Text that has a PLAY button beside it
below is recorded; simply click on the PLAY button next
to the words and phrases to hear the recording.
Words in Latin, like those in English, were
pronounced with extra emphasis on one syllable (or more,
in the case of very long words); the placement of this "stress
accent" in Latin (unlike English) followed these strict
and simple rules:
|
In a word of two syllables the accent always falls
on the first syllable: sér-vō, sáe-pe,
ní-hil. |
|
In a word of three or more syllables, the accent falls
on the next to last syllable (sometimes called the "penult"),
if that syllable is long: ser-vā´-re, cōn-sér-vat,
for-tū´-na. |
|
Otherwise, the accent falls on the syllable before
that (the "antepenult"): mó-ne-ō, pá-tri-a,
pe-cū´-ni-a, vó-lu-cris. |
Because these rules for accentuation are so
regular, accent marks are not ordinarily included when writing
Latin; in this text, however, accents are provided in both
the "paradigms" (sample declensions and conjugations) and
the chapter vocabularies, as an aid to correct pronunciation.