Do we actually know how the ancient Romans pronounced Latin words?
Eric Kvaalen
Les Essarts-le-Roi, France
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We have three sources of information: languages that are descended from Latin; the Proto-Indo-European language, from which most languages in Europe and southern Asia descended; and transliterations (phonetic spellings) of Latin words in other languages of its time.
In the Romance languages, which descended from Latin, many letters are pronounced identically, or almost, such as b, d, f, k, l, m, n, p, t and x, and we can be pretty sure that these letters were pronounced the same in Latin. Some of these sounds were also pronounced the same in Proto-Indo-European. For example, most Indo-European languages have a word for mother related to the word 鈥渕other鈥�, and they all pronounce the 鈥渕鈥� as we do.
Latin words were sometimes written in other languages at the time it was spoken. For example, the Latin name Vespasian can be found in the writings of Josephus, in ancient Greek, where it is spelled 螣蠀蔚蟽蟺伪蟽喂伪谓慰蟼, which is Ouespasianos when transliterated into Latin letters. The 鈥渙u鈥� at the beginning is normally used for a long 鈥渦鈥� sound (the sound in 鈥渢oo鈥�), so this tells us that the Latin 鈥渧鈥� was probably pronounced like a 鈥渨鈥�, not like 鈥渧鈥� in the Romance languages or English.
Another example is the word centurio (centurion). Nowadays, in most languages the 鈥渃鈥� is soft, but in Greek it was written 螝蔚谓蟿蠀蟻喂蠅谓, which starts with kappa, the Greek equivalent of 鈥渒鈥�, showing that 鈥渃鈥� was hard at that time, even when followed by 鈥渆鈥�.
Greek words were also borrowed by Latin, and 鈥渃鈥� was used for kappa even when followed by vowels like e, i or y, such as cinnamomum for 鈥溛毼刮轿轿蔽枷壩嘉课解�� (cinnamon).
Dave Bath
Melbourne, Australia
Sometimes, we know exactly how to pronounce a Latin word, perhaps aided by the works of the Roman grammar police, tut-tutting at barbarians. Sometimes, spelling errors can give strong clues, as in 鈥淚 got pills from the farmassy鈥�.
As Roman verse was rhythmic, we can discover which syllables were stressed, similar to how we discovered what rhymed in Elizabethan times, but perhaps not now, by looking at the works of William Shakespeare (鈥淚f this be error, and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved鈥�). Roman plays can help by suggesting where there must be puns and homophones, or by poking fun at the pronunciation of foreigners or the lower classes.
Other clues come from what the words morphed into over the centuries 鈥� but that is more subtle.
Connaire Kensit
Retired lecturer in linguistics London, UK
Reconstructing the pronunciation of Latin, a language that still exists in modern forms (Portuguese, Castilian, Catalan and French, for example), is simple, if tedious.
You need training in distinguishing, reproducing, describing and notating the full range of human speech sounds. Also, you need references for modern pronunciations in the descendant languages, which evolved from Latin by the familiar process of young speakers copying older ones.
From here, you just have to ensure that there is an unbroken series of plausible sound changes leading from your reconstructed past pronunciation to all of the modern pronunciations it has evolved into. A sound change is plausible if you can observe it in progress in any language.
A past language with plenty of written texts is particularly easy to reconstruct: verse that rhymes is helpful, as are renderings of foreign words and names. Other useful tools include observations made by writers of the time: Quintilian, Cicero and others made comments on Latin speech that they heard.
For a good and well-evidenced reconstruction of Latin, see W. Sidney Allen鈥檚 Vox Latina: A guide to the pronunciation of classical Latin (1965).
Faith Anstey
Dalguise, Perth and Kinross, UK
As a field botanist, I am sometimes asked about the 鈥渃orrect鈥� pronunciation of scientific (Latinate) names. My answer is: 鈥淭he right way to pronounce them is loudly and with great confidence, so that everyone will believe you know what you are talking about.鈥� This has always worked for me.
To answer this question 鈥� or ask a new one 鈥� email lastword@newscientist.com.
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The Greek spellings have been corrected in this piece.