That’s what I said in the first one. 
If rather cryptically …
Especially for beginning students, pronouncing certain words can be quite difficult without this distinction. What does one do with > eiecerunt > on first sight?
-David
I would tend to agree, David. However, think about learning Italian; on first sight of seeing the word “famiglia,” with only English pronunciation to guide you, how would you know what that ‘gl’ was supposed to sound like? Or simply “guarda,” which looks like our “guard”? yet also has that essential ‘w’ sound after the ‘g’. Or even the word “piuttosto”; what’s to stop the unknowning student from saying “pee-oo-toe-stoe” rather than “pyut-tos-to”?
It is the teacher’s duty to instruct the student’s pronunciation by expressing correct pronunciation himself. Many “phonetic” spelling conventions, while well-meaning, tend to miss the point. And I believe this random ‘v’-ness may be included among their number.
As for your example, the professor must needs pronounce the word “eiecerunt” first, and make sure the student has it right before moving on. As with all the words.
Salue, Amadiue. Esne Hispanus, amice? Are you Spanish, my friend?
I understand what your book is describing. It’s putting forth the Spanish common pronunciation of Latin. Every nation has adopted a certain endemic pronunciation for Latin, such as German Latin, French Latin, English Latin, Italian Latin, Church Latin, Russian Latin, etcetera.
That your books mentions a double ‘i’, “ii”, as a possible pronunciation for Latin consonantal ‘i’ is very interesting; in older classical Latin, the Romans themselves in fact used a double ‘i’ of the same nature to express this sound, as we can see from numerous older inscriptions, though this convention later died out. However, rather than double ‘i’, double ‘l’ would likely be the better Spanish means of expressing the sound, or even better simply a ‘y’, as in English.
As for your bottom line, it depends what kind of cake you are simultaneously having and eating. That most Europeans have adopted the ‘v’ for consonantal ‘u’ in the recent age does not mean it is correct. It is merely conventional. Therefore, it depends which road you wish to take (and you can of couse always change that road whenever you want, even from person to person): to pronounce as the Romans did, and honor their words with their tongue, or pronounce as others around you do, in order to fit in. Conformity is an important thing. We all do it, just to get through daily life, and a life of yours, should it be in the Church, may very well depend upon comforming your manner of Latin elocution. Nevertheless, the true bottom line, in my opinion, is to choose the high road, to choose wisdom over ignorance. I find the easy way out leads nowhere but to disappointment. Even to a disappointment unseen. As being fellow men of faith, you may understand what I mean by this.
