Literary Latin | |
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Native to |
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Era | c. 1st century B.C. - today |
Indo-European
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Early form | |
Latin | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
Literary Latin is a literary form of Latin language, with its colloqiual counterpart being Vulgar Latin. Originally used in ancient Rome as literary language, after the fall of Western Rome, Literary Latin became the common language of international communication, science, scholarship and academia in Europe until well into the 18th century, when other regional vernaculars (including Vulgar Latin descendants, the Romance languages) supplanted it in common academic and political usage. It is still used today in some purposes, althrough far less than in previous centuries.
First form of Literary Latin was a Classical Latin, standardised by the 1st century BC. It was used during the late Roman Republic as well as early Roman Empire. Due to the deterioration of language standards during the decline of the Roman Empire, Late Latin was the form in use from the 3rd century up until the 9th century. Medieval Latin was used during the Middle Ages as a literary language from the 9th century to the Renaissance, which then used Renaissance Latin. Later, New Latin evolved during the early modern era to eventually become various forms of rarely spoken Contemporary Latin, one of which, the Ecclesiastical Latin, remains the official language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church at Vatican City.
History
Classical Latin
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20220701033357im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Rome_Colosseum_inscription_2.jpg/250px-Rome_Colosseum_inscription_2.jpg)
During the late republic and into the first years of the empire, a new Classical Latin arose, a conscious creation of the orators, poets, historians and other literate men, who wrote the great works of classical literature, which were taught in grammar and rhetoric schools. Today's instructional grammars trace their roots to such schools, which served as a sort of informal language academy dedicated to maintaining and perpetuating educated speech.[1][2]
Late Latin
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20220701033357im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/Simone_Martini_003.jpg/250px-Simone_Martini_003.jpg)
The decline of the Roman Empire meant a deterioration in educational standards that brought about Late Latin, a postclassical stage of the Literary Latin seen in Christian writings of the time. It was more in line with everyday speech, not only because of a decline in education but also because of a desire to spread the word to the masses.[citation needed]
Medieval Latin
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20220701033357im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Calligraphy.malmesbury.bible.arp.jpg/250px-Calligraphy.malmesbury.bible.arp.jpg)
Medieval Latin is the Literary Latin in use during that portion of the postclassical period when no corresponding Latin vernacular existed. The spoken language had developed into the various incipient Romance languages; however, in the educated and official world, Latin continued without its natural spoken base. Moreover, this Latin spread into lands that had never spoken Latin, such as the Germanic and Slavic nations. It became useful for international communication between the member states of the Holy Roman Empire and its allies.
Without the institutions of the Roman Empire that had supported its uniformity, medieval Latin lost its linguistic cohesion: for example, in classical Latin sum and eram are used as auxiliary verbs in the perfect and pluperfect passive, which are compound tenses. Medieval Latin might use fui and fueram instead.[3] Furthermore, the meanings of many words have been changed and new vocabularies have been introduced from the vernacular. Identifiable individual styles of classically incorrect Latin prevail.[3]
Renaissance Latin
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20220701033357im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Incunabula_distribution_by_language.png/220px-Incunabula_distribution_by_language.png)
The Renaissance briefly reinforced the position of Latin as a spoken language by its adoption by the Renaissance Humanists. Often led by members of the clergy, they were shocked by the accelerated dismantling of the vestiges of the classical world and the rapid loss of its literature. They strove to preserve what they could and restore Latin to what it had been and introduced the practice of producing revised editions of the literary works that remained by comparing surviving manuscripts. By no later than the 15th century they had replaced Medieval Latin with versions supported by the scholars of the rising universities, who attempted, by scholarship, to discover what the classical language had been.[5][6]
New Latin
During the Early Modern Age, Latin still was the most important language of culture in Europe. Therefore, until the end of the 17th century, the majority of books and almost all diplomatic documents were written in Latin.[citation needed] Afterwards, most diplomatic documents were written in French (a Romance language) and later native or other languages.[citation needed]
Contemporary Latin
Despite having no native speakers, Latin is still used for a variety of purposes in the contemporary world.
Religious use
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20220701033357im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Wallsend_platfom_2_02.jpg/220px-Wallsend_platfom_2_02.jpg)
The largest organisation that retains Latin in official and quasi-official contexts is the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church required that Mass be carried out in Latin until the Second Vatican Council of 1962–1965, which permitted the use of the vernacular. Latin remains the language of the Roman Rite. The Tridentine Mass (also known as the Extraordinary Form or Traditional Latin Mass) is celebrated in Latin. Although the Mass of Paul VI (also known as the Ordinary Form or the Novus Ordo) is usually celebrated in the local vernacular language, it can be and often is said in Latin, in part or in whole, especially at multilingual gatherings. It is the official language of the Holy See, the primary language of its public journal, the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, and the working language of the Roman Rota. Vatican City is also home to the world's only automatic teller machine that gives instructions in Latin.[7] In the pontifical universities postgraduate courses of Canon law are taught in Latin, and papers are written in the same language.
In the Anglican Church, after the publication of the Book of Common Prayer of 1559, a Latin edition was published in 1560 for use in universities such as Oxford and the leading "public schools" (English private academies), where the liturgy was still permitted to be conducted in Latin.[8] There have been several Latin translations since, including a Latin edition of the 1979 USA Anglican Book of Common Prayer.[9]
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20220701033357im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Former_logo_of_the_European_Council_and_Council_of_the_European_Union_%282009%29.svg/220px-Former_logo_of_the_European_Council_and_Council_of_the_European_Union_%282009%29.svg.png)
Use of Latin for mottos
In the Western world, many organizations, governments and schools use Latin for their mottos due to its association with formality, tradition, and the roots of Western culture.[10]
Canada's motto A mari usque ad mare ("from sea to sea") and most provincial mottos are also in Latin. The Canadian Victoria Cross is modelled after the British Victoria Cross which has the inscription "For Valour". Because Canada is officially bilingual, the Canadian medal has replaced the English inscription with the Latin Pro Valore.
Spain's motto Plus ultra, meaning "even further", or figuratively "Further!", is also Latin in origin.[11] It is taken from the personal motto of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain (as Charles I), and is a reversal of the original phrase Non terrae plus ultra ("No land further beyond", "No further!"). According to legend, this inscribed as a warning on the Pillars of Hercules, the rocks on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar and the western end of the known, Mediterranean world. Charles adopted the motto following the discovery of the New World by Columbus, and it also has metaphorical suggestions of taking risks and striving for excellence.
Several states of the United States have Latin mottos, such as:
- Connecticut's motto Qui transtulit sustinet ("He who transplanted sustains");
- Kansas's Ad astra per aspera ("Through hardships, to the stars");
- Colorado's Nil sine numine ("Nothing without providence");
- Michigan's Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam, circumspice ("If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you"), is based on that of Sir Christopher Wren, in St. Paul's Cathedral;
- Missouri's Salus populi suprema lex esto ("The health of the people should be the highest law");
- New York (state)'s Excelsior ("Ever upward");
- North Carolina's Esse quam videri ("To be rather than to seem");
- South Carolina's Dum spiro spero ("While [still] breathing, I hope");
- Virginia's Sic semper tyrannis ("Thus always to tyrants"); and
- West Virginia's Montani semper liberi ("Mountaineers [are] always free").
Many military organizations today have Latin mottos, such as:
- Semper paratus ("always ready"), the motto of the United States Coast Guard;
- Semper fidelis ("always faithful"), the motto of the United States Marine Corps;
- Semper Supra ("always above"), the motto of the United States Space Force;
- Per ardua ad astra ("Through adversity/struggle to the stars"), the motto of the Royal Air Force (RAF); and
- Vigilamus pro te ("We stand on guard for thee"), the motto of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Some colleges and universities have adopted Latin mottos, for example Harvard University's motto is Veritas ("truth"). Veritas was the goddess of truth, a daughter of Saturn, and the mother of Virtue.
Other modern uses
Switzerland has adopted the country's Latin short name Helvetia on coins and stamps, since there is no room to use all of the nation's four official languages. For a similar reason, it adopted the international vehicle and internet code CH, which stands for Confœderatio Helvetica, the country's full Latin name.
Some films of ancient settings, such as Sebastiane and The Passion of the Christ, have been made with dialogue in Latin for the sake of realism. Occasionally, Latin dialogue is used because of its association with religion or philosophy, in such film/television series as The Exorcist and Lost ("Jughead"). Subtitles are usually shown for the benefit of those who do not understand Latin. There are also songs written with Latin lyrics. The libretto for the opera-oratorio Oedipus rex by Igor Stravinsky is in Latin.
The continued instruction of Latin is often seen as a highly valuable component of a liberal arts education. Latin is taught at many high schools, especially in Europe and the Americas. It is most common in British public schools and grammar schools, the Italian liceo classico and liceo scientifico, the German Humanistisches Gymnasium and the Dutch gymnasium.
Occasionally, some media outlets, targeting enthusiasts, broadcast in Latin. Notable examples include Radio Bremen in Germany, YLE radio in Finland (the Nuntii Latini broadcast from 1989 until it was shut down in June 2019),[12] and Vatican Radio & Television, all of which broadcast news segments and other material in Latin.[13][14][15]
A variety of organisations, as well as informal Latin 'circuli' ('circles'), have been founded in more recent times to support the use of spoken Latin.[16] Moreover, a number of university classics departments have begun incorporating communicative pedagogies in their Latin courses. These include the University of Kentucky, the University of Oxford and also Princeton University.
There are many websites and forums maintained in Latin by enthusiasts. The Latin Wikipedia has more than 130,000 articles.
See also
- Vulgar Latin, vernacular of Latin until it diversified into the Romance languages.
Notes
References
- ^ Pope, Mildred K (1966). From Latin to modern French with especial consideration of Anglo-Norman; phonology and morphology. Publications of the University of Manchester, no. 229. French series, no. 6. Manchester: Manchester university press. p. 3.
- ^ Monroe, Paul (1902). Source book of the history of education for the Greek and Roman period. London, New York: Macmillan & Co. pp. 346–352.
- ^ a b Elabani, Moe (1998). Documents in medieval Latin. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. pp. 13–15. ISBN 978-0-472-08567-5.
- ^ "Incunabula Short Title Catalogue". British Library. Archived from the original on 12 March 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
- ^ Ranieri, Luke (3 March 2019). "What is Latin? the history of this ancient language, and the proper way we might use it". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-10-27. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ Pulju, Timothy. "History of Latin". Rice University. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ Moore, Malcolm (28 January 2007). "Pope's Latinist pronounces death of a language". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 August 2009.
- ^ "Liber Precum Publicarum, The Book of Common Prayer in Latin (1560). Society of Archbishop Justus, resources, Book of Common Prayer, Latin, 1560. Retrieved 22 May 2012". Justus.anglican.org. Archived from the original on 12 June 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ^ "Society of Archbishop Justus, resources, Book of Common Prayer, Latin, 1979. Retrieved 22 May 2012". Justus.anglican.org. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ^ ""Does Anybody Know What 'Veritas' Is?" | Gene Fant". First Things. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
- ^ "La Moncloa. Símbolos del Estado". www.lamoncloa.gob.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- ^ "Finnish broadcaster ends Latin news bulletins". RTÉ News. 24 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 June 2019.
- ^ "Latein: Nuntii Latini mensis lunii 2010: Lateinischer Monats rückblick" (in Latin). Radio Bremen. Archived from the original on 18 June 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- ^ Dymond, Jonny (24 October 2006). "Finland makes Latin the King". BBC Online. Archived from the original on 3 January 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
- ^ "Nuntii Latini" (in Latin). YLE Radio 1. Archived from the original on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
- ^ "About us (English)". Circulus Latínus Londiniénsis (in Latin). 2015-09-13. Retrieved 2021-06-29.