Quaerendo invenietis: how do you pronounce Deo volente, Imago Dei, Opus Dei?

Quaerendo invenietis
By seeking you shall discover

I am receiving a fair number of questions relating to pronunciations. I handled this in the past, but those posts are now in the archives, I presume. So, let me try to handle some of these that are appearing frequently:

  • Deo volente The Merriam Webster online dictionary allows one to hear this pronunciation The speaker ends the phrase (God willing) with a "hard E". I would end it instead with the sound, AY. That is less "Anglicized."
  • Ad majorem Dei gloriam The Merriam Webster online dictionary does a good job with this phrase (For the greater glory of God which is the motto of the Jesuits). I use it as it gives the sound of Dei, which is the genitive case for Deus, God. That makes the translation "of God." This allows a number of words linked with Dei. For example:


Comments

  1. Thanks for this helpful post. It is beautiful Ecclesiastical Latin!

    My early years were spent learning "classical" Latin. So Caesar would be pronounced "Kaiser" (as in Wilhelm). Most "c's" were hard c's and ae was pronounced AYE.

    It is difficult for me to get away from what was drummed into my noggin.

    The Pater Noster in your YouTube is very nicely done! Pax tecum!

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