Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
What is the famous "sonus medius" vowel sound in Latin? Classical Latin authors change their spelling of "optumus māxumus" to "optimus māximus" — why? Which spelling is a better representation of this vowel sound? Where does this vowel lie on the IPA chart, and how should we attempt to realize this vowel in our recitations of Classical Latin?
Many thanks to my sponsor Ancient Language Institute. To learn Latin, Ancient Greek, Hebrew, or Old English with some of the best instructors and pedagogy out there, sign up for online lessons at https://AncientLanguage.com. ⬅️
Sources: see below.
Cited videos:
IPA Vowels Tutorial:
youtu.be/tpR5GdKXpGc
Latin "Lax" Vowels:
youtu.be/Mu-slOBurvM
🦂 Support my work on Patreon:
patreon.com/LukeRanieri
📚 Luke Ranieri Audiobooks:
luke-ranieri.myshopify.com
🤠 Take my course LATIN UNCOVERED on StoryLearning, including my original Latin adventure novella "Vir Petasātus"
learn.storylearning.com/lu-promo?affiliate_id=3932873
☕️ Support my work with PayPal:
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And if you like, do consider joining this channel:
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🏛 Latin by the Ranieri-Dowling Method: luke-ranieri.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/latin-by-the-ranieri-dowling-method-latin-summary-of-forms-of-nouns-verbs-adjectives-pronouns-audio-grammar-tables
🏺Ancient Greek by the Ranieri-Dowling Method: luke-ranieri.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/ancient-greek-by-the-ranieri-dowling-method-latin-summary-of-forms-of-nouns-verbs-adjectives-pronouns-audio-grammar-tables
🏛 Ancient Greek in Action · Free Greek Lessons:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU1WuLg45SixsonRdfNNv-CPNq8xUwgam
🦂 ScorpioMartianus (my channel for content in Latin, Ancient Greek, & Ancient Egyptian)
youtube.com/ScorpioMartianus
🎙 Hundreds of hours of Latin & Greek audio:
lukeranieri.com/audio
🌍 polýMATHY website:
lukeranieri.com/polymathy
🌅 polýMATHY on Instagram:
instagram.com/lukeranieri
🦁 Legio XIII Latin Language Podcast:
youtube.com/LegioXIII
👕 Merch:
teespring.com/stores/scorpiomartianus
🦂 ScorpioMartianus.com
🦅 LukeRanieri.com
📖 My book Ranieri Reverse Recall on Amazon:
amzn.to/2nVUfqd
Intro and outro music: Overture of Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) by Mozart
#latin #rome #romanempire
SOURCES:
Vox Latina, by W. Sidney Allen
amzn.to/3WdPxSY
The Pronunciation of Greek and Latin, Edgar Howard Sturtevant
amzn.to/3W4nt45
00:00 Intro
02:23 What is sonus medius?
04:38 What kind of vowel was it?
05:23 Causes
09:42 Vowel harmony?
10:42 Split of 'u' and 'i' in sonus medius
11:43 Recommendations
What is the famous "sonus medius" vowel sound in Latin? Classical Latin authors change their spelling of "optumus māxumus" to "optimus māximus" — why? Which spelling is a better representation of this vowel sound? Where does this vowel lie on the IPA chart, and how should we attempt to realize this vowel in our recitations of Classical Latin?
Many thanks to my sponsor Ancient Language Institute. To learn Latin, Ancient Greek, Hebrew, or Old English with some of the best instructors and pedagogy out there, sign up for online lessons at https://AncientLanguage.com. ⬅️
Sources: see below.
Cited videos:
IPA Vowels Tutorial:
youtu.be/tpR5GdKXpGc
Latin "Lax" Vowels:
youtu.be/Mu-slOBurvM
🦂 Support my work on Patreon:
patreon.com/LukeRanieri
📚 Luke Ranieri Audiobooks:
luke-ranieri.myshopify.com
🤠 Take my course LATIN UNCOVERED on StoryLearning, including my original Latin adventure novella "Vir Petasātus"
learn.storylearning.com/lu-promo?affiliate_id=3932873
☕️ Support my work with PayPal:
paypal.me/lukeranieri
And if you like, do consider joining this channel:
youtube.com/channel/UCLbiwlm3poGNh5XSVlXBkGA/join
🏛 Latin by the Ranieri-Dowling Method: luke-ranieri.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/latin-by-the-ranieri-dowling-method-latin-summary-of-forms-of-nouns-verbs-adjectives-pronouns-audio-grammar-tables
🏺Ancient Greek by the Ranieri-Dowling Method: luke-ranieri.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/ancient-greek-by-the-ranieri-dowling-method-latin-summary-of-forms-of-nouns-verbs-adjectives-pronouns-audio-grammar-tables
🏛 Ancient Greek in Action · Free Greek Lessons:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU1WuLg45SixsonRdfNNv-CPNq8xUwgam
🦂 ScorpioMartianus (my channel for content in Latin, Ancient Greek, & Ancient Egyptian)
youtube.com/ScorpioMartianus
🎙 Hundreds of hours of Latin & Greek audio:
lukeranieri.com/audio
🌍 polýMATHY website:
lukeranieri.com/polymathy
🌅 polýMATHY on Instagram:
instagram.com/lukeranieri
🦁 Legio XIII Latin Language Podcast:
youtube.com/LegioXIII
👕 Merch:
teespring.com/stores/scorpiomartianus
🦂 ScorpioMartianus.com
🦅 LukeRanieri.com
📖 My book Ranieri Reverse Recall on Amazon:
amzn.to/2nVUfqd
Intro and outro music: Overture of Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) by Mozart
#latin #rome #romanempire
SOURCES:
Vox Latina, by W. Sidney Allen
amzn.to/3WdPxSY
The Pronunciation of Greek and Latin, Edgar Howard Sturtevant
amzn.to/3W4nt45
00:00 Intro
02:23 What is sonus medius?
04:38 What kind of vowel was it?
05:23 Causes
09:42 Vowel harmony?
10:42 Split of 'u' and 'i' in sonus medius
11:43 Recommendations
