Evertjan. wrote:
> DeeBee wrote on 06 mei 2008 in alt.language.latin:
>
>> How does one pronounce the word "imitatio"?
>
> That depends.
>
> Most people just pronounce it as if it was neary a part of their own
> language, making them the laughing stock of all people from all other
> modern languages.
>
> If you want to pronounce it as the old Romans did, you will perhaps have
> to declare what year, what part of Rome and what class of people.
Theoretically perhaps, but generally Latin is pronounced as (we think) it
was pronounced by the contem****aries of Cicero, Vergil, &c.
> I, from my background, think I know how to pronounce it, so that the
> upper class from the time of Cicero at least could understand the word.
> But I am far from sure.
>
> I would not even be able to write phonetically what I have in mind,
> because English phonetics are a puzzle in the sense that even they are
> locally pronounced differently.
>
> As you post from here:
> Host name: cpc1-cmbg5-0-0-cust726.cmbg.cable.ntl.com
> IP address:
> you probably are from the U.K.,
> and so I will try:
>
> eeh-meeh-táht-see-oh
>
> or probably closer to:
>
> im-meeh-táht-see-oh
>
> The t+s from the tip of your tongue
The pronuniciation of TI as [tsi] was certainly a characteristic of late
Latin only.
>=================
>
> At that time Cicero ["Little pea", maybe "Pee-wee"]
> was, I think, still pronounceed by the upper ten as:
>
> Keeh-keh-roh
>
> with k's from the tip of your tongue
>
> and by the pleps:
>
> Seeh-ser-oh
>
> with s-es from she tip of your tongue,
> and certainly not even a bit of z.
I find it hard to believe that [kikero:] and [sisero:] could exist at the
same time and place in Latin. To get from [k] to [s] involves some long
process similar to:
[k] -> [c] -> [tS] -> [ts] -> [s]
The pronunciation of C as S could only be in very late Latin, and only in
some places. (Note that Italian and Romanian stopped at [tS], and German
Latin at [ts].)
--
Will
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