by Aldus Marius on Tue Jan 13, 2004 3:55 am
Ave, O Gnae Corneli... [there, now you have an example of your forename in the vocative, if you didn't already]
"NY-us" is probably the closest you'll get, unless you're from one of those tribes that makes fascinating consonants in the backs of their throats. The 'true' pronunciation of the GN pair is probably closest to that in the middle of 'ringneck'...hard to put that at the beginning of a word, but the Romans did. AE was a recognized diphthong, merging the 'ah' sound of the A with the 'eh' of Latin E. Say it fast and you get 'ai' like in 'buy'. So...NY-us.
[The above edumacated guesses are courtesy of the book Vox Latina, by W. Sidney Allen. This modest, even slim book is the moral equivalent of a dictionary at a Scrabble game. Find it used. You won't regret it.]
In amicitia,
Aldus Marius Peregrinus.