Latin diction for singers: Italianate (Church) vs Germanic pronunciation and IPA

This page covers ecclesiastical (Italianate) Latin for singers. Classical and Restored Classical values appear only as labeled contrast, never mixed into the church rules. The wider diction section covers the living languages.

Italianate and Germanic Latin

In Italianate Latin, which is the more popular, the pronunciation follows the rules of the Italian language¹. In Germanic Latin the pronunciation follows the rules of the German language¹. Within the Catholic Church and in certain Protestant churches, a pronunciation based on modern Italian phonology, called Italianate Latin, is common². It has become common since the late 19th century².

Whether you use Italianate or Germanic Latin, the vowels are the same¹. Germanic Latin follows the rules in German diction; Italianate Latin follows Italian diction with the Latin-specific points below.

What “Ecclesiastical” means

For ecclesiastical pronunciation with IPA, the St. Olaf lyric diction guide points to IPA Source’s alphabetical listing of Latin spellings, which focuses on ecclesiastical pronunciation⁸. The same guide also lists dictionaries with pronunciation guides for Classical and Ecclesiastical Latin⁸.

Ecclesiastical Latin is the language of liturgical rites in the Latin Church and the Western Rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church². It is still used for many purposes, mostly as a liturgical language of the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church². The spoken version was created later, during the Carolingian Renaissance². Classical Latin, by contrast, was spoken from the late Roman Republic to the early Empire³.

Where singers meet church Latin

The Ecclesiastical tradition follows the pronunciation the Catholic Church has used since the early centuries A.D.⁷. It is the proper pronunciation of Latin hymns and prayers⁷. Anyone who celebrates Christmas will sing more than a few Latin carols⁷. Devotional pieces also turn up in non-religious concerts, such as the Gloria from a Mozart mass or César Franck’s Panis Angelicus⁷.

Vowels

Latin vowels are tall, rounded and pure, with no rounded diphthongs like English has¹.

The Classical diphthongs ae and oe are pronounced as a single e in the Ecclesiastical register². The distinction between long and short vowels in Classical Latin is ignored in Ecclesiastical pronunciation². Letters take the value they have in modern Italian, but without distinguishing between open and close e and o².

Classical vowels, for contrast

The IPA key for Latin gives these vowel symbols with example words. They are Classical values, where length is distinctive; Ecclesiastical pronunciation ignores the length distinction².

In Classical Latin, vowel and consonant length were more significant and more clearly defined than in modern English⁶. Long and short vowels can change a word’s meaning: grātia (gratitude) has a long vowel and gladius (sword) a short one⁶. In Classical pronunciation, ae is sounded like English high⁶. The diphthong eu is two separate sounds, e-u, not as in English yew⁶. Except in obvious diphthongs, every single vowel signals a separate syllable⁶.

Consonants

Ti before a vowel is generally pronounced [tsi] in Ecclesiastical Latin, unless it is preceded by s, d or t². Consonantal v is pronounced [v] as in English, not as the Classical [w]². Double consonants are pronounced with gemination in Ecclesiastical Latin, as in Classical Latin².

Classical consonants, for contrast

The Restored Classical method attempts to reconstruct the sound of the Latin language⁷. It is a separate method from the Ecclesiastical register above.

In Classical Latin, c and k both represented [k], whereas qu represented [kʷ]³. The letter x represented [ks]³. In the Loyola Restored Classical guide, c is always hard, like k⁵. The rhotic r was most likely an alveolar trill, at least in some positions and when doubled³. The letter s was unvoiced in all positions³, f was labiodental³, and h was generally still pronounced, at least by educated speakers³. Z was pronounced [z] at the start of a word and appears to have been doubled to [zz] between vowels³. In the Warwick pronunciation guide, most Classical sounds are the same as in English, except for a short list of letters⁶.

Where double consonants occur, both are pronounced, as in ille (il-le)⁶. A double consonant splits: one sounds with the following vowel, one with the previous vowel⁵.

Word stress

These stress rules come from Classical-pronunciation guides. In two-syllable Latin words the stress almost always falls on the first syllable⁶. In longer words it falls on the penultimate syllable if that syllable is metrically heavy, as in fesTIna⁶. It falls on the antepenultimate syllable when the penult is light, as in DOminus⁶. Word accent follows the Rule of the Penult⁵. The Restored Classical example sentence is rēgīna est fīlia deae, “the queen is the goddess’s daughter”⁵.

Sung versus spoken

Italianate is the more popular church system¹, and within the Catholic Church it has been common since the late 19th century². The spoken version of Ecclesiastical Latin was created during the Carolingian Renaissance². The vowels are identical in both¹.

Common mistakes for English speakers

• Gliding vowels. English diphthongs are not Latin vowels; Latin vowels are pure¹.
• Pronouncing ae and oe as diphthongs. In the Ecclesiastical register each is a single e².
• Treating long and short vowels as different sounds. The Classical distinction is ignored in Ecclesiastical Latin².
• Opening or closing e and o by Italian rules. Ecclesiastical Latin does not distinguish them².
• Hard c and g before front vowels. Ecclesiastical Latin softens c, g and sc to [tʃ], [dʒ], [ʃ] before e, i, y, ae and oe⁴.
• Reading ti as [ti]. Before a vowel it is generally [tsi], except after s, d or t².
• Single sounds for double consonants. Doubles are geminated².
• Applying Classical values to church Latin. Classical v is [w] and Ecclesiastical v is [v]².

Next steps

The symbols are laid out in IPA for singers. Italian diction covers the Italianate rules, and German diction the Germanic ones.