Was this the message you were referring to?<br /><br />[quote author=benissimus link=board=3;threadid=189;start=0#930 date=1056347001]<br />Long vowels are often marked by a macron, or overline in learning texts but not in genuine Latin. These are to help with pronunciation so that you can differentiate between long and short vowels. Short vowels are really just the same as long vowels except that you pronounce them in a "clipped" manner. If you know any of the Romance languages, they are all pretty similar to Latin. For all intents and purposes, these should suffice:<br /><br />
Long (with macron line) Short (without macron)<br />A- AH as in "fAther" a- UH as in "galA"<br />E- AY as in "rEin" or "gAte" e- EH as in "pEt"<br />I- EE as in "fEEt" or "Ink" i- IH as in "pIck"<br />O- OH as in "pOke" o- O as in "Or"<br />U- OOH as in "gOOse" or "flUte" u- U as in "pUt"<br /><br />The Greek letter "upsilon" is found in many words adopted by Latin and is pronounced similarly to a French "u" which is quite undescribable unfortunately if you do not already know. If you cannot find someone to demonstrate it for you, I have heard it explained as a mix of (Latin) "I" and "U" or as a "half-assed" "O"

. It has both long and short forms just like all the other vowels.<br /><br />There are also a variety of diphthong, letters that sort of are pronounced quickly when they are together and become one syllable.<br /><br />AE or Æ is pronounced like "I" as in "rIde".<br />OE or Œ is pronounced like "OY" as in "bOY" or "bOIl".<br />EI is pronounced like "AY" as in "rEIn".<br />AU is pronounced like "OW" as in "pOUnd".<br />EU is a rare diphthong; just combine a Latin "E" and "U" and you will have it. Don't use it unless you know it is pronounced as such.<br />UI is a rare diphthong; same as above.<br /><br />There are some older diphthong such as AI, but you probably won't encounter those unless you are studying very old Latin.<br />[/quote]