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Latin Sound Files
We are very often
asked to provide pronunciation guides for our translations into Latin, and
in response we have now decided to offer our customers an optional sound
file of Quintus reading their Latin translations in an authentically Roman
accent and style. Quintus is a highly experienced and accomplished Latin
reader and as a student won a number of prizes in the public Latin and
Greek Reading Competitions organized by the Classical Association of Great
Britain. He now regularly acts as a judge at these competitions. Please note that this service extends
only to our translations into Latin and that we do not offer recordings of
our translations into English. As far as we are aware we are the only Latin
Translation Service offering this additional service and in keeping with
our overall charging policy the extra cost is modest. See our How to pay page
for details.
We are
sometimes asked how on earth we know how the Romans pronounced Latin 2000
years ago. This is a complicated question, but over the last 150 years a
great deal of research has been devoted to the subject, culminating in
scholarly works such as ‘Vox Latina’ (Latin Pronunciation) by Professor
Sidney Allen of Cambridge. In general, as you might expect, Latin probably sounded rather like modern
Italian, with beautifully pure vowels.
Some features may surprise you. ‘v’ was pronounced
like an English ’w’, for example, and ‘ae’ rhymes with English ‘eye’. I
should mention here that the system of Latin pronunciation used by the
Catholic Church, which is different in some important respects from
authentically Classical Latin pronunciation, has no historical basis
whatever. It is in fact Latin pronounced exactly as though it were Italian,
and was only imposed on the church outside Italy in 1906. Before this date
French Catholics pronounced Latin as though it were French, Germans as
though it were German, and so on. However, if you prefer your Latin
pronounced with an authentically ecclesiastical accent, Quintus will be
pleased to oblige!
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