298 SCIENTIFIC _NAMES—PRONUNCIATION. 
SCIENTIFIC NAMES.—II. PRONUNCIATION. 
BY W. B. GROVE, B.A. 
(Continued from page 272.) 
It may be interesting to some, if, before I enter upon the details of 
the reformed Latin pronunciation, I give a few particulars concerning 
the circumstances of its introduction. The great authority upon the 
subject is the Rev. H. A. J. Munro, formerly Latin Professor at Cam- 
bridge. Mr. Munro remarks that “it is a delusion to suppose that’ there 
is a foreign as opposed to an English method. In England itself there is 
no one unvarying system.” ‘To insure complete uniformity is an 
impossibility,” but it seems to him “ desirable to endeavour in theory 
after a worthy ideal, even if in practice we should many of us fall short 
of it.’ These and other reasons having been urged by a few enthusiastic 
spirits, the Oxford Philological Society proposed several alterations, and 
the head masters of some of the greatest schools in England met and 
discussed the matter. At their request, Professor Munro, in conjunction 
with the Latin Professor at Oxford, published in 1873, a “ Syllabus of 
Latin Pronunciation,” * in which the full extent of the proposed changes 
is enunciated. The question has since been discussed in various reviews 
and periodicals.+ I find that at the present time some of the most 
important schools, as Eton, Harrow, and Rugby, have not yet adopted 
the reform. Among the schools that have adopted it are Marlborough, 
the City of London, Liverpool College, and most of the schools of the 
Girls’ Public Day School Company. 
The new pronunciation of Latin affects chiefly the vowel sounds. It 
is well known that in this respect the English language stands nearly 
alone; in most of the other European tongues—especially those which 
had their remote origin in the Latin—the greater part of the vowels is 
pronounced as in the following table :— 
a as in fan, father. @ = ain fate. 
e as in fen, féte, (fate.) au = ow 1n cow. 
i as in fin, fatigue. eu = you. 
o asin hop, hope. et as in height or veil. 
w as in full, rude. ce =  otiin coin or like @. 
This is believed to represent (minute distinctions excepted) the 
vowel-sounds of the ancient Romans. Thus @ has the so-called broad 
(Scotch) sound; @ and @ have the sound which we generally give to @ in 
our own language ; 2? has the sound which we generally give to €; and the 
two sounds of w are the same as those of 00 in pool and book. But while 
this may be considered’ certain, the remaining diphthongs, especially e 
and ei, are still doubtful. Little seems to be known of the sound of y in 
classical words ; at present we must be content to pronounce it like 7. 
Among the consonants the changes are fewer; c is always hard like 
k, g is always hard as in get and girth, j always equalsy in yard. The 
* Deighton, Rell, and Co., Cambridge. ; : 
+ See the “Academy,” February—Jdune, 1871. “Contemporary Review,” April, 1871. 
