The Latin Alphabet

Video Transcript

Welcome to our study of classical Latin, let’s begin with the classical Latin alphabet. Which is pretty much the same alphabet as you’re reading right now, with the exception that the classical Latin alphabet does not have the letters j and w. Latin consonants make only one sound. The b sounds like the b in bat c as in cat, it’s always a hard c d as in dog f as in fog g is always hard as in the word get h as in hat The letter i can be both a consonant and a vowel. When its a consonant it will appear in front of another vowel and will sound like y in the word yard. k sounds like the k in kit l as in let m as in met n as in net p as in pet q as in quit r is trilled in latin as if the word rip were spelled with three r’s, rrrip s as in set t as in tip The letter v sounds like the letter w in the word wind x as in box y can be a consonant or a vowel when its a consonant it sounds like the y in yes And z sounds like the z in zebra Let’s look at some double consonants. Bs in latin sounds like the ps in grips Bt sounds like the pt in abrupt Ch sounds like the ch in chorus Ph sounds like the ph in uphill Th sounds like the th in the word discotheque Now let’s look at the Latin vowels. Usually, Latin vowels only make two sounds. They’re either long or short. Long a like the a in father Short a like the a in idea Long e, like the e in they Short e like the e in pet Long i like the i in machine Short i like the i in tip Long o like the o in low Short o like the o in top Long u like the u in cute But short u like the u in put When y acts as a vowel it’s always long, and it sounds like the umlauted u in the German word über. Let’s look at a few Latin dipthongs. Diphthongs occur when two vowels come together to make one sound. A very common dipthong in latin is ae, which sounds like our word eye. Au in latin sounds like the ow in our word cow Ei sounds like the ei in the english word eight Eu sounds like eh-oo, pronounced very quickly Oe sounds like the oy in soy And Ui sounds like the uy in the Spanish word muy Finally a few words on accent in Latin. Latin words of two syllables have their accent on the first syllable. frater, mater, pater If a Latin word has more than two syllables, the accent is on the next to last syllable if the next to last syllable is long. So, amatis, the stress is on ma because this next to last syllable is long. Intramus, the stress is on stra, because this next to last syllable is long. Videbat, the stress is on de, because de is long. Let’s talk a little bit about accent on Latin words. Latin words of two syllables have their accent, or stress on the first syllable. frater, mater, pater If however, a Latin word has more than two syllables, the accent is on the next to last syllable if the next to last syllable is long. amatis, intramus, videbat Ma, tra, de those are long syllables, and they are the next to last syllable so the stress falls on ma, tra, de. If however, a Latin word has more than two syllables, the accent is on the third to last syllable if the next to last syllable is short. So, in the words, dominus, dicitur, peteret the accent or stress falls on the third to last syllable because the next to last syllable is short.

About this transcript: • Transcript title: The Latin Alphabet • Corresponding Lesson: Alphabet and Pronunciation • Author and curator: John Thorburn, PhD. for The TEL Library. • Creative Commons License: CC BY NC SA