Infantulus - Alphabet & Pronunciation - Vowels (con'd)

Here are the first three questions and answers in the first section.

Q: What are the Latin vowels?

a, e, i, o, u, and y. The rest are consonants.

Q: How do they sound when short?
a sounds like the “ah” in aha,
e like the “eh” in met,
i like the “i” in bit,
o like the “oh” in omit,
u like the “oo” in foot, and
y like the “y” in Syrius. [like German ü; form lips for oo but say ee].

Q: A vowel is short before what letters?
A vowel is short before nd, nt, h, or another vowel. A vowel is also short before final m or t and, in multi-syllable words, l or r.

So, when we read ostentantur, they are introduced, in the Alexander Lenard translation of A. A. Milne's story of that "silly old bear," in which Winnie the Pooh and the bees are introduced to us, we know that the e, a, and u are pronounded short like the "eh" in met, the "ah" in aha, and the "oo" in foot.