Pronunciation question

[adlucem]

hello - this is my first "real" post. a note of explanation first: i'm working on a project and will need to pronounce greek/latin roots/words, so i humbly turn to the professionals here, since i don't know anyone personally who could advise me. It doesn't have to be super-correct, just not hideously wrong.
right now, i am dealing with the word

tangere

i would see the stress placed on the first syllable, with the "a" pronounced like "ah" (dark but short); the "ger" i would pronounce like the "jer" in jerry and the final "e" like the "ay" in day

would that work, or would i embarrass myself completely? hope the question isn't too inane for the forum and hope that "no brainers" can still sometimes be fun

thanks

[metrodorus]

Are you aiming for mediaeval pronunciation, or an approximation of ancient Roman pronunciation?

[adlucem]

i think the "Roman" would be appropriate. The difference between the two in this case would interest me, though, if it is explainable without too much effort

[adrianus]

tangere

i would see the stress placed on the first syllable, with the "a" pronounced like "ah" (dark but short); the "ger" i would pronounce like the "jer" in jerry and the final "e" like the "ay" in day

Hoc in exemplo, est unicum discrimen inter sonum classicum et sonum aevi posterioris, ut opinor: sonus g litterae, qui classicè a multis Romae durè sonebatur (ut anglicè "g" in "get"), posteriùs a plerisque molliter (ut anglicè "g" in "age"). Quoad pertinet ad sonum e litterae in "-ere" (id est, in syllabas terminantes -ge- -re enim), saepe variant ea quae aliqui scribunt et ea quae sonunt eidem scriptores. Dicunt grammatici antiqui et brevem et longam litteram vocalem eundem sonum habere. Sic est quod sonus vocalis brevis est prima dimidiae partis vocalis longae vel habet primâ parte eandem formam sonitûs.

In "tangere" there's only one significant difference between a classical and later pronunciation, I would say, the sound of the letter "g", which classically most in Rome would have pronounced like the hard "g" in the English word "get" and later most would have pronounced softly, like the "g" in the English word "age". As for the two short e's in "-ere" (in the syllables "ge" and in "re"), you will read different things about that and sometimes hear the same people contradicting themselves by how they actually pronounce the words. Think of a short letter as a long letter that hasn't had time to be fully articulated. A long ē lasts for twice the time that a short e does and has a chance to be roundly articulated or better heard. Listen carefully to a long ē ("ey" as in "grey") as you'll hear that it begins with a short "e", — the grunt, or fast expulsion of air, of the "e" in "bed".* That's why the ancient grammarians say that short e's and long e's have the same sound (as do the other vowels). They mean that a short e is the first half of a long e's sound profile.

*For a short "e", listen to how an Italian pronounces the English word "bed".
De sono e brevis, ausculta Italum qui "bed" vocabulum anglicum exprimit.

[adlucem]

ok. thank you for your answer.