Pronunciation of trailing "i" in Latin-derived words


Some pronounce the trailing "i" in Latin-derived words (e.g., "Gemini") as a long "e" and others pronounce it as a long "i." I was taught the long "e," but is this mere preference or is there a firm basis for one or the other?



Answer



The trailing i on most masculine nominative plurals in Latin is usually a “long e” /iː/, as has already been stated, like ee in levee or tree. Latin pueri (the boys) would be /pu.eri/ poo-air-ee.


A trailing ae like that found on most feminine nominative plurals is a diphthong which sounds a lot like a “long i” (/aɪ/, [äɪ̯]), but, as it is a diphthong, is more of a switch in sound starting with a “short a” /ɑ/ and ending with a “long e” /iː/, similar to the pronunciation of aye or eye /aɪ/. Thus, Latin puellae (the girls) would be poo-ell-aye /puɛlːaɪ/.


I’s at the beginning of words are pronounced like the y /j/ in yet /jɛt/ or yellow /ˈjɛloʊ/, and C’s were usually hard /k/. So, Julius Caesar (which would have been written ‹Iulius Caesar›, as they didn’t have J’s), would have been pronounced something like Yul-ee-us Kai-sar /ˈjuː.li.ʊs ˈkae̯.sar/, the pronunciation of which is where Germans get the word Kaiser, Russians get Czar, and Arabs get Qaysar, amongst a dozen other languages that have words rooted in the word Caesar.


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