Re: R: Latin pronounciation

On Mon, 16 Oct 2000, Mangiat wrote:

>Myself I like the distinction u/v. If a saw 'uiuus' I couldn't even
>pronounce it. 'Vivus' is more acceptable to an Italian/Romance eye. BTW,
>which Latin pronounciation does the Catholic church use in Anglosaxon
>countries?
Generally "none"; as it's not in common use. There _are_ movements
of traditional Catholics that want more Latin (and return to more
traditional liturgies); but most Catholics will never hear one word
of Latin in church. As Dan W. says, Spanish is about as close as most
Americans will get.

A conversation with a seminarian some years ago revealed that he
didn't even _have_ to study Latin. I'll ask some current seminarians
this weekend (if I can catch one) and ask if this is (still) the
case. Might even get him to read some Latin so I can give you a
full report!

>I think they'd use medioeval pronounciation... I've heard a
>couple of times priests speaking among them in Latin, but if they used
>different pronounciations they wouldn't understand anything (hey, the mass
>in Latin is one thing I like of Le Febvre)!
The only priest I've ever heard using Latin was Fr. Fish up in Almost
Canada, NY; and it was so run together and spoken so rapidly as to be
practically impossible to tell what he was saying.

Padraic.

>Luca