Latin macron rules

1. How do you know when to use macrons in Latin?
2. What is the rule for Latin syllables?
3. What is the M with a straight line over it?
4. What is the Latin stress rule?

How do you know when to use macrons in Latin?

In Latin, many of the more recent dictionaries and learning materials use the macron as the modern equivalent of the ancient Roman apex to mark long vowels. Any of the six vowel letters (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, ȳ) can bear it.

What is the rule for Latin syllables?

The syllables in Latin words are identified from the end: the last syllable is called the ultima, the second from last the penult, and the third from the end the antepenult. Careful observation of the long marks (macrons) over the vowels will thus help with both pronunciation and accenting of Latin words.

What is the M with a straight line over it?

(/ˈmækrɒn, ˈmeɪ-/) is a diacritical mark: it is a straight bar ¯ placed above a letter, usually a vowel. Its name derives from Ancient Greek μακρόν (makrón) "long", since it was originally used to mark long or heavy syllables in Greco-Roman metrics. It now more often marks a long vowel.

What is the Latin stress rule?

The basic rule of word stress in Latin was that words were normally stressed on the penultimate syllable unless that syllable was short (i.e. open with a short vowel as its nucleus), in which case the stress fell on the antepenultimate syllable.