Before I began teaching Latin and writing my programs, I surveyed a number of high school Latin teachers in public and private schools to determine the common practice regarding pronunciation and macrons. The macron is the straight, horizontal line above some vowels indicating that they are long. None of the teachers I spoke to required […]
Tag Archives: ecclesiastical
There are many twists and turns to the pronunciation history of a very old language like Latin. The pronunciation of the ancient Romans, called the classical pronunciation, was modified by Christians in the Middle Ages, when Latin became the language of the church and of the educated class. You may see this pronunciation referred to […]
By Eben Dale There are two basic Latin pronunciations used in the United States—Ecclesiastical (Italianate) and the Reformed Classical. Whether the magnificence, beauty, and power of Vergil’s poetry is best captured by the Reformed Classical pronunciation or the Ecclesiastical pronunciation is a matter of opinion. But pronunciation of Latin should not be a point of […]