Pronouncing Proserpine/a

[justcarol67]

annemehr wrote:
> 
Speaking of Persephone, I never did know how to pronounce Proserpine.
Anyone?

>
Jen responded: 
> I sort of steered away from Roman mythology, as I preferred Greek
> mythology.  However, I remember when I took a GM class in college,
the prof rhymed her Roman name with Porcupine.  I don't know if that's
> correct, but it sure was easy to remember. ;) Personally, I like the
> Greek names better, but it's just IMO.


Carol:
Well, the "e" is not really a Latin ending for a feminine name (I'm
assuming that was an Anglicization) and the Romans certainly didn't
use a silent "e" to signal a long "i" sound. It was actually spelled
Proserpina, which I would pronounce Prah SER pin uh. But what do I
know? I still say that Accio should be AH keo!

Carol

P.S. As I think I noted earlier, Lord Byron pronounced Don Juan as
"Don JU un" (to rhyme with "ruin" and "pursuin'"), so we really can't
trust the English poets on Proserpine. C.