THE PRONUNCIATION OF LATIN
[To the Editor of the. SPECTATOR.] SIR,—May I, though a foreigner, participate in the discussion on the pronunciation of Latin as far as it concerns the letter C ? The argument of H. W. G. Kenrick—that the pronunciation of the Roman Church must have conclusive power because it has been given in a living language—would only be con- vincing if the evidence could be furnished (1) that the pronun- ciation of the earliest Church of Rome was the same as in the period of Cicero, (2) that living languages do not suffer a change. But this evidence is lacking. On the contrary, we have evidence enough that a language changes without changing the spelling, i.e., the English language. The pronunciation of C in the age of Caesar is made sure by the • Greek authors who transcribe Roman names. Thus Plutarch renders Caesar Katcrap, Caecilius KattaXtor, Scipio
From the pronunciation Kaesar conies the German name Kaiser. But about two or three generations after Plutarch there came a change in pronunciation, perhaps produced by the infiltration of non-Italian elements into the Roman nation. K was converted into a sibilant like S, hence the Slavo-Russian title Czar. Therefore, if we set a great value upon pronouncing Latin as it might have sounded in Caesar's time we cannot but adopt the pronunciation K, Kikero.— I am, Sir, &c., • Helmstedt (Brunswick).
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