Expert: Maria - 5/29/2008

Question
I was wondering how you would pronounce the phrase Nihil sine causa?

Answer
Hello,

here's the pronunciation of this quotation from Cicero, ‘De Natura Deorum’ [On the Nature of the Gods], Book I, chapter 33, paragraph 92:

N like in English.
I like the I in “interest”. The accent falls on this vowel.
H like the H in “house” or in “hurry”, i.e. an aspirated consonant.
I like the I in “interest”.
L like in English.

S like the S in “sound”
I like the I in “interest”. The accent falls on this vowel.
N like in English
E like the E in “specify”

C like the C in “cat”
A like the A in “father”. The accent falls on this vowel.
U like the  U in “truth”
S like the S in “rose”, i.e. a sibilant consonant.
A  like the A in “father”

Best regards,
Maria
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Note that:
-NIHIL (neuter) = nothing
-SINE (preposition which takes the ablative case) = without
-CAUSA (ablative. 1st.declension) = a reason

NIHIL SINE CAUSA means “Nothing without a reason”, as you know.