The pronunciation of liturgical Latin

While most of the liturgical music sung at St. Patrick Church is presented in English, from time to time we will sing in the historic language of the Church — Latin. Liturgical Latin has its own rules of pronunciation, which in some cases differ from the classical form of the language taught in school. The pronunciation of liturgical Latin is more akin to modern Italian. Here is a brief guide that outlines most of the basics.

Vowels

a	When accented has the sound of ah, as in alla (ahl'-lah); when unaccented, it is short, as in gloria, (gloh'-ree-a).
e	Long e has the sound of ay, as in desire (day-zee'-ray). Short e has the sound of eh, as in lento (lehn'-toh). e is always long in an unstressed syllable, in nearly all pronouns, often before a single consonant, and before gn. It is short where it occurs before another vowel, in a stressed syllable, usually in the syllable before the next to last, and often before double consonants.
i	has the sound of ee, as in Maria (Mah-ree'-ah).
o	when it occurs in an unstressed syllable, always has the sound of oh as in nobis (noh'-beece), when it occurs before n, and frequently before a single consonant. When it occurs in a stressed syllable, in the diphthong uo, before another vowel, usually in the syllable next to the last, and at the end of a word, has the sound of aw, as in monotono (moh-naw'-toh-noh).
u	usually has the sound of oo, as in subito (soo'-bee-toh). When combined with another vowel, it has the sound of w, as in guardare (gwahr-dah'-ray )

Consonants

b	has the same sound as in English.
c	before a and i has the sound of ch, as in celebre (cheh'-lay-bray); elsewhere, it has the sound of k, as in scala, (skah'-lah).
d	as in English.
f	as in English.
g	before a and i, has the sound of j, as in giardino (jahr-dee'-noh).
h	silent
j	has the sound of y, as in Jesu (yay'-zoo).
k	not present. Its place is taken by hard c.
l	as in English.
m	as in English.
n	as in English.
p	as in English.
q	has the sound of k, as in quarto (kwahr'-toh).
r	trilled.
s	initial s has the same sound as in English; also before a voiceless consonant, as in robusto (roh-boo'-stoh); also after another consonant, as in scorso (skawr'-soh). When it occurs before a voiced consonant (d, b, g, etc.) it has the sound of z, as in biasmare (byah-zmah'-ray).
t	as in English.
v	as in English.
w	not present.
z	when beginning a word, always has the sound of dz, as in zelo, (dzeh-loh). After a consonant (except in terminations such as -anza, -enza, -izia, and -zione), it has the sound of ts, as in costanza (koh-stan'-tsah)

Diagraphs

oe	have the sound of ay, as in coelestis (chay-lay'-stees).
ch	has the sound of k, as in chi (kee).
gh	has the sound of g, as in ghirlanda (geer-lahn'-da).
gl	before a vowel, has the sound of ly, as in paglia (pah'-lyah); before consonant, it has the sound of g.
sc	before a or i, has the sound of sh, as in scelta (shehl'-tah). Elsewhere it has the sound of sk, as in scaltrito (skahl-tree'-toh).
zz	usually has the sound of ts, as in aguzzo (ah-goot'-tsoh).

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St. Patrick Catholic Church • Fredericksburg, Virginia