Latin consonants look the same as those in English since English borrowed the Latin alphabet. Some consonants follow the same pronunciation and some do not.
| b |
is the same as in English; Latin habet, he,she or it is holding, hold, does hold.
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| c |
as in the English word uncle, never an 's' sound as in niece. Latin example: cena pronounced KAY-NAh = dinner.
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| d |
is the same as in English
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| f |
is the same as in English
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| g |
a hard sound as in the English word get; never like genial or rough. Latin example: agit = he,she or it does
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| h |
can be aspirated as in the English word hard; Latin example: hortus OR can be unpronounced as in the English word herb (erb); Latin examples: hoc, huius
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| j |
did not exist until Medieval days. The letter i was used. Latin examples: iacio (jacio) or Iulius (Julius); when an initial 'i', pronounce as 'y'of the English word you.
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| k |
not often used; mostly evident in words adopted from other languages. It always has a hard sound of a Latin 'c'. Latin example: Kalendae = 1st of any month
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| l |
is the same as in English. Latin example: ambulat = he,she, or it walks
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| m |
is the same as in English. Latin example: mox = soon
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| m |
is the same as in English; Latin example: non = not
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| p |
is the same as in English; Latin example: parata = prepared
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| q |
-kw sound as in the English quit; never a 'k' sound as in antique. Latin example: quis
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| r |
trilled or rolled as in Italian. Latin example: parata
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| s |
hissed as in the English word case, never buzzed as in ease. Latin example: casa = house
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| t |
as in the English words still or lit; never as in nature or nation.
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| v |
pronounced as the English letter 'w'. Latin example: vinum (wee-num)
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| w |
did not exist in Latin
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| x |
pronounced as 'ks' of the English word 'axe', never as 'gz' of the English word exact. Latin example: rex = king
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| z |
used mostly in Latin words borrowed from the Greek such as Zeus. pronounced as 'dz' as in the English word 'adze'
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| gn |
this combination is pronounced as ngn similar to the English word hangnail. Latin example: magnus = great
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| ph, ch, th |
generally found in words borrowed from Greek. Vowels preceding these characters are short. These characters are pronounced as the p,t and c of the English words pall, tall and call. |
