Questions tagged [phonetics]
The phonetics tag has no usage guidance.
35
questions
7
votes
1
answer
471
views
Does "laviniaque" from Vergil's Aeneid point to Romance palatalization?
The second i in "laviniaque" from the 2nd line of Aeneid is supposed to be consonantal to fit the hexameter; therefore the pronunciation should be something like: /la'wi.nja.qʷe/.
My ...
2
votes
0
answers
87
views
What is the story of Latin letters U, V?
I recently saw a video stating that when the Romans imported the upsilon(Y) from Greek, they cut the the bottom line from Y and remained V which was not read as V as we know but U. So
V(letter) = U(...
Bogdan Floareș
3
votes
0
answers
94
views
What is the modern day pronunciation of v in Latin as in van or as a w? And is the c soft as in cellar or hard as in cat?
What is the modern day pronunciation of v in Latin (as in van) or as a w sound? And is the c soft as in cellar or hard as in cat?
- 31
2
votes
1
answer
100
views
From what date do we find spellings with V for B?
In late Latin, there was frequent confusion between B and V between vowels (a position where the distinction was eventually lost throughout the Romance languages), and even at the start of words (...
- 26.5k
5
votes
1
answer
119
views
Does the pronunciation of 'gn' depend on the environment?
I have heard different pronunciations of 'gn': [ŋn], [gn], [ɲ:].
Given a fixed era and dialect, is 'gn' always pronounced the same way or does the pronunciation depend on the environment?
My ...
- 110k
5
votes
1
answer
272
views
When did "ae" become [e]?
I know about the differences between Reconstructed and Church pronunciation. I have wondered when they arose. I have already researched it on StackExchange where "V" had already become [v] ...
- 51
5
votes
1
answer
696
views
Why is the prefix con- sometimes short, sometimes long?
A friend sent me this image:
Her question was simple: Is the Latin any good? The Latin indeed is good, and if one accepts the English to be in LOLcat, the English checks out as well.
However …
I also ...
- 3,369
4
votes
3
answers
147
views
Scientific name for living toys
In a world were living toys exist and are known (like Toy Story but with their sentience been common knowledge), what would be the Latin scientific name for a toy? In a similar way of how homo sapiens ...
- 149
3
votes
1
answer
247
views
Is ἐν changing to ἐμ or ἐγ only a thing in Attic?
I've seen in various places (example) the statement that prepositions like ἐν, συν, and ἐκ change forms before certain consonants, so we would have ἐμ before βμπφψ, and ἐγ before γκξχ. But looking ...
user3597
6
votes
0
answers
96
views
When is Latin "qu" transcribed as "κο", "κοι" or "κυ" in Greek?
The most common transcription of Latin qu into the Greek alphabet seems to have been κου in general, but there are some others: κο as in κοις for quis, κοι as in κοιιδ for quid, and κυ as in κινκυε ...
- 26.5k
4
votes
1
answer
313
views
Why do I find it hard not to palatalize the /g/ in digitus?
In latin words such as digitus, I found it hard to pronounce correctly the consonants /k/ or /g/ followed by /i/. I think that this happens especially if these sounds are in the same syllabe.
Is it ...
- 41
5
votes
1
answer
192
views
βυκάνη < būcina: vowel reduction undone in borrowings from Latin?
So I've come across this word βῡκάνη, ostensibly borrowed from Latin būcina ('an ox-horn trumpet'), from bou- ('ox') + canere ('to sing'). The lack of vowel reduction is immediately striking; ...
- 5,957
8
votes
1
answer
288
views
On what basis is bilabial [ɸ] rather than labiodental [f] reconstructed for any Latin varieties?
I've seen references in some of my reading to a reconstructed value of a bilabial fricative [ɸ] for Latin "f" in some times and places. Examples:
This answer on the Spanish Stack Exchange ...
- 26.5k
5
votes
1
answer
340
views
Does G ever visibly assimilate in voice?
According to Allen's Vox Latina, /b/ regularly becomes voiceless before a voiceless consonant. This shows up sometimes in writing: for example, we see forms of ob-sideō written occasionally as opsideō....
- 64.6k
2
votes
0
answers
381
views
Latin diphthongs, vowel qualities
There is one existing question on the SE (search for 'ae pronunciation'), but there are nothing equal to my interests.
My googling returned to me nothing too.
So, maybe somebody here know:
nowadays ...
- 329
6
votes
1
answer
471
views
Is x considered one consonant or two?
We know that letter x is pronounced "cs" ("ks") i.e. as two consonants. But it is still one letter. When it stands between two vowels, is the first syllable considered open or close?
- 163
4
votes
1
answer
363
views
Does /l̥/ in reconstructed Latin represent a voiceless (alveolar) lateral approximate or something else?
Latin facultās presumably developed from an original *faklitāts (via *fakl̥tāts > *fakiltāts > facultās) . . .
—Merriam-Webster
Does the /l̥/ in *fakl̥tāts represent a voiceless (alveolar) ...
5
votes
1
answer
286
views
Does an ig- prefix mean there's an underlying g in the root?
There seem to be certain words in Latin which start with an underlying /gn/, such as noscō /gnosko:/ [nɔsko:]—this "hidden" /g/ appears when prefixes are added, as in cognoscō /congnosko:/ [cɔŋnɔsko:] ...
- 64.6k
6
votes
3
answers
461
views
How was "gnosco" pronounced?
I've heard it said before that Classical Latin /gn/ between vowels (as in magnus) was probably realized as [ŋn] (as in "hangnail"). This is supported by Romance descendants and the spelling of certain ...
- 64.6k
6
votes
1
answer
662
views
Quality of final ĕ ĭ ŏ
Evidence from the Romance languages provides fairly good evidence for distinct qualities, [ɛ] vs. [eː], for ĕ and ē in stressed syllables when followed by a consonant. Likewise for ŏ and ō as [ɔ] vs. [...
- 26.5k
10
votes
1
answer
563
views
Is the palatalization of "d" between "a", "i" or "o" and "ie" or "iu" only a Medieval Latin phenomenon?
In Italian and the other Romance languages, the palatalization especially concerns "c" and "g" before "e" or "i". But some words in Italian (or early Italian in the case of meriggio) show the same for ...
- 4,438
4
votes
1
answer
121
views
Inars > iners: how is this change called?
What linguistic process is illustrated by changing /a/ into /e/ in inars/iners? Assimilation? Why has it taken place?
- 143
9
votes
1
answer
326
views
Did the Romans ever transcribe [ʃ]?
(Note: [ʃ] is the first sound in English "ship".)
I've seen the sound [ʃ] represented in a few different ways in Greek writing: σ in Hebrew names in the LXX, σχ in modern Tsakonian, ψ in Sappho's ...
- 64.6k
5
votes
2
answers
184
views
Loss of s before voiced consonants at word boundaries
I learned from the comment to the answer to this old question that Latin has lost the consonant S before voiced consonants.
In the linked post this was used to explain the observed pattern that the ...
- 110k
5
votes
1
answer
220
views
Vowel compensation for intervocalic -ss- > -s-
I was recently reminded (by this question) that intervocalic single -s- turned into -r- by rhotacism, and later new instances of intervocalic -s- were produced from -ss-.
If the vowel preceding -ss- ...
- 110k
12
votes
2
answers
432
views
When did consonantal "v" start being transcribed as "β"?
Since I learned Latin using ecclesiastical pronunciation, I have a general interest in the shift from the classical pronunciation of "v" as /w/ to /v/.
This question is more focused though: I am ...
- 38.5k
4
votes
0
answers
67
views
Rules of syllabification [duplicate]
In Latin Grammar, Robert J. Henle wrote (p. 2),
Accent.
a. In words of two syllables the accent is on the first.
vía; béllum
b. In words of more than two syllables, if the second last ...
- 1,934
10
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Did an internal m nasalize the preceding vowel?
We know that the final m was not a full consonant in classical Latin, but denoted nasalization and elongation of the preceding vowel.
See this or this old question for more details.
Was this effect ...
- 110k
7
votes
3
answers
4k
views
How to pronounce the sequence "ti" when reading Latin
As Latin is a dead language, I imagine, people note pronounce it differently depending on in which county they are learning it. That said, I would like to know what IPA phoneme is commonly used to ...
- 393
6
votes
1
answer
766
views
What's the difference in sound between the letter η and the diphthong ει?
This question has been in the back of my mind for a while now. I'm curious to know, what's the difference in sound between the letter η and the diphthong ει? I would appreciate an answer in writing, ...
- 11.9k
4
votes
2
answers
458
views
Gemination after stressed vowel
Sometimes I hear people geminate consonants after stressed vowels in speech.
For example, amāta might be pronounced as amātta.
I have not heard enough to tell if this gemination is ...
- 110k
33
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Are there exceptions to the Latin stress rules?
Do the Latin stress rules (antepenultimate if penultimate is light, penultimate if heavy) have any known exceptions?
If so, what are the exceptions, and what evidence is there in the grammatical ...
- 733
11
votes
1
answer
530
views
Why do some 2nd decl. "-er" adjectives and nouns drop the "e" in the stem?
Is there any rule explaining why certain second-declension nouns and adjectives with a nominative -er ending drop the e when declined (e.g. ager, liber, pulcher), and why others keep it (e.g. puer, ...
- 1,203
21
votes
4
answers
6k
views
When did the consonant U (i.e., V) begin to be pronounced as the fricative [v] instead of [w]?
It's well established that the consonantal u (or v) was pronounced as [w] in Classical Latin (i.e., w as in wine). Of course, Romance languages developed voiced fricatives out of this u-consonant, ...
- 11.2k
21
votes
3
answers
9k
views
Non-typographical evidence of V being pronounced as [w]
According to a consensus of Latin scholars, the letter V in ancient Latin was pronounced as [w]. This seems to make sense, because there was no distinguishing between V and U, so the letter V could ...
- 413