An example sentence for Latin pronunciation

Question

Latin pronunciation varies between times and locations, and to some extent individuals. If I want learn a new kind of pronunciation, make sure I have properly switched to a new pronunciation, or want to figure out how exactly someone pronounces Latin, a good example sentence would be great. It would also help demonstrate to students and others how Latin is pronounced.

It should be a sentence or or other short passage containing many features that are pronounced differently in different styles. Prose is better than poetry for this purpose to avoid distortion due to scansion. What would be a good sentence?

This would be similar to the phrase "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" that contains all the letters of the alphabet for the sake of comparing fonts. Note that for the purposes of pronunciation having every letter of the alphabet is neither sufficient nor necessary, as the goal is very different.

Here is a list of features that would be nice to have (differences in parentheses):

• It should contain vowels in different quantities. Ideally, all vowels in both quantities would be nice. (Not everyone makes quantity distinction.)
• It should contain ae, possibly also oe. (Some pronounce these as ē, some as diphthongs.)
• It should contain the consonantal v. Perhaps both consonantal and vocalic v and I would be nice? (Some pronounce v as /w/, some as /v/.)
• It should contain ti+vowel and ci+vowel. (Pronunciations differ.)
• It should contain all of these before e or i: c, g, sc, xc. (Similar to the previous one. I am not sure whether it matters whether the e or i is followed by a vowel.)
• It should preferably contain ph, th, and ch. (Some ignore the H, some pronounce these as aspirates, some as fricatives.)
• It should contain words ending in -m. (Some realize it as nasalization, some as a consonant.)
• It should contain words starting with h-. (Some pronounce it, some do not.)
• It should contain gn in both intervocalic and initial positions. (The two pronunciations are sometimes different, so better track both.)
• It should contain ns and nf. (Suggested by Vincenzo Oliva in the comments; I'm not sure what the difference would be.)
• It should contain an intervocalic s. (Voicing varies.)
• It could contain a sonus medius. (See this question. This vowel sound is spelled variously with i or u.)
• It should contain au. (Some pronounce it as ō.)
• It should contain a y. (Pronunciation might or might not coincide with that of i.)

This is not a strict requirement, but supposed to give you an idea of what I am after. I am also open to suggestions regarding the list.

A simple list of words would also be an option, but I feel the pronunciation of individual words is not quite the same as a whole sentence. Finding a short quote from Cicero with all these features is a tall order, so all nice passages you find from literature or write yourselves are appreciated!

Answer 1

I've tried coming up with a meaningful sentence, which makes it perhaps a bit long. Hopefully it's still worthwhile, having all the desired features plus -ng-. I have included all the spelling variants of (classical) adnuntiant among the different dialects.

Măthēmătĭcă ĕst rēgīnă coelī scĭĕntĭārŭm măxĭmēquĕ ĭngĕnĭŭm ăcŭĭt, sĕd ŭt mŭndī māchĭnă gnōscātŭr, cōnfĭrmātā aetātĕ phĭlŏsŏphīs ēxcĕllēns vĭdētŭr mĕtăphўsĭcă ĕt măgnā cŭm laudĕ hoc ănnūncĭănt/ădnūncĭănt/ănnūntĭănt/ădnūntĭănt.

Mathematics is the queen of the scientific firmament and sharpens the intellect so much, but to get a knowledge of the fabric of the world, mature philosophers think metaphysics is preeminent and proclaim it with great praise.

Answer 2

Here is an attempt:

Vĭr Phoebŭm măgĭs ămāns ĕt Gnaeŭm ĕxcĭtāns scĭĕntĭae thĕsĭsquĕ causā ŏptĭmē hīc cōnfĭcĭō măgnŭm aedĭfĭcĭŭm.

Being a man who loves Phoebus more and wakes Gnaeus up because of knowledge and proposition, I complete a large building here very well.

The content makes little sense, but that should be no issue. It seems to match at least most of the requirements and is pretty short.

I put a macron or a breve over every consonant not in ae or oe or au. See this question for why I put măgnŭm instead of māgnŭm.

I am sure there are better ones, either artificial or from literature. Feel free to take this as a starting point for another answer.

Answer 3

Salvete,

I have approached this slightly differently, I wanted to find a text from the Classical Era that people would have read throughout the ages and thus use it to illustrate the pronunciation changes, but rather than use the whole text I have selected a few short sentences. I choses Caesar's Dē Bellō Gallicō. My Latin is still at a basic level so I would be pleased if some of you could look over my sentences and let me know if I have made any errors. I didn't have access to a full text with macrons so have added them myself using Wiktionary.

The sentences illustrate the following sounds: Short vowels; long vowels; y; h; x; ns, nf; gn; qu; diphthongs ae, oe, au; consonantal v and j; intervocalic b and s; final t and m; c+e/i, g+e/i, sc+e/i; ti+vowel, ci+vowel, di+vowel; greek sounds ch, th, rh, ph.

DĒ BELLŌ GALLICŌ

1 - Aquītānia a Garumna flūmine ad Pyrenaeos montēs pertinet.

2 - Diē cōnstitūta causae dictiōnis.

3 - Pontem, qui erat ad Genavam, jubet rescindi.

4 - Hoc proeliō factō, reliquās cōpiās Helvētiōrum ut cōnsequī posset, pontem in Ararī faciendum cūrat atque ita exercitum trādūcit.

5 - Quī tantae altitūdinis māchinātiōnēs tanta celeritate prōmovēre possent.

6 - In hoc mediō cursū est īnsula, quae appellātur Mona.

7 - Quōrum pars maxima est inter Mosam ac Rhēnum.

8 - Hī sunt magnitūdine paulō īnfrā elephantōs, speciē et colōre et figūrā taurī.

9 - Ad Parthicam bellum.

ENGLISH

1 - Aquitania extends from the river Garonne to the Pyrenaean mountains.

2 - On the day appointed for the pleading of his cause.

3 - He orders the bridge at Geneva to be broken down.

4 - This battle ended, that he might be able to come up with the remaining forces of the Helvetii, he procures a bridge to be made across the Saone , and thus leads his army over.

5 - Since they were able to move forward machines of such a height with so great speed.

6 - In the middle of this voyage, is an island, which is called Mona.

7 - The greatest portion of whom lie between the Meuse and the Rhine.

8 - These are a little below the elephant in size, and of the appearance, color, and shape of a bull.

9 - To the Parthian war.