# Pronunciation of the future tense



## Andræs

Salvete!

Nesciō ut hoc poëma Catullī ēloquitur:

"*Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo*"

Quæ syllaba accentum habet?

pænultima syllaba: "Pedi'*ca*bo ego vos et irru'*ma*bo"
vel ultima syllaba: "Pedica'*bo* ego vos et irruma'*bo*"

Gratias vōbīs agō!

-------------------

Hello!

I don't how to pronounce this poem by Catullus:

"*Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo*"

Which syllable has the accent?

the third syllable: "Pedi'*ca*bo ego vos et irru'*ma*bo"

or the last one: "Pedica'*bo* ego vos et irruma'*bo*"


It's the future tense of the verbs pedicare and irrumare. At a first moment I thought it would be the penultimate syllable,  but as a Spanish native speaker that sounds a bit awkward because of a  certain similarity to the past. In Spanish and Italian future has the  accent on the last syllable: 

IT - a'*ma*re > ame'*rò* 
ES - a'*mar* > ama'*ré*

If someone can help me with this it would be great, I´m trying to record this for a Latin poetry project : )

Thanks in advance!


----------



## brookter

As I understand it, the stress in Latin is on the penultimate (last but one) syllable if that is long, and the antepenultimate (two from the end) if the penultimate is short.[1]

So, for the future tense of first and second conjugation verbs, the penultimate is stressed on the first, second, third person singular, and third person plural. (Stressed syllable in bold)

am*ā*bō, am*ā*bis, am*ā*bit, am*ā*bimus, am*ā*bitis, am*ā*bunt.

But I've also read that stress is less important in Latin than vowel length, particularly in poetry, and there is often some complicated interplay between the two, which I don't pretend to understand!

regards

David

[1] I wanted to say it's never on the last syllable, but frankly I don't know enough to be that certain. In any, case, what I've described is the rule of thumb that is in my textbooks.


----------



## CapnPrep

Andræs said:


> In Spanish and Italian future has the  accent on the last syllable:
> 
> IT - a'*ma*re > ame'*rò*
> ES - a'*mar* > ama'*ré*


Don't let this mislead you: The future forms in Spanish and Italian are not derived from the Latin future tense. You can read about this for example on Wikipedia, and also in the following thread:
*All Romance languages - Creation of the Conditional Tense*
(The conditional and the future have a lot in common in Romance.)



> If someone can help me with this it would be great, I´m trying to record this for a Latin poetry project : )


Charming. You should do a video, too.



brookter said:


> [1] I wanted to say it's never on the last syllable, but frankly I don't know enough to be that certain.


Except in monosyllables, of course . Seriously, there are only a small number of cases of final stress, like _illíc_ and _adhúc_, and contracted verb forms like _amávit_ > _amát_ (in this case, the Latin form _does_ explain why the Spanish and Italian preterite forms _amó_/_amò_ have final stress).


----------



## radagasty

brookter said:


> But I've also read that stress is less important in Latin than vowel length, particularly in poetry, and there is often some complicated interplay between the two, which I don't pretend to understand!


 
In classical verse, the metre depends solely on syllable quantity: stress plays no part. The two interact to the extent that the latter is determined by the former. In mediaeval verse, on the other hand, the metre is generally stress-based (as in English) and syllable quantity plays a rôle to the extent that it determines the stress.



> [1] I wanted to say it's never on the last syllable, but frankly I don't know enough to be that certain. In any, case, what I've described is the rule of thumb that is in my textbooks.


 
This is generally true: the stress almost always falls on the penultimate or the antepenultimate. In a very small number of words, like those which have lost their original final syllable, e.g., _istic_, _illuc_, etc., or contractions, the stress falls on the ultimate.


----------



## Andræs

Thanks a lot to everybody for your answers : )



> Charming. You should do a video, too.



Actually, this is a music project ; ) Just search for "El Fulminador" on internet.

Regards!


----------



## Andræs

Salvete everybody!

After recording sessions, arrangements and editing, the final version of the track with Catullus 16 "Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo" is finished : ) You can listen to it here: 

http://soundcloud.com/elfulminador/october-duro

The song has a long introduction, and after that a rhythmic recitation of the poem can be heard. Hope you enjoy it and most of all, thanks for helping me out with Latin pronunciation! : D


----------

