R: Latin pronounciation

Muke Tever wrote:

> > From:    Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
> > Subject: Re: R:      Re: R:      Re: New to the list
> >
> > Do you use the <v/u> distinction?  It's interesting that <j> is often
> > not used in schools, but <u> is.
>
> My "Teach Yourself Latin" says that 'up to a century ago J was used for
> consonantal I, but this has now been universally abandoned.'
AFAIK, it was introduced only in the xvii century and was never completely
accepted.

> I wonder why they never seem to fix v/u... it might save on wishywashy
rules
> like (sometimes v is used, sometimes u is used) when the _actual_ letter
> never changed...
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? 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)!

Luca