Re: Reactions to the secret vice (was: Steg's wonderful sig.)

Ed Heil wrote:
>
> Grandsire, C.A. wrote:
>
> >         Actually, my preferred version of the 'Salve Regina' is the Sister
> > Act's one :) . I've always thought Church Latin was simply Medieval
> > Latin read in an Italian way. Is that right or am I completely off?
>
> Yep.  I guess that a lot of "national Latins" emerged in the Middle
> Ages, as changes in the pronunciation of Latin took place in different
> countries in the same way as sound changes in the vernacular.
>
> That's why until fairly recently English-speaking Latinists
> pronounced Latin with English "post-great-vowel-shift" vowels and so
> on.  You hear this from time to time in frozen Latin phrases, like
> "arbor vitae", pronounced to rhyme with "nightie," and so on.
>
        Until 20 years ago or so, Latin was learned in French schools with the
French way of reading words (hence Jacques Brel's song: "Rosa rosa rosam
rosae rosae rosa, rosae rosae rosas rosarum rosis rosis" /roza roza
rozam roze roze roza roze roze rozas rozarum rozis rozis/ about school).
Now Latin is learned with a better pronunciation (even if we don't care
about accent or length of vowels, and we still pronounce the 'r' as the
French one). Frozen Latin phrases are still pronounced the French way
too.

> We've discussed on the List before the Henninian pronunciation of
> Greek, which was also used until relatively recently in England; it
> basically pronounces Greek words as they would be pronounced if they
> were transliterated into Latin, the Greek accent was ignored and the
> Latin one used, and then it was pronounced using the English vowels,
> as noted above. :)
>
> -------------------------------------------------
>              edheil@postmark.net
> -------------------------------------------------
--
        Christophe Grandsire

        Philips Research Laboratories --  Building WB 145
        Prof. Holstlaan 4
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        The Netherlands

        Phone:  +31-40-27-45006
        E-mail: grandsir@natlab.research.philips.com