Help:IPA/Latin

The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Classical Latin and Ecclesiastical Latin pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Latin on Wikipedia.

It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Latin in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first.

For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Shortcut

H:IPA-LAH:IPA-LA

See Latin phonology and orthography and Latin regional pronunciation for a more thorough look at the sounds of Latin.

Key

More information Consonants, IPA ...

Consonants^[1]
IPA	Latin alphabet		Examples	English approximation
IPA	Class.	Eccl.	Examples	English approximation
b	b		bellum	bean
d	d		decem	deck
dz		z^[2]	zēlus	adds
dʒ		g^[3]	gēns	giant
f	f		faciō	fan
ɡ	g		gravis	gear
h	h		habeō	her or hour
j	i^[4]	j^[4]	jūvo	yes
k	c, k		caput	scar
kʰ	ch^[2]		charta	car
kʷ	qu		quattuor	squash
l	l		lītus	leave
ɫ	l^[5]		multus	all
m	m^[6]		manus	man
n	n^[6]		noster	next
ŋ	n^[6]		longus^[7]	song
ŋ	g		ignis^[7]	song
ɲ		gn	ignis^[7]	onion
p	p		pāx	span
pʰ	ph^[2]		pharetra	pan
r	r		regiō	trilled or tapped r
s	s^[8]		sum	between sip and ship (retracted)
ʃ		sc^[3]	scindō	ship
t	t		tabula	stone
tʰ	th^[2]		thalamus	tone
ts		t^[3]	portiō	Botswana
tʃ		c^[3]	centum	change
w	u^[4]		uerbum	west
v		v^[4]	uerbum	vest
z	z^[2]		zēlus	between zone and genre (retracted)
z		s^[8]	miserēre	between zone and genre (retracted)

Vowels^[9]
IPA	Latin alphabet		Examples	English approximation
IPA	Class.	Eccl.	Examples	English approximation
a	a		anima	pasta
aː	ā		ācer, āctus	father
ɛ	e		est	met
e		ae/æ oe/œ e	est	met
eː	ē		ēlēctus	Scottish^[10] made
ɪ	i		incipit	mit
i		i y	īra, mīlle	mead
iː	ī		īra, mīlle	mead
ɔ	o		omnis	off
o		o	omnis	story (short)
oː	ō		ōrdō	story (long)
ʊ	u		urbs	put
u		u	lūna	cool (short)
uː	ū		lūna	cool (long)
ʏ	y^[2]		cyclus	roughly like root (some dialects^[11]; short); French tu
yː	ȳ^[2]		cȳma	roughly like root (some dialects^[11]; long); German über
Vowels that precede vowels^[12]
e	eV		mea	Scottish^[10] mate
i	iV		Italia	peace
Diphthongs
ae̯	ae		caelum	sigh
oe̯	oe		poena	boy
au̯	au		aurum	cow
ei̯	ei		deinde	saying
eu̯	eu		seu	hello as pronounced by Elmer Fudd: hewwo; Spanish euro
ui̯	ui		cui	booyah; Gruyère
Nasal vowels^[6]
◌̃ː	um un		mōnstrum	long nasal vowels

Prosody
IPA	Examples	Explanation
ˈ	Gāius [ˈɡaː.i.ʊs]	stress (placed before the stressed syllable)^[13]
.	Gāius [ˈɡaː.i.ʊs]	syllable marker, generally between vowels in hiatus^[14]

Notes

[1]
Geminate (double) consonants are written with a doubled letter except for /jj/ and /ww/: anus [ˈanʊs], annus [ˈannʊs]. In IPA, they may be written as double or be followed by the length sign: /nn/ or /nː/.
[2]
Only found in Greek loanwords.
[3]
In Classical Latin, ⟨c g t⟩ are always pronounced hard, as [k g t]. In Ecclesiastical Latin, ⟨c g sc⟩ are pronounced as soft [tʃ dʒ ʃ] before the front vowels ⟨e i y ae oe⟩, and unstressed ⟨ti⟩ before a vowel is pronounced [tsi].
[4]
In Classical Latin, ⟨i u⟩ represent the vowels /ɪ iː/ and /ʊ uː/, and the consonants /j/ and /w/. Between consonants or when marked with macrons or breves, ⟨i u⟩ are vowels. In some spelling systems, /j w/ are written with the letters ⟨j v⟩. In other cases, consult a dictionary.
Consonantal ⟨i⟩, between vowels, stands for doubled /jj/: cuius [ˈkʊjjʊs]. The vowel before the double /jj/ is usually short, but it is sometimes marked with a macron. When a prefix is added to a word beginning in /j/, the /j/ is usually single: trā-iectum [traːˈjɛktũː].

/w/ is doubled between vowels only in Greek words, such as Euander [ɛwˈwandɛr].
In Ecclesiastical Latin, ⟨i⟩ represents the vowel /i/, ⟨j⟩ represents the consonant /j/, ⟨u⟩ represents the vowel /u/ or (in the combinations ⟨gu su qu⟩) the consonant /w/, and ⟨v⟩ represents the fricative /v/.
[5]
/l/ has two allophones in Classical Latin. The clear [l] occurs when geminated to /ll/ and before the vowels /ɪ/ and /iː/, as well as before /ʏ/ and /yː/. Elsewhere, a dark (velarized) [ɫ] occurs: at the end of a word, before another consonant, and before all other native vowels, including /ɛ/ and /eː/.
[6]
In Classical Latin, the combination of a vowel and ⟨m⟩ at the end of a word, or a vowel and ⟨n⟩ before ⟨s⟩ or ⟨f⟩, represents a long nasal vowel.
[7]
In both Classical and Ecclesiastical Latin, ⟨n⟩ is pronounced as [ŋ] before /k, ɡ/. The digraph ⟨gn⟩ is pronounced as [ŋn] in Classical Latin, but [ɲ] in Ecclesiastical Latin.
[8]
In Ecclesiastical Latin, ⟨s⟩ between vowels is often pronounced [z].
[9]
Classical Latin has long and short vowels. If vowel length is marked, long vowels are marked with macrons, ⟨ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, ȳ⟩, and short vowels with breves, ⟨ă, ĕ, ĭ, ŏ, ŭ, y̆⟩. Ecclesiastical Latin does not distinguish between long and short vowels.
[10]
Also most forms of Irish English and Northern England English (excluding Scouse and Mancunian)
[11]
These dialects include modern Received Pronunciation and most forms of English English (with some exceptions such as Yorkshire), Australian, New Zealand, White South African, Scottish, Ulster, Southern American, Midland American, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Western Pennsylvania and California English. Other dialects of English, such as Northern American, New York City, New England, African American Vernacular, Welsh and Republic of Ireland English, have no close equiavalent vowel.
[12]
In Classical Latin, short ⟨e⟩ and ⟨i⟩ have a more closed articulation, [e] and [i] when they occur before another vowel, instead of their normal Classical values of [ɛ] and [ɪ].
[13]
In words of two syllables, the stress is on the first syllable. In words of three or more syllables, the stress is on the penultimate syllable if heavy, and on the antepenultimate syllable otherwise. There are some exceptions, most caused by contraction or elision.
[14]
This does not indicate a glottal stop [ʔ]; glottal stops are not reconstructed for Latin prosody in word-internal hiatus.

Key

See also

Notes

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