Page:The Making of Latin.djvu/55

Rh § Consonants.

c, g are always hard. c (cepi, accepi), as c in cat. g (gero, agger), as g in get.

So even before i. c (facio), as c in cat (not as s, nor as sh). g (tegit), as g in get. ng (tangit), as ng in finger (not as in hanging).

t is always hard, even before i. t (fortia, ratio), as t in native.

s is always a breathed, dental sound. s (sub, rosa, res, sponsio), as s in sit, sponsor, ce in race (not as in rose or raise, nor as in conclusions). Similarly when compounded; x (exul) = ks, as in extract, bs (urbs) = ps (not bz).

i and u consonantal. i̯ (j), e.g. jacio, as y in you (not as j in Jack). u (v), e.g. volo, practically as w in we, Fr. ou in oui (not as v in very, see § 158). qu (qui, quod), as qu in queen. gu (unguere), as gu in anguish, gw in Gwendolen.

r was always trilled, even in the middle and at the end of words, e.g. in rarus; parma, datur (not as in English palmer, hatter).

Double consonants, e.g. vac-ca, pul-lus, were pronounced separately, as they regularly are in Italian, or as in English book-keeper, well let.

§ For a fuller explanation of this statement and comments on one or two special points (such as the sound of the diphthongs ae, oe, of final -m, and of