latin is today in the German school learned and spoken Latin . It is a compromise between the German pronunciation of Latin and the scientifically reconstructed Latin pronunciation . It is based on the recommendations of current school grammars and the state curricula and framework plans and tries to set up a manageable, practicable number of rules that offer teachers and students a certain degree of confidence in pronunciation.

There are still traditional, cultural and landscape-related differences in Germany, but these are increasingly leveling out. For example, in the past, in some federal states and also in Catholic areas, the c before the light vowels i, e and ae was consistently pronounced in Middle Latin as z, but today the classic pronunciation of c as k has established itself everywhere in Germany. The pronunciation can still differ from school to school, from teacher to teacher, as school grammars and curricula still leave room for divergent opinions and tastes. The following rules therefore represent the cross-section of school practice:

Basic rule of pronunciation

In general, the Latin and German pronunciation coincide. Vowels and consonants are clearly spoken separately ( ii = ii, appellare = ap-pel-lare).

Peculiarities of pronunciation

ae as ä: mae = mä made the sheep in Rome, insulae = insulä.
c and ch like k: Caesar = Käsar, Cicero = Kikero, chorus = Korus, schola = skola (in Middle Latin c before the light vowels e, i, ä like z: Cicero = Zizero, Caesar = Zaesar).
ei separated: de-inde , me-i , re-i .
eu separated: de-us , me-us . In interjections and Greek words as in German: heu , heuretes .
partly: g in gn as ng in "angel": mag-nus = mang-nus, ig-notus = ing-notus.
i in the initial and between vowels like j: iam = jam, Iulia = Julia, maior = major, Pompeius = Pompejus, eius = ejus.
ie separated: di-es .
oe like ö: poena = pöna, foedus = födus.
ti without the sibilant z (as in Middle Latin : na-zi-o): natio = na-ti-o, ratio = ra-ti-o, but: etiam = et-jam (compound there).
u to ng, q, s like w: lingua = lingwa, equus = eqwus, suadeo = swadeo.
ui separated: mo-nu-i .
Summary of the special features with audio examples: mae, Caesar, Cicero, chorus, schola, deinde, mei, rei, deus, meus, magnus, ignotus, iam, Iulia, maior, Pompeius, eius, dies, poena, natio, ratio, etiam, lingua, equus, suadeo, monui .

Depending on the aesthetic sensibility of the teacher (and partly the pupil), there may be different degrees of Middle Latin sprinkles, for example: c Middle Latin in proper names, “ecce” and “cis”, but otherwise k (ie “kito” and above all “skelus”) ), ti on the other hand as zi.

Main rules of emphasis

These are undisputedly defined and must be carefully observed when reading. Every word has more than one syllable, gets a Accent e nt (here indicated by the underlined e ). Two-syllable words are always stressed on the first syllable. Uncertainty can only arise with words with three or more syllables , but this can easily be eliminated by observing the stress rule ( Paenultimagesetz ). The stress is determined by the quantity (length or shortness) of the penultimate syllable (paenultima syllaba). With this clue, the accentuation of any Latin word can be determined immediately. There are five rules for this:

The following applies to all words:

1. Never stress the last syllable!

Two-syllable words are always stressed on the first syllable: mū -rus , co -lor .

The following applies to words with three and more syllables:

2. Emphasize the penultimate syllable if it is long ( a- mī -cus , fe- nes -tra )!
3. Emphasize the third to last syllable if the penultimate syllable is short ( fa- mi -li-a , Ger- mā -ni-a , Vin- do -bo-na ).

The quantity, i.e. H. the length of the penultimate syllable is precisely defined and results as follows:

4. A syllable is long if its vowel is naturally long, indicated in the lexicon by the macron = length sign ( nō-mi-nā-re , the vowel ā in the penultimate syllable nā is long, so read: nō-mi - nā -re).

5. A syllable is long by position ; that is, if their vowel is followed by two consonants ( lī-ber-tās , the e is followed by the two consonants rt, read: lī- ber -tās).

6. An open syllable is short by position ( mo-ne-ō , the e is followed by a vowel, so speak: mo -ne-ō).

Summarized example: Lin -gu a laser ti -na dis ci -pu-lum de- lec tat - here we have position soon, natural length and -kürze and position length, in that order.

Specifics of the stress

Diphthongs are long ( Mi-nō-tau-rus , au is a diphthong, so: Mi-nō-t au -rus).

h is not a consonant (breath sound) and, together with another consonant, does not produce a position length.

-ne This enclitonic emphasizes the penultimate syllable, even if it is short: it a -ne .

-qu- is considered a consonant, even though it is pronounced kw , so it does not have a position length .

-que This Enklitikon pulls the accent on the penultimate syllable, even if it is short: Mu s a -que . Exceptions: i taque , u tique , u ndique , as these are not understood as compound but as independent word particles .

-ve This Enklitikon pulls the accent on the penultimate syllable: om-ni a -ve .

x (actually = cs, gs or ks) results in position length : Al e xis

y can be short or long, depending on the Greek model: A dytum , da y short, Corc ȳ ra , da y long

z (actually = ts) causes position length.

Example of pronunciation and intonation

Text with syllables, lengths: ā ē ī ō ū and with accents: a e i o u :

G a l-li-a est o m-nis dī-v ī -sa in p a r-tēs trēs, qu ā -rum ū -nam i n-co-lunt B e l-gae (= B e l- gä), a -li-am A-quī-t ā -ni (= A-qwī-t ā -ni), t e r-ti-am, qui (= qwi) ip-s ō -rum l i n -guā (= l i ng-wa) C e l-tae (= C e l-ta), n o s-trā G a l-li ap-pel-l a n-tur. Hī o m-nēs l i n-guā (= l i ng-wa), īn-sti-t ū -tīs, l ē -gi-bus i n-ter sē d i f-fe-runt. G a l-lōs ab A-quī-t ā -nīs (= A-qwī-t ā -nīs) Ga-r u n-na fl ū -men, ā B e l-gīs M ā -tro-na et S e -qua-na (= S e -qwa-na) d ī -vi-dit. H ō -rum o m-ni-um for-t i s-si-mī sunt B e l-gae (= B e l-gä), prop-t e -re-ā quod ā c u l-tū a t-que hū-mā-ni-t ā -te prō-v i n-ci-ae (= prō-v i n-ci-ä) lon-g i s-si-mē a b-sunt mi-ni -m ē -que (= mi-ni-m ē -qwe) ad e -ōs mer-cāt ō -rēs s ae -pe (s ä -pe) c o m-me-ant ... (Caesar, Bell . Gall. 1,1)

Austria

In Austria, grammar schools follow the humanistic pronunciation of Latin , which is also used in Catholic masses.

literature

Eisenhut, Werner , Die lateinische Sprache, Munich, Zurich 1985 (Artemis), pp. 12–22: On pronunciation.
Friedrich Crusius , Roman Metrics, Hildesheim a. a. 1992 (Hueber), reprint of the 8th edition Munich 1992 (Olms), pp. 2–13: Quantity, general rules of quantity, quantity of internal and final syllables, Greek words.