In the Latin language, pronunciation has varied and still varies in different regions and different eras.
While it impossible to know exactly how Latin was pronunced centuries ago, singers and choirs in especially Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music often use what little is known to produce as authentic Latin as possible.
The following table shows the main differences between different regions with the International Phonetic Alphabet. This is far from a complete listing and lacks the local variations exhibited through centuries, but should give an outline of main characteristics of different regions.
| Sign | Example | Classical | Italian | French | Slavic | German | Nordic | English
|
| ae | bonae | ai | e: | e | e | e | e | ei or i:
|
| ce/ci | benedicimus | k | | s | ts | ts | s | s
|
| ge/gi | agimus | g | dʒ | ʒ | g | g | g | dʒ
|
| gn | magnum | ŋn (ngn) | ɲ (nj) | ɲ (nj) | gn | ŋn (ngn) | ŋn (ngn) | gn
|
| h | hominibus | h | - | - | h | h | h | h
|
| u/u: | ut, sumus | u/u: | u/u: | y/y: | u | u/u: | u/u: | u/u:
|
| xc | excelsis | ksk | tʃ | ks | ksts | kts | ks | ks
|
External references
- Singing Early Music, ed. Timothy McGee, Indiana University Press.
See also: Authentic performance, Latin spelling and pronunciation
