Quote:
Originally Posted by MysticCat
Classical Latin and Church Latin are often pronounced differently, the latter having been influenced by later European languages, primarily Italian. But in both, the single vowel "i" is pronounced "ee" (or somewhere between "ee" and "ih"). So, alumni = "alum-nee" in Latin. Pronouncing it alum-nie (to rhyme with "pie") is an anglicization, much like pronouncing Phi "phie" rather than "phee" as it would be in Greek. English speakers have modified the "i" to an English long-I sound rather than using the "ee" that the letter represents in Latin or Greek, because we don't think "ee" when we see an "i."
As for "ae," in Classical Latin that represents the diphthong that English speakers consider the long-I sound, as in "pie." It's a diphthong of "a" ("ah") and "i" ("ee"). In church Latin, "ae" is pronounced more like the English long-A sound -- "ay" as in "pay" -- which is also really a diphthong
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Or we could go back to the Great Vowel Shift and really gum up the works!
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