There are two types of sounds used in language: consonants and vowels. Vowels are those sounds which are the nucleus of a syllable, and are made through placing your tongue in a particular position which causes your mouth cavity to resonate at certain frequencies. Consonants, on the other hand, appear at the edge of a syllable, and are made by impeding or obstructing the airflow through your mouth partially or completely. 

Note that in the charts below, I provide the symbols used by the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to describe the pronunciation of various sounds for those who are familiar with it. If you are not familiar with the IPA, you should refer to the column on English equivalents. 

Another thing you can note is that, at the period when Classical Latin was in use, there was no distinction between small and capital letters--they used capital letters only. Modern spells are often written with a mixture of small and capital letters. They also didn't typically use spaces in Classical Latin; again, we typically add spaces in modern spells.

Vowels

Vowels in Latin can be classified based on four characteristics: length, height, backness, and lip rounding. Length refers to whether you pronounce the vowel for a short period, or whether it is more drawn out. Length was not marked in Classical Latin but is marked in modern texts by putting a macron above the letter (ā). We will discuss length more in the chapter on syllables and stress. Height refers to how high in your mouth your tongue is while pronouncing the vowel. This ranges from high, with your tongue right below the roof of your mouth, to low, like when the doctor tells you to say, "Ah!" There are also middle vowels, which are between these two extremes. Vowels can also be front, with the tongue right behind your teeth, or back, with the tongue towards the back of your mouth. Finally, some vowels are pronounced with your lips rounded (in an o shape), while others are pronounced with your lips spread (like a smile). 

Latin has two sets of vowels: monophthongs and diphthongs. For monophthongs, your tongue doesn't move; the vowel is one clear note, you could say. Your tongue does move during the pronunciation of diphthongs, though. You can think of diphthongs as two vowels pushed together, so you start by pronouncing one, but then gradually shift until you're pronouncing another vowel. 

First, let's consider the monophthongs. Note that they didn't have the letter U but used V instead. Modern spells often use U, though, in place of V.

 The letter Y was truly a vowel in Latin, unlike in English where it is only sometimes a vowel. The sound the Y made is not used in English, but it is used in other languages you may have heard being spoken, such as French. 

Latin letter	IPA	English equivalent	Example English word(s)	Tongue position	Lip position
A	[a/a:]	ah	cat	low	spread
E	[e/e:]	eh	late, bail	middle, front	spread
I	[i/i:]	ee	feet, near	high, front	spread
O	[o/o:]	oh	bone, loan	middle, back	rounded
V	[u/u:]	oo	loon, soup	high, back	rounded
Y	[y]	ew	tune, new	high, front	rounded

The sound I listed for the English equivalent for Y is not quite right since we don't have it in English, but it's the closest we can get! If you want to try to pronounce the actual Latin Y, make an "oh" sound, paying attention to how your lips make a round shape. Now make an "ee" sound. While keeping your tongue in the same place as for "ee," add the round shape your lips made while making "oh." Note that Y is one sound that doesn't change while you pronounce it, where the sounds in English words like tune and new are actually diphthongs--two sounds, one right after the other!

Now let's look at the diphthongs. Remember that diphthongs are like two vowels squished together, pronounced one right after another. 

Latin letter	IPA	English equivalent	Example English word(s)	Starting position	Movement direction
AE	[aj]	ay	bye, high	low	upwards
OE	[oj]	oy	boy	middle back	up and to the front
AV	[aw]	ow	now	low	upwards, while rounding lips
EI	[ej]	ey	late, bail	middle front	upwards
EV	[ew]			middle front	up and back, while rounding lips

You might notice that I listed the same pronunciation for the monophthong E as for the diphthong EI. That's because, in English, we switch between the monophthong and the diphthong pronunciation of those sounds. We use the diphthong pronunciation the most frequently, and especially while speaking slowly, but we sometimes use the monophthong pronunciation when we speak quickly. Pay attention to whether your tongue glides around or stays put!

You might also notice that there is no English equivalent for EV. But fear not! We can figure out how it's pronounced by putting its two pieces together. Start by pronouncing an eh sound like in bait, and then switch to pronouncing a oo sound, like in boot.

Consonants

Consonants are classified by the nature and degree to which the airflow is blocked in the mouth. We can classify the consonants in Latin into four categories: stops, fricatives, nasals, and sonorants. We will consider each one of these in turn. Most of the Latin consonants are pronounced very similarly to English sounds. 

Consonants are also classified based on whether they are voiced or unvoiced. Voiced sounds are created by vibrating your vocal cords, while they are spread open for voiceless sounds. You can feel whether a sound is voiced or not by putting your hand on your Adam's apple. If you make a z sound, you should feel movement--that is your vocal cords vibrating. However, if you make an s sound, the movement will stop. 

The first group of consonants are the stops. They are called stops because they completely block the airflow for a brief amount of time. There are three different places in the mouth where the airflow can be blocked in Latin. You can close your lips, block the air with the tip of your tongue right behind your teeth, or block the air with the body of your tongue at the back of your mouth. Stops can be voiced, with your vocal cords vibrating, or voiceless, with your vocal cords spread. But they can also be aspirated, which means that you spread your vocal cords extra wide so that an extra little puff of air comes out when you pronounce it. In English, all voiceless stops are aspirated at the beginning of a word.

Latin letter	IPA	English equivalent	Example English word	Place	Voicing
PH	[pʰ]	p	pie	lips	aspirated
P	[p]	p	spy	lips	voiceless
B	[b]	b	bye	lips	voiced
TH	[tʰ]	t	type	behind teeth	aspirated
T	[t]	t	stump	behind teeth	voiceless
D	[d]	d	dump	behind teeth	voiced
KH	[kʰ]	k, c	kite, cup	back of mouth	aspirated
K	[k]	k, c	skate, scorch	back of mouth	voiceless
KW	[kʷ]	qu	queen	back of mouth and lips	voiceless
G	[g]	g	guy	back of mouth	voiced

You might notice that one of the stops is not like the other. KW has two places of articulation! It's main place of articulation is at the back of the mouth, just like regular K. But it also uses the lips at the same time. When making KW, you should round your lips into an oo shape, just as we discussed with the vowels above. 

The second group of consonants are the fricatives. Fricatives are made when you very nearly block the airway completely, but you leave a small opening. This opening is small enough that it creates friction in the escaping air, which is what makes the sound. The name fricative comes from the word friction. Latin has four fricatives. 

Latin letter	IPA	English equivalent	Example English word	Place	Voicing
F	[f]	f	fish	lips and teeth	voiceless
S	[s]	s	spy	behind teeth	voiceless
Z	[z]	z	zoo	behind teeth	voiced
H	[h]	h	hot	vocal cords	voiceless

In this chart, we see two new places in the mouth where things are pronounced. F is pronounced between your lower lip and your upper teeth, like you're biting your lip, and H is pronounced in your vocal cords! All four of these sounds are exactly the same as in English, so you should have no trouble pronouncing them!

There is one special sound in Latin, X, that is like a stop and a fricative squished together. You start with a complete blockage, and then you create a very small opening that creates friction. Note that the blockage and the small opening are made in two different parts of your mouth

Latin letter	IPA	English equivalent	Example English word	Place	Voicing
X	[ks]	x	axe	stop: back of mouth fricative: behind teeth	voiceless

The next group of sounds are called nasals. They are called that because they are made by blocking the airflow in your mouth completely, and instead sending the air through your nose. All nasals are voiced. 

Latin letter	IPA	English equivalent	Example English word	Place
M	[m]	m	mice	lips
N	[n]	n	nice	behind teeth
GN	[ɲ]	ñ	piñata	palate
NG	[ŋ]	ng	swimming	back of mouth

There is no GN sound in English except where we've borrowed words from other languages--like the ñ in piñata.

Finally, the last group of sounds are the sonorants. These are consonants made with a quite wide opening, much like vowels. Sometimes, they are even called semi-vowels! There are three in Latin. All sonorants are voiced.

Latin letter	IPA	English equivalent	Example English word	Place
I	[j]	y	yell	palate
R	[r]			behind teeth
V	[w]	w	wish	back of mouth and lips

The first thing you might notice about the sonorants is that two of them share letters with vowels! That is because they are essentially pronounced the same as the vowels, except quicker and on the edge of a syllable, rather than in the vowel nucleus. Note that V is pronounced with rounded lips.

R does not have an equivalent in English. It is pronounced as a trill behind the teeth. It is the same as the r in languages like Italian and Spanish, which we often call a rolled r. 

The astute reader may have noticed that Latin has fewer letters in its alphabet than English. Where English has 26 letters, Latin only had 23. It was missing J, U, and W. It didn't have the sound made by J in English, and it used V for both U and W.