The Latin Alphabet & Pronunciation

The classical Latin alphabet has 23 letters. English added J, U, and W in the medieval period; in classical Latin, I served as both vowel 'i' and consonant 'y', and V served as both vowel 'u' and consonant 'w'.

Classical pronunciation is how educated Romans spoke around 50 BC — used by most classical homeschool curricula. Ecclesiastical (Church) pronunciation evolved from medieval Italian and is used in Catholic liturgy and choral music today.

A macron is the bar over a vowel (ā ē ī ō ū) that marks a long vowel. Vowel length is not decorative — malum means 'evil' but mālum means 'apple', and venit means 'he comes' but vēnit means 'he came'.

Classical Latin used I for both vowel 'i' and consonant 'y' (iūlius = YOO-lee-us), and V for both vowel 'u' and consonant 'w' (vēnī = WEH-nee). J and U were invented in the Middle Ages to distinguish vowels from consonants; W came later for Germanic languages.

In classical Latin, C is always hard — pronounced like 'k' in king, even before e or i. So Cicerō is KI-ke-ro. In ecclesiastical pronunciation, C softens to 'ch' before e or i (centum → CHEN-tum).

Classical pronunciation. It's what Memoria Press, Visual Latin, and most classical curricula expect, and what students will hear at Latin conventions, the Mastery Exam, and the National Latin Exam.