AE

[Synapse]

Hey, I've read in several posts that you pronounce the dyphthong AE as in "rIde" or like the word "eye"..<br /><br />My question is: do all your books state this? and is this the suggestion given from books outside of the U.S. also??<br />I find it sooo weird 'cause here in Italy we're definetely not taught to pronounce it that way!<br />We're usually taught to say it as in "bEt".. actually, if any of you know the italian alphabet, that is much easier and is just as the vowel "E"..<br />There are also a few people who insist on pronouncing the two letters as if they are vocally separated (uniting the A as in "plUs" and the E as in "bEt") but that doesn't make sense as it is indeed a dyphthong and not a "iato".

[benissimus]

Do you mean that is how you pronounce Latin words in Italian or that is how you are taught to pronounce Latin? In English we are taught to pronounce AE as in bEEt, but all Latin books which I have referred to insist that the Latin AE should be pronounced as bIte.

[Episcopus]

Benjamin L. D'Ooge PHD says ae = I ('eye'). <br /><br />I have no outstanding qualms thereof.<br /><br />BLD = THE MAN.