Learn English – The correct pronunciation of the last vowel in words “a priori” and “a posteriori”

pronunciation

English.SE, Hi, first time being here. I have had this confusion about the pronunciation of "a priori" and "a posteriori" for a long time, normally I just read the last vowel as /i/, however today my office mate asked me about this for he saw the pronunciation on Merriam-Webster online dictionary shows that the last vowel reads as /ai/, this reminded me that the philosophy professors whose lectures I took before didn't agree on this pronunciation either. Since I learned that Immanuel Kant borrowed these words from Latin, I wonder what is the correct way to pronounce these words in Latin or at least in a Latin'ish way.

Best Answer

The OED gives ay - pr - eye - 'or - eye as the only pronunciation. I (an American English speaker) usually say ah - pr - ee - 'or - ee (which appears in the MW pronunciation you cited), but I hear both. As for Immanuel Kant, he would have likely pronounced it differently than an ancient Roman anyhow. One of the key differences between classical and ecclesiastical Latin (the latter of which Kant certainly would have learned) is pronunciation. So, it's hard to say which one would be more "Latin" (neither is spot on).

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