Latin lessons typically include a study of:
- Latin grammar and language
- Latin prose
- Latin verse
Latin is the basis of all Romance languages which include Spanish,
Portuguese, French, Romanian, Italian and Catalan whose words stem from
the original Latin as spoken in the Roman empire. The countries which
host these languages also have a strong Roman Catholic faith which
further propagates Latin. On top of that, English contains a large
element of Latin with many of its technical words stemming direct from
their Latin origins. These Romance Languages stem from what is called
Vulgar Latin, a language which continued to be spoken until long after
the demise of the Roman Empire as opposed to Classical Latin which is
the language of Latin Prose and Latin Poetry.
English also makes use of Latin expressions both in every day usage (eg
ad nauseam, quid pro quo, id est [ie], ad hoc, interim etc) with both 'eg
- exempli gratia' and 'etc - et cetera' also being Latin expressions
which have survived. Modern law uses Latin expressions, too such as
'decree nisi', 'ex parte', 'habeas corpus' and 'volenti non fit injuria'
to name but a few. Legal Latin, though, is generally regarded as
mispronouncing Latin.
Latin is also used in biological classification - trees and wildlife
are categorized using Latin terms.
Apart from the above usages and in religious rituals, Latin is
rarely spoken any more however its presence is still very much felt in
the modern world partly since Latin was spoken by scholars until
relative recently - a mere few hundred years ago.
As a direct result of its continuing popularity and its place as a
foundation for many modern European languages, Latin continues to be
taught in Public Schools which have always seem themselves as the
bastions of what is known as The Classics.
See more about Latin on the www.anysubject.com website by clicking on
any of the following links:
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