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Provokateur t1_iqsmdmt wrote

Reply to comment by koloki8a in Utopia”: meaning ‘no place’; from Greek: οὐ (not’) and τόπος (‘place’) by Sphaerocypraea

We don't know how classic Greek or Latin were pronounced. Because, you know, we don't have audio recordings from 400 BCE. All we have is what it's transitioned into through 2000 years of gradual changes.

Maybe church Latin is pronounced like that, or Italian, but that doesn't tell us much about classical Greek or Latin pronunciation.

What matters is what Thomas More had in mind, which--as the comment above you points out--was intentionally ambiguous.

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Archmagnance1 t1_iqtvi4d wrote

There are historical documents from the classical period that are about the pronunciation of latin. Ecclesiastical Latin is church Latin, hence the name, and Classical Latin is how it was (generally) spoken around the time of the texts.

A very easy example to point to is Ceasar being pronounced See-Zar like the salad or Kai-Zar. First is church approved latin and the second is classical.

Here's a couple videos by an Italian Linguist (english, italian, japanese, latin) who also does a lot of history content using primary sources that he can read.

https://youtu.be/x6Fg3RcYKJI differences between the types of latin

https://youtu.be/YlggQMFPjKw reviewing the latin used in Barbarians on Netflix.

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