There have been four prominent pronunciations over time. See section #2 on http://www.ai.uga.edu/mc/latinpro.pdf page.
Quite correct, section 2. But to really understand, you needs section 3, the first and the second comma.
That's why I would disagree on how JULIUS is phonetically rendered, not to mention how's CAESAR rendered in section 2.
But it's still a good compromise...
Cheers!
Ok. Let me try to explain.
The "U" sound, original, is very close to e.g. (exempli gratia|freely given as an example): "
ooze" or "b
oulevard" (first words containing "U" sound, coming to my mind).
And it (a vowel) never changes, no matter what precedes or follows.
As a consequence, trying to render JULIUS as YOO-LEE-US is phonetically wrong. If you decide "OO" is the sound, "US" has to be rendered as "OOS".
Sorry. CAESAR sounds as K-AY-S-AR, where AY sound as in "
Chelsey". I would spell it as KE-sar.
But in the end, it comes down to languages being a living entity. They change, they evolve. There isn't such a thing as the "perfect pronunciation". One true citizen of the world accepts diversity or it drifts away from the whole.
Double Cheers!