# Correct Latin pronunciation of "Pontius"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 18, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397 "2009-02-18T14:25:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397/1 "2009-02-18T14:25:41Z")
Would Pontius Pilate’s first name be prounced “PONT e us,” “PON shus” or something else?
Thanks.
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### Author:  [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397/2 "2009-02-18T14:34:33Z")
I pronounce it Pont-chus.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397/3 "2009-02-18T14:36:01Z")
Classical Latin didn’t have anything like English “sh,” [ETA: or “ch”] so probably not that last one. Cassell’s Latin dictionary says that all the vowels are short, so I assume “Pon” as in _pond_\*, “ti” as in _still_, and “us” as in _us_. Alternatively, it may have been “Pont” + “yus” — I’m not sure how many syllables it’s supposed to have, and -ius can be “ih-us” or “yuss.” Classical Latin is also supposed to have had a pitch accent as well as a stress accent, but don’t ask me how that works.
\*But not aspirated like an English speaker would, more like French, Spanish, or Italian.
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### Author:  [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397/4 "2009-02-18T15:03:17Z")
As far as I know it should be something like:
[ˈpɔntijʊs]
Stress on the first syllable
“pond” with a “t” seems about right, just without aspiration
“i” between consonant and vowel becomes [ij].
Short “u” is a [ʊ] as in “put”.
Voiceless “s”
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### Author:  [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397/5 "2009-02-18T15:34:54Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#):
>
> …“us” as in _us_.
[mitpick]It would be “us” as in p **us** s, as **kellner** indicated, not “us” as in p **us** or **us**.[/nitpick]
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### Author:  [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397/6 "2009-02-18T15:36:15Z")
Pon-tee-us (like pond-tea-us, without the D). Classical Latin was more sonorous and, as I understand it, put less emphasis on accenting one syllable more strongly; try giving all three syllables roughly the same level of stress, perhaps only a little more on the pon. (It’s been a long time since my Latin classes, but that’s how i remember it.)
His other name is, if anything, even farther from English standard pronunciation. Pilate (in classical Latin) isn’t “pilot,” but pih-lah-tay.
edit: **Gary T** and **kellner** are right, us as in puss or put, not uh or up. It’s a somewhat subtle difference to some speakers.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397/7 "2009-02-18T15:53:06Z")
Wouldn’t it be more like “pawn-tee-ooss”?
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397/8 "2009-02-18T16:46:52Z")
> [@Sailboat](#):
>
> His other name is, if anything, even farther from English standard pronunciation. Pilate (in classical Latin) isn’t “pilot,” but pih-lah-tay.
Pilate wasn’t his name in Latin. It’s the English form of the name Pilatus. Pilate (three syllables) happens to be the vocative case of Pilatus, but that’s not the origin of the English spelling.
There are many famous Romans whose English names are different from their Latin names: Virgil for Virgilius, Hadrian for Hadrianus, Marc Antony for Marcus Antonius, Constantine for Constantinus, Tarquin for Tarquinius, etc.
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397/9 "2009-02-18T17:33:42Z")
> [@bibliophage](#):
>
> There are many famous Romans whose English names are different from their Latin names: Virgil for Virgilius, Hadrian for Hadrianus, Marc Antony for Marcus Antonius, Constantine for Constantinus, Tarquin for Tarquinius, etc.
You mean Virgil for Vergilius.
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### Author:  [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397/10 "2009-02-18T17:51:28Z")
> [@bibliophage](#):
>
> Pilate wasn’t his name in Latin. It’s the English form of the name Pilatus. Pilate (three syllables) happens to be the vocative case of Pilatus, but that’s not the origin of the English spelling.
>
> There are many famous Romans whose English names are different from their Latin names: Virgil for Virgilius, Hadrian for Hadrianus, Marc Antony for Marcus Antonius, Constantine for Constantinus, Tarquin for Tarquinius, etc.
D’oh. Good point, **bibliophagus**.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397/11 "2009-02-18T18:22:46Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#):
>
> [mitpick]It would be “us” as in p **us** s, as **kellner** indicated, not “us” as in p **us** or **us**.[/nitpick]
Quite right… thank you.
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### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2009, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397/12 "2009-02-19T11:20:38Z")
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> Wouldn’t it be more like “pawn-tee-ooss”?
Thank you for getting that right.
Bit of trivia: In the medieval Catholic pronunciation of Latin, they adopted it to sound as much like Italian as possible. Which would result in “pawnts-yoos”. Church Latin pronounces the digraph _ti_ before a vowel as “tsy.” As in Italian _Ponzio_ (because _z_ is pronounced /ts/ in Italian). Now you know the derivation of “Ponzi scheme.” The ancient name Pontius may be derived from the Samnite language. [sup][Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaius_Pontius)[/sup]
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2009, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397/13 "2009-02-19T11:51:25Z")
> [@Johanna](#):
>
> Thank you for getting that right.
It helps if you read the names in Hebrew. It’s a very formalistic language - there’s only one possible way of pronouncing a Hebrew word - and foreign names are usually transcribed phoenetically. Insomuch as Hebrew vowel sounds are similar to Latin vowel sounds (and I believe they’re much closer than the English), the Hebrew form of Latin names is most likely very similar to the original.
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### Author:  [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2009, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397/14 "2009-02-19T12:26:50Z")
> [@Johanna](#):
>
> Bit of trivia: In the medieval Catholic pronunciation of Latin, they adopted it to sound as much like Italian as possible. Which would result in “pawnts-yoos”. Church Latin pronounces the digraph _ti_ before a vowel as “tsy.”
That’s roughly how we pronounce it in modern ecclesiastical Latin at our church when we say the Credo (_sub Pontio Pilato_) each Sunday, and during Holy Week, when the Passions from each of the four gospels are read. The o vowel is slightly rounder though.
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### Author:  [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397/15 "2009-02-19T17:20:28Z")
Valente,
Vox Imperitorius
Sorry. That’s all the Latin I know. 😃
(apologies in advance for anyone offended. I’m so immature sometimes)
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### Author:  [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-latin-pronunciation-of-pontius/486397/16 "2009-02-19T19:41:52Z")
> [@bibliophage](#):
>
> Pilate wasn’t his name in Latin. It’s the English form of the name Pilatus. Pilate (three syllables) happens to be the vocative case of Pilatus, but that’s not the origin of the English spelling.
>
> There are many famous Romans whose English names are different from their Latin names: Virgil for Virgilius, Hadrian for Hadrianus, Marc Antony for Marcus Antonius, Constantine for Constantinus, Tarquin for Tarquinius, etc.
So, he was the guy with the body-core exercises?😉