Re: [tied] Re: Latin diphthongs

From: P&G
Message: 21814
Date: 2003-05-12

> > I'm confused about the pronunciation of some of the Latin
> diphthongs.
> > I'm told in Wheelock's book that the diphthongs eu and ui are
> pronounced
> > as Latin e + u and u + i respectively.

Hi Michael - your posting hasn't appeared in my email yet, but
"aquila-grande's" reply has!
The sequences to which you refer have several pronunciations, depending on
the context. Sometimes they are diphthongs, and sometimes they are not!
(a) -ui- is in most cases consonant + vowel, which may be long or short.
Can be written -vi-.
(b) -ui- is a diphthong in cui, huic. Evidence: scans as one long
syllable; vowels elide before huic; cui has one initial consonant in
scansion and in words like alicui.
(c) -ui- in huius, cuius is vowel short -u- + double consonant -jj-,
written single as always.
(d) -ui- in qui quibus etc is of course really [sign of labialisation of
k] + i

(e) -eu- occurs in very few native Latin words (only: neu, ceu, seu, heu,
heus). It is also found as a result of contraction in ne-uter to neuter,
and in Greek words. It was pronounced as a short -e- plus short -u/w-. In
Greek words, when followed by another vowel, it as pronounced as -eww-.
(short e plus double consonant).

Peter