What is the famous "sonus medius" vowel sound in Latin? Classical Latin authors change their spelling of "optumus māxumus" to "optimus māximus" — why? Which spelling is a better representation of this vowel sound? Where does this vowel lie on the IPA chart, and how should we attempt to realize this vowel in our recitations of Classical Latin?

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Cited videos:

IPA Vowels Tutorial:
   • Vowel Pronunciation Tutorial • IPA (I...  

Latin "Lax" Vowels:
   • Does Latin have lax vowels? Refuting ...  

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SOURCES:

Vox Latina, by W. Sidney Allen
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The Pronunciation of Greek and Latin, Edgar Howard Sturtevant
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00:00 Intro
02:23 What is sonus medius?
04:38 What kind of vowel was it?
05:23 Causes
09:42 Vowel harmony?
10:42 Split of 'u' and 'i' in sonus medius
11:43 Recommendations