PRONUNCIATION

GREETinG: Pronunciation
Teacher: Salvete, amici Latinae Latin pronunciation is very phonetic and regular. There are two major pronunciation
systems, Christian (ecclesiastical) and Classical. This text uses Christian pronunciation
(Hello, friends of Latin) or because it is closer to modern English, is used in classical music and Christian prayers,
(Salve amice, Latinae) and sounds more beautiful to the modern ear. In practice, there are only a few differences
between the two, the most notable being that v is pronounced v in Christian Latin, and w in
(Hello, friend of Latin) Classical. So, veni, vidi, vici becomes weni, widi, wiki in Classical Latin.
Students: Salve, magistra (magister)
(Hello, teacher) Fortunately, written Latin is the same regardless of the pronunciation. The following guide
is for Christian pronunciation, but a Classical pronunciation guide is in the appendix.
Latin pronunciation is very regular and
Alphabet
easy so take heart, students, this aspect The Latin alphabet has the same letters as English except that it has no w. The letters y, z
of Latin is probably easier to learn than and k are infrequent and usually found in words of Greek origin. The Roman letter i was
in any other language. both a vowel and a consonant (similar to the English y). The letter j was added during the
Middle Ages for consonantal i. Thus Iulius and Iesus came to be written Julius and Jesus.

WORKBOOK: Ask students to open Vowels

their texts and workbooks and go Latin has long and short vowels, but the distinction between them is not always observed by
through Questions 1-5 with them. English speakers. In this text we will focus on learning the long vowels and the consonants
only. You will notice on the audio some vowels that tend toward the short sounds, so the
short vowel sounds are given below. In this text, long vowels will not be marked with a
Long Vowels macron except for a few inflected endings. 1
The most important skill to teach here long as in sound example short as in sound example
is the long vowel sounds.
ā father /ah/ frāter a again /uh/ mensa
ē late /ā/ or /ay/ sēdēs e Ed /ĕ/ et
In choro, recite the English vowel ī seen /ē/ or /ee/ amīcus i it /ĭ/ cibus
ō open /ō/
_ or /oh/ nōmen o on /ŏ/ novem
names in order: ū food /oo/ lūna u foot
�
/oo/ sum
(a) (e) (i) (o) (u)
A helpful tip to remember the five long vowels is to learn the two words, gloria and Jesu.

and the Latin long vowel sounds in the The general rule for consecutive and double vowels is to give each vowel its proper sound
with the following exceptions:
same order.
/ah/ /ay/ /ee/ /oh/ /oo/ Digraphs as in sound example
ae and oe late /ā/ caelum, proelium
Diphthong
The only difficult thing here is that long au out /ou/ laudo
e in Latin has the sound of English long
a and long i in Latin has the sound of 6
English long e.

Write on the board:

glória Jesu
/gloh/ /ree/ /ah/ /yay/ /soo/

(Many students have heard the Bach classic “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.”) When students learn the
pronunciation of these two words they will have learned the five long vowels of Latin, plus the consonant j.

Short Vowels
The short vowel sounds are heard in some words such as et and mensa. The short vowel sounds of e, i, and o are
the same as those in English. Students do not need to be concerned about these sounds, just aware that they will
hear the short sounds occasionally.

Digraphs
A digraph is not a blend, but rather two letters that make one sound. Digraphs in English are wh, th, sh, ch, ph.
Latin has only two major digraphs, ae and oe. Both are pronounced like the Latin long e, /ay/.
Diphthongs
A diphthong is two vowels that are blended together to make one continuous sound. The only diphthong to be
learned is au,which has the /ou/ sound in out.

6
 PRONUNCIATION
Consonants WORKBOOK:
The Latin consonants have the same sounds as in English except as noted below. The rules Complete Questions 6-8.
for hard and soft c and g are usually true in English and always true in Latin. Note that soft
c and sc have different sounds in English and Latin.
Consonants
c, g, and sc are hard before a, o, u, and consonants
hard c as in cat /k/ culpa, clamo
The rules for soft and hard sounds of c,
hard g as in go /g/ fuga, gloria g, and sc are the same in English and
hard sc as in scout /sk/ scutum Latin, the difference being that there
c, g, and sc are soft before e, i, ae, oe are no exceptions in Latin and there are
soft c as in charity /ch/ caelum many in English.
soft g as in gem /j/ regina
soft sc as in shout /sh/ scio
Soft c and sc have the sound /s/ in
gn as in canyon /ny/ pugno
ch is hard as in chemistry /k/ choro
English. (ceiling, scene) In Latin soft c
j as in yes /y/ Jesus is /ch/ and soft sc is /sh/ which are not
sounds they have in English.
s as in sing, /s/ mensa
never as in nose /z/
(In classical Latin c, g, and sc are
t when followed by i /tsee/ gratia
and another vowel always hard, never soft.)

Accents The sound of gn is /ny/. Examples are

For the beginning Latin student, the most helpful information is not long and short vowels, onion, poignant, canyon, lasagna
but rather knowing what syllable to accent. In this text you will always know the accented
syllable by following these easy rules. The last three syllables in a Latin word have names.
WORKBOOK:
Ultima comes from ultimus, meaning the
a mi cus last, or ultimate. Penult comes from penultima, Complete Questions 9-16.
meaning next to last. Antepenult comes from
antepenult penult ultima antepenultima, meaning before the penult.
(2nd last) (next last) (last)

Latin words are always accented on either the penult or the antepenult, never on
the last syllable. In this text, if the accent is on the penult it will not have an accent
mark, but if the accent is on the antepenult it will have an accent mark.
amicus but ámbulo
accent on the penult - no mark accent on the antepenult - accent mark

Accents (Students do not need to reproduce the accent marks in their written work.)
Knowing what syllable to accent is one of the most important helps to promote confident pronunciation. Vowels
can range from long to short and no one will notice much but an accent on the wrong syllable is noticeable.

Write a mi cus on the board as it is above with the syllable names, and have students pronounce them with you.
Recite them in the order antepenult, penult, and ultima. Think and say APU to help students remember the
names of the syllables in order from left to right. (If you have trouble with these words you can use last, next
last and second last instead, although these terms can be confusing.)

Latin words are accented on either the antepenult or the penult, never on the ultima.
In this text always accent a word on the penult, unless there is an accent mark on the antepenult.

WORKBOOK: Complete Questions 17-24 with your students.

nOTE: Although Latin words are never accented on the last syllable, it is perfectly acceptable to stress the
last syllable while learning and reciting conjugations and declensions. The goal of the beginner is to learn the
inflected endings and how to spell them, so emphasizing and exaggerating those endings is natural and helpful.
The correct accents marks are given throughout the text and you should observe them when teaching vocabulary
and try to observe them in translation exercises.

7
 UNIT I INTRODUCTION
1 ORAL RECiTATiOn/REViEW
Teacher: Salvete, amici Latinae UNIT I INTRODUCTION
(Hello, friends of Latin)
Students: Salve, magistra (magister)
 In this unit you will learn The Present System of the 1st Conjugation and the irregular verb
(Hello, teacher) sum.
 Latin verbs fall naturally into four groups or families called conjugations.
Grammar Questions: 1-9  Look at the conjugation of the present tense of the English verb love. Notice that the
The Grammar Review Questions are at English verb love changes in the 3rd person singular which requires the ending s.
the end of the workbook. Don’t skip SINGULAR PLURAL
this part of the review. 1st person (person speaking) I love we love
2nd person (person spoken to) you love you love
3rd person (person spoken about) he, she, it loves they love
The Unit Introductions are designed to
give you and your students an overview  To conjugate a Latin verb is to say or write its forms in an organized chart similar to the
of the content of the unit. If you are one above.
new to Latin, you are not expected to  The six attributes of a Latin verb are: conjugation, person, number, tense, voice, and mood.
understand the content of this page In Latin, there are:
Four conjugations 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th
completely. Three persons first, second, and third persons
Two numbers singular, plural
Six tenses present, imperfect, future (Present System)
perfect, pluperfect, future perfect (Perfect System)
2 GRAmmAR - ChALK TALK Two voices active and passive
Three moods indicative, imperative, subjunctive
Students should have a Latin notebook
open for all lessons in case you have  In this unit you will learn about conjugation, person, number, and tense, but not voice
and mood. (All verbs in this text are in the same voice and mood, active indicative.)
anything you want them to write (notes,
 Latin is a language of stems and endings. The three tenses of the Present System are
practice exercises, etc.). Ask students all built on the present stem. The stem is the part of the word that doesn’t change. The
to read over the Unit I Introduction endings change for person, number, tense, voice, and mood.
silently before you ask questions.

note to Teacher
Pay attention to your students. if
you ask them to write conjugation
in their notebooks two times, make 8
sure that they do it and that they
spell conjugation correctly. many students are careless and sloppy and will misspell words even when they
are copying from the board. Training in careful and conscientious work is an important part of education.
Students will raise their level of neatness and accuracy only to the level that you demand.
Scripted Lesson
Look at Bullet 2: Verb families in Latin are called? (conjugations) Write conjugation on the board and go over
spelling by breaking down into syllables (con ju ga tion). Ask students to write conjugation two times in their
notebooks. Bullet 5: What are the six characteristics (attributes) of a Latin verb? (conjugation, person, number,
tense, voice, and mood) How many conjugations are there? (four) Name them. (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th) How many
persons are there? (three) Name them. (1st, 2nd, 3rd) Bullet 3: Who is the 1st person? (person speaking) Who is
the 2nd person? (person spoken to) Who is the 3rd person? (person spoken about) Bullet 5: How many numbers
are there in grammar? (two) Name them. (singular and plural) Ask students to write singular and plural in
their notebooks and spell correctly. What does tense refer to? (time) What are the three dimensions of time?
(past, present, future) How many Latin tenses are there? (six) Name them. (present, imperfect, future, perfect,
pluperfect, future perfect) Recite tenses in choro (aloud together as a class) twice. What two attributes of verbs
will we not study this year? (voice and mood) What two words describing voice and mood will you see in your
book this year? (indicative active) You don’t have to know what these words mean this year. You will learn
about voice and mood in Second Form.

WORKBOOK: Lesson 1, Complete Questions 1-6.

8
 UNIT I

UNIT I
VerBs
1st ConJugation and SuM

Present SYsteM

Romulus, Remus, and the She-wolf

Capitoline Museums, Rome

This iconic statue of the ancient city of Rome depicts the twin brothers, Romulus and Remus,
suckled by a she-wolf. The myth that the Romans were descended from ancestors so fierce
and courageous they were raised by a she-wolf fits the national character of Rome, a city
chosen by destiny to conquer and rule the world. Romulus founded Rome and became her
first king, giving Rome its name.

Because all verbs in First Form are

in the active voice and the indicative
mood, there will be no lessons on voice
and mood for students.

Fyi (FOR yOuR inFORmATiOn)

VOICE: There are two voices in English and Latin, active and passive.
Active voice: John ate the cookies.
Passive voice: The cookies were eaten yesterday.
In the active voice the subject performs the action of the verb.
In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb.
In the passive voice, the actual doer of the action of the verb may be expressed by a prepositional phrase.
Ex: The cookies were eaten by John yesterday.

MOOD:There are three moods in Latin. (Some grammars count the infinitive as a mood.)
The indicative mood is used for statements and questions. Ex: I have Latin homework.
The imperative mood is used for commands. Ex: Do your homework.
The subjunctive mood is used for subordinate clauses, imaginary statements, exhortation, contrary to fact,
purpose, etc. Ex: If I were you I would do my homework. Let us do our homework.

May, might, would, should, and let are helping verbs that indicate the subjunctive in English.
The subjunctive is used very little in English, but is very common in Latin.

9
 LESSON I
LESSON I
1 ORAL RECiTATiOn/REViEW
Teacher: Salvete, amici Latinae In choro recitemus. Let us recite together.
(Hello, friends of Latin)
Students: Salve, magistra (magister) First Conjugation - Present Tense
(Hello, teacher) present stem ama-
Person Singular Plural
Grammar Questions: 1-16 1st am-o I love ama-mus we love
(at the end of the workbook) 2nd ama-s you (sing.) love ama-tis you (pl.) love
3rd ama-t he, she, it loves ama-nt they love
2
LATin SAyinG
 Amo is our model to study 1st Conjugation verbs.
Say aloud and ask students to repeat after you.
 In the conjugation chart above the Latin personal endings, o, s, t, mus, tis, nt, are in bolded
blue. The Latin personal endings correspond to the English personal pronouns.
in, preposition in
 The present tense is formed by adding the personal endings to the present stem, ama.
chorus, noun together, chorus
 To find the present stem of each vocabulary word, drop the o and add a, the stem vowel of
choro ablative sing. case the first conjugation.2
2nd decl., Lesson 15
Vocabulary
récito, verb recite
recitemus let us recite Latin English Derivatives

amo I love, like amorous, amateur

FYI nato I swim natatorium

Recitemus is the subjunctive form of do I give donate
recito. Recitamus means we recite sto I stand status
and recitemus means let us recite. lavo I wash lavatory
This use of the subjunctive mood is oro I speak, pray orator
called an exhortation. paro I prepare preparation
porto I carry portable
4 GRAmmAR - ChALK TALK
servo I guard, keep conservation
On the board, recreate in three steps the
voco I call vocation, vocal
First Conjugation chart of amo.
* Stems will be covered more fully in lesson four.

(Step 1) Write the English personal 10

pronouns on the board leaving space as
shown below for Steps 2 and 3.

Person Singular Plural

1st I we
2nd you you (pl.) or (all)
3rd he, she, it they

Teach the concept of grammar persons, as explained in Bullet 4. The 1st person is the person speaking; 2nd
person is the person spoken to; 3rd person is the person spoken about. Use example sentences: I am the teacher;
We are a class; You have done your homework; They are going home, etc. A composition is always written in a
particular person; most novels are written in the 3rd person, instructions are usually written in the 2nd person, an
autobiography is written in the 1st person, etc.

(Step 2) On the board, write the conjugation of amo, as shown in the grammar chart, leaving a space between the
stem and the blue personal endings. Point to each Latin personal ending and its corresponding English pronoun,
so students understand that the Latin personal ending stands for the English pronoun. Ask students to identify the
root, stem vowel, and stem, as explained in Bullet 2.

(Step 3) Complete the chart by adding the English meanings. Notice that the only time the English verb love
changes is in the 3rd person singular.
10
 LESSON I
Word Study  Grammar  Syntax
VOCABuLARy 3
 There are three persons in grammar. Below are the English pronouns and the Say each word aloud with its meaning and
corresponding Latin personal endings. Notice that English has only one word for the
singular and plural you. ask students to repeat after you. Students
should learn both meanings for a verb
SINGULAR PLURAL
First Person (person speaking) I o/m we mus
if two are given.
Second Person (person spoken to) you (sing.) s you (pl.) tis Pronunciation helps:
Third Person (person spoken about) he, she, it t they nt
er in servo has the sound of air
 The Latin present tense corresponds to the English simple present, progressive present, and
emphatic present. In English amo can mean: Derivatives
See instructions on teaching derivatives in
I love simple present the Teaching Guidelines.
I am loving progressive present
I do love emphatic present amateur
donation
stable
station
Oral Drill
lave
they love 1. amant 1. he is swimming natat
oratory
hsi carries 2. portat 2. they pray orant transport
I guard, keep 3. servo 3. she washes lavat export
we swim 4. natamus 4. you are guarding servas import
you wash 5. lavas 5. he does give dat conserve
you (p) pray 6. oratis 6. we carry portamus conservative
hsi gives 7. dat 7. you (p) like amatis vocal
they stand 8. stant 8. we are calling vocamus vocabulary
we prepare 9. paramus 9. you stand stas
you call 10. vocas 10. they prepare parant GRAmmAR - ChALK TALK
**memorize the present tense of
amo, its meanings, and the
personal endings.**

11 Use the Disappearing Line Technique

as described in the Teaching
Guidelines.

Latin only has one form for the present tense. The English present tense has three forms:
The simple present I love, which is a general statement not indicating specific time.
The progressive present, I am loving, which indicates an action going on right now.
The emphatic present, I do love, which is used for emphasis, questions, and negative sentences. English
needs helping verbs to make negatives and questions.

You do love! Do you love? You do not love.

WORKBOOK nOTE: The workbook parsing and form building tables ask for the entry form which is the word
given in the vocabulary list. (The entry word is the form listed in a dictionary.) hsi is the abbreviation for he, she,
it in the answer key. Students may use ditto marks in conjugations as shown in the workbook key. In all exercises
and translations the English you is singular unless specifically identified as plural (p).

ORAL DRiLL: After completing this lesson and all workbook pages, test the skills of your students by giving
the Oral Drill in the text. See Teaching Guidelines for instructions.

11