(a) The English system of pronouncing Latin gives to ti the sound of sh before a vowel, as in the words militia, oratio. An assibilation was undoubtedly a characteristic of the Umbrian and Oscan dialects at an early period, and fastened itself upon the Latin after the sixth century A.D.; for Isidores states that tia should be sounded zia: and in Greek transliterations of the sixth century we find such forms as δωναζιόνεμ for donationem, and ἄκτζιο for actio. Pompeius says that whensoever a vowel follows ti or di, the ti or di becomes sibilant. So again on Christian epitaphs we find Constantso for Constantio, etc. But in the classical period of the language, there is no reason for thinking that this assibilation existed, for the Greek transliterations of that period invariably denote Latin ti by τι, as Οὐαλεντία for Valentia. It is this classical tradition which Servius retains, when he lays it down as a rule that in all cases di and ti are to be pronounced exactly as written.[7]
(b) At the end of a word the letter t seems to have been less strongly sounded, for we find such forms as ama, apu, for amat, aput. This was a characteristic of the Umbrian and Volscian and affects the forms of the modern Italian.
20. V vowel (U): ū sounded like oo in English "fool"; ŭ like u in English "full".
(a) Latin u is frequently represented in Greek by ου whether it be long or short; thus, Ποστούμιος = Postŭmius; Βελλούτου = Bellūti.
(b) Plautus represents the hoot of an owl by tutu in the Menaechmi, 654; and in the Carm. Philom. 41, the onomatopoetic verb tutubo is used of the same bird. Cf. cuculo, "to cry cuckoo" (Carm. Philom. 35).
(c) In early Latin ū is sometimes written ou; thus, ious, ioudex, douco, for ius, iudex, duco.
21. V (consonant): had the sound of English w.
That the character V had both a consonantal and a vowel sound is clear from the unanimous statements of the Roman grammarians, who say that frequently when before a vowel it becomes consonantal.[a][8] Also as stated above in Chap. III., the Emperor Claudius invented a new character to represent the consonantal sound of v as distinguished from the vowel sound.
That the consonant sound of v was practically that of the English w may be inferred from the following facts:
(a) The consonant sound and the vowel sound were closely akin. This is seen by the fact that the consonant v often melts into vowel v and is so scanned, as in such words as silva, [9] (scanned silüa), and its absorption in such words as fautor for favitor, cautum for cavitum. (See Plaut. Menaechmi, 155). Cicero says that when Marcus Crassus was at Brundisium, about to cross over to Greece, a vendor of figs began crying out "Cauneas!" (the name of a kind of figs.)[a][10] This, Cicero says, was taken as an omen; for it sounded like "Cave ne eas," which must therefore have been pronounced Cau' n' eas. Conversely, in poetry, the vowel v sometimes strengthens into consonant v. Thus in Plautus, Lucretius, and even in Vergil and Statius, this happens in such words as puella, suo, genua, larua, and tenuis. Finally, the fact that both sounds of v are represented by the same character, is evidence that those sounds must have been nearly alike. But the consonant sound that is nearest to the vowel sound of u, is the sound of the English w. (Cf. Consent, p. 395 K).