Ancient history

How do Romans speak?

Romans spoke Classical Latin, which evolved from Proto-Latin over time. Here are general characteristics of the way speakers of Classical Latin, primarily ancient Romans, spoke:

Stress: Stress (emphasis) in Latin was based on word structure and patterns, known as the "ictus" system. Some vowels in speech had more prominence and were elongated due to the placement of stress. It was not only about pitch, but also vocal power.

Pitch: Latin followed pitch-based phonology, called "tonal accent". While the precise nature of Latin tones isn't fully known, it's believed that certain syllables in words had pitch variations similar to melodies. There were three different tones: the low tone, the high tone, and the circumflex tone (a combination of the low and high tones).

Quantity: Latin employed vowel length distinction as a part of its phonemic system, meaning vowel sounds could be long or short, impacting word pronunciation and meaning. Long vowels were held longer than short vowels. This quantity distinction was important in Latin when differentiating between similar words or grammatical forms.

Consonant Pronunciation: Latin had distinct pronunciations for various consonants, including "c" (pronounced as an English "k"), "v" (pronounced like English "w" or like "u"), "ch" (as a guttural "kh"), and "g" (hard as in "goal" or soft like "j" depending on placement in a word). Pronunciation of letters like "c" and "g" underwent changes over time.

Word Endings: Latin words had specific endings based on grammatical functions (e.g., case, number, tense). These endings provided essential information for comprehending the role of a word in a sentence.

Keep in mind that the pronunciation and speech of ancient Romans were diverse, and language may have varied in different regions and social contexts. The knowledge we have of Classical Latin pronunciation relies on ancient texts and linguistic analysis, which can provide some reconstruction but might not represent all aspects of natural speech.