The Proper Pronunciation of Certiorari

[Dan Goncharoff]

My eighth grade Latin teacher had us pronounce 'c' as 'k', so that Caesar
came out similar to Kaiser.

That said, we were learning classical Latin. I would expect more modern
Latin to reflect the Vulgate.

DanG


On Tue, Jun 24, 2014 at 1:54 PM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> Subject:      Re: The Proper Pronunciation of Certiorari
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> That's one of the confounding issues. I know someone who claims to =
> pronounce Cicero with the k sounds, and I used to claim to my niece that =
> I pronounced triceratops with a k sound, but I was lying. BB
>
> On Jun 24, 2014, at 10:45 AM, Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
> > The second pronunciation in the list suggest a justice who remembers
> > his/her Church Latin pronunciation.
> >=20
> >=20
> >=20
> > On Tue, Jun 24, 2014 at 1:34 PM, Benjamin Barrett =
> <gogaku at ix.netcom.com>
> > wrote:
> >=20
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> -----------------------
> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> >> Subject:      Re: The Proper Pronunciation of Certiorari
> >>=20
> >> =
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> -----
> >>=20
> >> Black's gives
> >>=20
> >> 's=3DC9=3D99rsh(iy)=3DC9=3D99r'eray
> >> 's=3DC9=3D99rsh=3DC9=3D99r'eriy
> >>=20
> >> but I have never really trusted that for pronunciation.
> >>=20
> >> I think this word falls into a group of a large number of Latin- and =
> =3D
> >> Greek-derived words for which there is no standard pronunciation =
> because =3D
> >> they're not said often enough. Clade names are often impossible to =3D
> >> figure out.
> >>=20
> >> Benjamin Barrett
> >> Formerly of Seattle, WA
> >>=20
> >> Learn Ainu! https://sites.google.com/site/aynuitak1/videos
> >>=20
> >> On Jun 24, 2014, at 8:58 AM, Baker, John <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM> wrote:
> >>=20
> >>> =3D20
> >>>               "Certiorari" refers to the Supreme Court's writ of =3D
> >> certiora=3D3D
> >>> ri, a key step in the consideration of the large majority of cases =3D=
>
> >> that the=3D3D
> >>> court considers.  It is central to Supreme Court practice and part =
> of =3D
> >> the =3D3D
> >>> vocabulary of every American lawyer.  But how should the word be =3D
> >> pronounced=3D3D
> >>> ?  It is Law Latin and was never used in classical periods, and =
> there =3D
> >> is ge=3D3D
> >>> neral agreement that an anglicized pronunciation is appropriate, but =
> =3D
> >> the ag=3D3D
> >>> reement stops there.
> >>> =3D20
> >>>               It turns out that the Supreme Court Justices =
> themselves =3D
> >> hav=3D3D
> >>> e no agreement on this point.  A recent article in The Green Bag, =3D
> >> which cal=3D3D
> >>> ls itself "an entertaining journal of law," counts a variety of =3D
> >> pronunciati=3D3D
> >>> ons used by Justices in formal settings, where they presumably had =3D=
>
> >> time to =3D3D
> >>> think about the pronunciation they wanted to use:
> >>> =3D20
> >>> ser-shee-or-RAHR-ee
> >>> sert-zee-or-RAHR-ee
> >>> ser-shee-or-RARE-eye
> >>> ser-shee-or-RARE-ee
> >>> ser-shee-or-ARR-eye
> >>> ser-shee-ARR-ee
> >>> =3D20
> >>>               On its face, this might seem to suggest that common =3D
> >> pronunc=3D3D
> >>> iations are superfluous, if a word's pronunciation can be as =
> variable =3D
> >> as sp=3D3D
> >>> ellings were five centuries ago.  But there is another approach =
> taken =3D
> >> by tw=3D3D
> >>> o Justices, who always pronounce it "cert" (i.e., "sert") in =
> informal =3D
> >> conte=3D3D
> >>> xts and "review" in more formal settings.  Apparently they, at =
> least, =3D
> >> feel =3D3D
> >>> discomfort with a word that does not have a standard pronunciation.
> >>> =3D20
> >>>               The article is at =3D
> >> http://www.greenbag.org/v17n3/v17n3_artic=3D3D
> >>> les_duane.pdf.
> >>> =3D20
>
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