INCE WE PROMOTE Latin on this website, I suppose I should say “indices” instead of “indexes.” Bringing words from foreign languages into English can be problematic. Almost everyone pronounces “incipit” with the accent on the second syllable—but in Latin, the word is íncipit. By the way, almost everyone pronounces “Carmina Burana” incorrectly—the word is Cármina, not Carmína. 1 In graduate school, I had a musicology professor who would throw a tantrum if somebody said “concerti” instead of “concertos”—her belief was concerto had entered the English language. (But I personally find “concertos” quite an ugly word.)
Anyhow…
The issue of hymnal indexes: Simple? Complicated? Frustrating? What say you?
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NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:
1 The Brébeuf hymnal uses accents for Latin words because they make a difference. The word ádvenit has a different meaning than advénit. Indeed, cónditor (“creator”) is quite different than condítor (“pickler”). It’s difficult for me to understand why certain modern publications—the Catholic Truth Society Missal, the Lumen Christi Missal, Father Martin O’Keefe’s Exsultemus, and so on—removed all the accents from the Latin.
