The pronunciation of Latin in 18th. century America: the case of the Audience of Guatemala

Abstract

Due to its importance in Colonial Society, American Latin has been studied from many different points of view; however, its pronunciation has been poorly tackled by scholars. This paper aims to analyse how Latin is oralised in the Audience of Guatemala in 18th. century, in order to point out its main phonic features. We can verify that this latin is pronounced in a very Spanish way, using the most important dialectal phenomena that are described for Central American Spanish varieties during this period.