Salve, amice.

hello

Breakdown of Salve, amice.

• amicus: the friend

Questions & Answers about Salve, amice.

How do you pronounce Salve, amice?

A common classroom pronunciation is:

• sal-ve = SAHL-weh
• a-mi-ce = ah-MEE-keh

So the whole phrase sounds roughly like SAHL-weh, ah-MEE-keh.

A few notes:

• v in restored Classical Latin is pronounced like English w.
• c before e is still always hard in Classical Latin, like k.
• Each vowel is clearly pronounced; Latin does not usually reduce unstressed vowels as much as English does.

In Ecclesiastical Latin, you may hear slightly different pronunciation, especially v like English v and c before e more like ch.

What does salve literally mean?

Literally, salve means something like be well or be healthy.

It comes from the verb salvēre, meaning to be well / to be in good health. So as a greeting, it functions like hello, but its original sense is closer to wishing someone well.

That is why Latin greetings can feel a little more literal than English ones.

Why is it amice and not amicus?

Because amice is the vocative form, which is the form used when directly addressing someone.