On Sun, 7 Dec 2003 jcowan@REUTERSHEALTH.COM wrote:
> Roger Mills scripsit:
>
> > The pronunciation of the plurals has always amused and perplexed me. In
> > Latin class, we learned--
> > alumni [a'lumni] and alumnae [a'lumnaj]
> >
> > BUT-- those who use them say alumni [alumnaj] and alumnae [alumni]*. Go
> > figure!
>
> Sure. When the Great Vowel Shift hit Britain, it affected not only English
Hm, I would've thought Britain had hit the GVS. :)
> but also the spoken Latin of the monasteries and lawcourts. That's how
> we got [pr\owh&k'vaisi] for "pro hac vice" and [Vltr\@'vajriz] for "ultra vires".
> (Oddly, the word "se" seems to be immune, having remained -- or having
> been restored to? -- [sei].
I understand restored to; I've seen something complaining about the
abberant(sp?) pronunciation.
--
Tristan