Recent Latin
Encyclopedia
Contemporary Latin is the form of the Latin language used from the end of the 19th century through to the present. Various kinds of contemporary Latin can be distinguished. On the one hand there is its symbolic survival in areas like taxonomy
and others as the result of the widespread presence of the language in the New Latin
era. This is normally found in the form of mere words or phrases used in the general context of other languages. On the other hand there is the use of Latin as a language in its own right as fully fledged means of expression. Living or Spoken Latin, being the most specific development of Latin in the contemporary context, is the primary subject of this article.
as the formerly dominant international lingua franca
down to the 19th century in a great number of fields, Latin is still present in words or phrases used in many languages around the world.
found in 1776 on the Seal of the United States, along with Annuit cœptis
and Novus ordo seclorum
, and adopted by an Act of Congress in 1782, are still in use. Similarly current pound sterling
coins are minted with the Latin inscription ELIZABETH·II·D·G·REG·F·D (Dei Gratia Regina, Fidei Defensor, i.e. Queen by the Grace of God, Defender of the Faith). The official motto of the European Union, adopted as recently as 2000, is the Latin In varietate concordia. Similarly to the multi-lingual European Union, the motto on the Canadian Victoria Cross is in Latin due to Canada's bilingual status.
or habeas corpus
.
The most famous retention of Latin is in the classification of living organisms and the binomial nomenclature
devised by Carolus Linnæus
, although the rules of nomenclature
that are used today allow the construction of names which may deviate considerably from historical norms.
Another continuation is the use of Latin names for the constellations and celestial objects (used in the Bayer designations of stars), as well as planets
and satellites, whose surface features have been given Latin selenographic
toponyms since the 17th century.
Symbols for many of the chemical elements of the periodic table
known in ancient times are based on their Latin names, like Au for aurum (gold) or Fe for ferrum (iron).
and classical compound
s.
, which has remained intact to the present. Although documents are first drafted in various vernaculars (mostly Italian, now also German), the official version is written in Latin by the specific Latin letters office
. The other is its use for the liturgy, which has been diminished after the Second Vatican Council
of 1962-65, but seems to have recently seen some resurgence sponsored in part by Pope Benedict XVI
.
. Some classical periodicals, like Mnemosyne
or the German Hermes, to this day accept articles in Latin for publication.
Latin is used in most of the introductions to the critical editions of ancient authors in the Oxford Classical Texts
series, and it is also nearly always used for the apparatus criticus of Ancient Greek and Latin texts.
The University Orator at the University of Cambridge
makes a speech in Latin marking the achievements of each of the honorands at the annual Honorary Degree
Congregations, as does the Public Orator at the Encaenia
ceremony at the University of Oxford
. Harvard
and Princeton
also have Latin Salutatory commencement addresses every year.
The Charles University in Prague
and many other universities around the world conduct the awarding of their doctoral
degrees in Latin.
In addition to the above, Brown
, Sewanee and Bard College
also hold in Latin a portion of their graduation
ceremonies.
The famous hymn Gaudeamus igitur is acknowledged as the anthem of academia and is sung at university opening or graduation ceremonies throughout Europe.
.
era started to be perceived, there were attempts to counteract this process and revitalise the use of Latin for international communication.
In 1815 Miguel Olmo wrote a little booklet proposing Latin as the common language for Europe with the title Otia Villaudricensia ad octo magnos principes qui Vindobonæ anno MDCCCXV pacem orbis sanxerunt, de lingua Latina et civitate Latina fundanda liber singularis (Villaudric leisure to the eight great princes who signed world peace at Vienna in 1815, a book about the Latin language and the foundation of a Latin city).
In the late nineteenth century, Latin periodicals advocating the revived use of Latin as an international language started to appear. Between 1889 and 1895 Karl Heinrich Ulrichs published in Italy his Alaudæ. This publication was followed by the Vox Urbis: de litteris et bonis artibus commentarius, published by the architect and engineer Aristide Leonori from 1898, twice a month, until 1913, one year before the outbreak of World War I
.
The early 20th century, marked by warfare and by drastic social and technological changes, saw few advances in the use of Latin outside of academia. Following the beginnings of the re-integration of postwar Europe
, however, Latin revivalism gained some strength.
One of its main promoters was the former dean of the University of Nancy (France
), Prof. Jean Capelle, who in 1952 published a cornerstone article called "Latin or Babel" where he proposed Latin as an international spoken language.
Capelle was called "the soul of the movement" when in 1956 the first International Conference for Living Latin (Congrès international pour le Latin vivant) took place in Avignon
, marking the beginning of a new era for the active use of Latin. About 200 participants from 22 different countries took part in that foundational conference.
diverged most markedly from the restored classical model, the struggle between the two pronunciations lasted for the entire 19th century. The transition between Latin pronunciations was sudden and drastic (the "new pronunciation" was adopted throughout the schools in England in 1907).
Although the older pronunciation, as found in the nomenclature and terminology of various professions, continued to be used for several decades, and, in some spheres, prevails to the present day, contemporary Latin as used by the living Latin community is largely characterized by the general adoption of the classical pronunciation of Latin as restored by specialists in Latin historical phonology.
A similar shift occurred in German-speaking areas; the traditional pronunciation is discussed in Deutsche Aussprache des Lateinischen , while the reconstructed classical pronunciation, which took hold circa 1900, is discussed at Schulaussprache des Lateinischen.
In the United Kingdom, the Association for the Reform of Latin Teaching
(ARLT, still existing as the Association foR Latin Teaching), was founded in 1913 by the distinguished Classical scholar W. H. D. Rouse
. It arose from Summer Schools which Rouse organised in order to train Latin teachers in the direct method of language teaching
, which entailed using the language in everyday situations rather than merely learning grammar
and syntax
by rote. The Classical Association
also encourages this approach. The Cambridge University Press
has now published a series of school textbooks based on the adventures of a mouse called Minimus
designed to help children of primary school age to learn the language, as well as its well known Cambridge Latin Course
(CLC) to teach the language to secondary school
students, all of which include extensive use of dialogue and an approach to language teaching mirroring that now used for most modern languages, which have brought many of the principles espoused by Rouse and the ARLT into the mainstream of Latin teaching.
Outside of Great Britain, one of the most accomplished handbooks used worldwide that fully adopts the direct method for Latin is the well known Lingua Latina per se illustrata by the Dane Hans Henning Ørberg
published first in 1955 and improved in 1990. It is composed fully in Latin, and requires no other language of instruction, whereby it is used to teach pupils whatever their mother tongue.
of Latin as a language of international communication, in the academic, perhaps even scientific and diplomatic, spheres (as it was in Europe and European colonies through Middle Ages until the mid-18th century), or as an international auxiliary language
to be used by anyone. However, as a language native to no people, this movement has not received support from any government, national or supranational.
The foundational first International Conference for living Latin (Congrès international pour le Latin vivant) that took place in Avignon
was followed by at least five others. As a result of those first conferences, the Academia Latinitati Fovendae was then created in Rome
. Among its most prominent members are well known classicists from all over the world, like Prof. Michael von Albrecht or Prof. Kurt Smolak. The ALF held its first international conference in Rome in 1966 bringing together about 500 participants. From then on conferences have taken place every four or five years, in Bucharest
, Malta, Dakar
, Erfurt
and Berlin, Madrid and many other places. The official language of the ALF is Latin and all acts and proceedings take place in Latin.
Also in the year 1966 Clément Desessard published a method with tapes within the series sans peine of the French company Assimil
. Desessard's work aimed at teaching contemporary Latin for use in an everyday context. Assimil took this out of print at the end of 2007 and published another Latin method which now focuses on the classical idiom only. Desessard's method is still used for living Latin instruction at the Schola Latina Universalis
.
In 1986 the Belgian radiologist Gaius Licoppe
, who had discovered the contemporary use of Latin and learnt how to speak it thanks to Desessard's method, founded in Brussels the Fundatio Melissa for the promotion of Latin teaching and use for communication.
In Germany, Marius Alexa and Inga Pessarra-Grimm founded in September 1987 the Latinitati Vivæ Provehendæ Associatio (LVPA, or Association for the Promotion of Living Latin).
One of the most extensive attempt to create a Latin immersion academic environment is on the part of the Accademia Vivarium Novum
located in Rome, Italy. All classes are taught by faculty fluent in Latin or Ancient Greek, and the internationally diverse community of students residing at the Accademia speaks in Latin or Greek during meals and all other moments outside class. Most students are supported by scholarships from the Mnemosyne foundation and spend one or two years in residence to acquire fluency in Latin.
The living Latin movement eventually crossed the Atlantic, where it has grown with equal, if not greater, enthusiasm than in Europe. On October 1996 the Septentrionale Americanum Latinitatis Vivæ Institutum (SALVI, or North American Institute for Living Latin Studies) was founded in Los Angeles, California, by a group of professors and students of Latin literature concerned about the long-term future of classical studies in the US.
In the University of Kentucky
, Prof. Terence Tunberg
established the Institute of Latin Studies, which awards Graduate Certificates in Latin Studies addressed at those with a special interest gaining "a thorough command of the Latin language in reading, writing and speaking, along with a wide exposure to the cultural riches of the Latin tradition in its totality".
Most of these groups and institutions organise seminars and conferences where Latin is used as a spoken language, both throughout the year and over the summer, in Europe and in America.
Less academic summer encounters wholly carried out in Latin are the ones known as Septimanæ Latinæ Europææ (European Latin Weeks), celebrated in Germany and attracting people of various ages from all over Europe.
At the present time, several periodicals and social networking web sites are published in Latin. In France, immediately after the conference at Avignon, the publisher Théodore Aubanel launched the magazine Vita Latina, which still exists, associated to the CERCAM (Centre d’Étude et de Recherche sur les Civilisations Antiques de la Méditerranée) of the University Paul Valéry of Montpellier. Until very recently, it was published in Latin in its entirety. In Germany, the magazine Vox Latina was founded in 1956 by Caelestis Eichenseer (1924–2008) at the University of Saarbrücken and is to this day published wholly in Latin four times a year. In Belgium, the magazine Melissa created in 1984 by Gaius Licoppe
is still published six times a year completely in Latin.
The Finnish radio station YLE Radio 1 has for many years broadcast a now famous weekly review of world news called Nuntii Latini
completely in Latin. The German Radio Bremen
also has regular broadcasts in Latin. Other attempts have been less successful.
The government of Finland, during its presidencies of the European Union
, issued official newsletters in Latin on top of the official languages of the Union.
on a global scale in the 1990s provided a great tool for the flourishing of communication in Latin, and in February 1996 a Polish latinist from Warsaw (Poland), Konrad M. Kokoszkiewicz, founded what is still today the most populated and successful Latin-only email list on the Internet, the Grex Latine Loquentium. Subsequently the Nuntii Latini
of YLE Radio 1 would also create a discussion list called YLE Colloquia Latina. The Circulus Latinus Panormitanus of Palermo
(Italy) went a step further creating the first online chat
in Latin called the Locutorium.
In February 2003 Konrad M. Kokoszkiewicz published an on-line glossary with his proposals for some computer terms in Latin under the title of Vocabula computatralia. The Internet also allows for the preservation of other contemporary Latin dictionaries that have fallen out of print or have never been printed, like the Latinitas Recens (Speculum).
In June 2004 an on-line newspaper Ephemeris was founded once again from Warsaw by Stanisław Tekieli, and is to this day published wholly in Latin about current affairs.
In January 2008 a Schola, (membership 1800) a Latin-only social network service
, including a real-time video and/or text chatroom, was founded from London (UK).
A number of Latin web portal
s, websites and weblogs
in Latin have developed, like Lingua Latina Æterna from Russia or Verba et facta from somewhere in the US.
The Internet also provides tools like Latin spell checkers for contemporary Latin writers, or scansion
tools for contemporary Latin poets.
Google search engine has Latin as a language option.
The social networking website Facebook
has Latin as one of its language options.
There is even a Latin Wikipedia
, although discussions are held mostly in English rather than Latin. As of January 2010, more than half of the articles are stubs and their Latin is often tagged for its dubious quality.
Although less so than in previous eras, contemporary Latin has also been used for public notices in public spaces:
The Wallsend Metro station
of the Tyne and Wear Metro
has signs in Latin.
The Vatican City
has an automated teller machine
with instructions in Latin.
Spanish:
French:
German:
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
and others as the result of the widespread presence of the language in the New Latin
New Latin
The term New Latin, or Neo-Latin, is used to describe the Latin language used in original works created between c. 1500 and c. 1900. Among other uses, Latin during this period was employed in scholarly and scientific publications...
era. This is normally found in the form of mere words or phrases used in the general context of other languages. On the other hand there is the use of Latin as a language in its own right as fully fledged means of expression. Living or Spoken Latin, being the most specific development of Latin in the contemporary context, is the primary subject of this article.
Token Latin
As a relic of the great importance of New LatinNew Latin
The term New Latin, or Neo-Latin, is used to describe the Latin language used in original works created between c. 1500 and c. 1900. Among other uses, Latin during this period was employed in scholarly and scientific publications...
as the formerly dominant international lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
down to the 19th century in a great number of fields, Latin is still present in words or phrases used in many languages around the world.
Mottos
The official use of Latin in previous eras has survived at a symbolic level in many mottos that are still being used and even coined in Latin to this day. Old mottoes like E pluribus unumE pluribus unum
E pluribus unum , Latin for "Out of many, one", is a phrase on the Seal of the United States, along with Annuit cœptis and Novus ordo seclorum, and adopted by an Act of Congress in 1782...
found in 1776 on the Seal of the United States, along with Annuit cœptis
Annuit Cœptis
Annuit cœptis is one of two mottos on the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States....
and Novus ordo seclorum
Novus Ordo Seclorum
The phrase Novus ordo seclorum appears on the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States, first designed in 1782 and printed on the back of the United States one-dollar bill since 1935. The phrase also appears on the coat of arms of the Yale School of Management, Yale University's business...
, and adopted by an Act of Congress in 1782, are still in use. Similarly current pound sterling
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
coins are minted with the Latin inscription ELIZABETH·II·D·G·REG·F·D (Dei Gratia Regina, Fidei Defensor, i.e. Queen by the Grace of God, Defender of the Faith). The official motto of the European Union, adopted as recently as 2000, is the Latin In varietate concordia. Similarly to the multi-lingual European Union, the motto on the Canadian Victoria Cross is in Latin due to Canada's bilingual status.
Fixed phrases
Some common phrases that are still in use in many languages have remained fixed in Latin, like the well known dramatis personæDramatis personæ
Dramatis personæ is a phrase used to refer collectively, in the form of a list, to the main characters in a dramatic work —- commonly employed in various forms of theater, and also on screen. Typically, off-stage characters are not considered part of the dramatis personæ...
or habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
.
In Science
In fields as varied as mathematics, physics, astronomy, medicine, pharmacy, and biology, Latin still provides internationally accepted names of concepts, forces, objects and organisms in the natural world.The most famous retention of Latin is in the classification of living organisms and the binomial nomenclature
Binomial nomenclature
Binomial nomenclature is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages...
devised by Carolus Linnæus
Carolus Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...
, although the rules of nomenclature
Nomenclature Codes
Nomenclature codes or codes of nomenclature are the various rulebooks that govern biological taxonomic nomenclature, each in their own broad field of organisms...
that are used today allow the construction of names which may deviate considerably from historical norms.
Another continuation is the use of Latin names for the constellations and celestial objects (used in the Bayer designations of stars), as well as planets
Planetary nomenclature
Planetary nomenclature, like terrestrial nomenclature, is a system of uniquely identifying features on the surface of a planet or natural satellite so that the features can be easily located, described, and discussed. The task of assigning official names to features is taken up by the International...
and satellites, whose surface features have been given Latin selenographic
Selenography
Selenography is the study of the surface and physical features of the Moon. Historically, the principal concern of selenographists was the mapping and naming of the lunar maria, craters, mountain ranges, and other various features...
toponyms since the 17th century.
Symbols for many of the chemical elements of the periodic table
Periodic table
The periodic table of the chemical elements is a tabular display of the 118 known chemical elements organized by selected properties of their atomic structures. Elements are presented by increasing atomic number, the number of protons in an atom's atomic nucleus...
known in ancient times are based on their Latin names, like Au for aurum (gold) or Fe for ferrum (iron).
Vernacular vocabulary
Latin has also contributed a vocabulary for specialized fields such as anatomy and law which has become part of the normal, non-technical vocabulary of various European languages. Latin continues to be used to form international scientific vocabularyInternational Scientific Vocabulary
International scientific vocabulary comprises scientific and specialized words whose language of origin may or may not be certain, but which are in current use in several modern languages. The name "International Scientific Vocabulary" was first used by Philip Gove in Webster’s Third New...
and classical compound
Classical compound
Classical compounds are compound words composed from Latin or Ancient Greek root words. A large portion of the technical and scientific lexicon of English and other Western European languages consists of classical compounds. For example, bio- combines with -graphy to form biography...
s.
Ecclesiastical Latin
The Catholic Church has continued to use Latin, as in preceding centuries. Two main areas can be distinguished. One is its use for the official version of all documents issued by the Vatican CityVatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
, which has remained intact to the present. Although documents are first drafted in various vernaculars (mostly Italian, now also German), the official version is written in Latin by the specific Latin letters office
Latin Letters Office
The Latin Letters Office is a department of the Roman Curia's secretariat of State in Vatican City. It is well-known among modern-day Latinists as the place where the Catholic Church's documents are written in or translated into Latin....
. The other is its use for the liturgy, which has been diminished after the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
of 1962-65, but seems to have recently seen some resurgence sponsored in part by Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
.
Academic Latin
Latin has also survived to some extent in the context of classical scholarshipClassics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
. Some classical periodicals, like Mnemosyne
Mnemosyne (journal)
Mnemosyne is an academic journal of Classical Studies published by Brill Publishers. It was established in 1852 as a journal of textual criticism. It publishes articles in English, French, German, and Latin. The journal is abstracted and indexed in the Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Current...
or the German Hermes, to this day accept articles in Latin for publication.
Latin is used in most of the introductions to the critical editions of ancient authors in the Oxford Classical Texts
Oxford Classical Texts
Oxford Classical Texts , or Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis, is a series of books published by Oxford University Press. It contains texts of ancient Greek and Latin literature, such as Homer's Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid, in the original language with a critical apparatus...
series, and it is also nearly always used for the apparatus criticus of Ancient Greek and Latin texts.
The University Orator at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
makes a speech in Latin marking the achievements of each of the honorands at the annual Honorary Degree
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
Congregations, as does the Public Orator at the Encaenia
Encaenia
Encaenia is an academic or sometimes ecclesiastical ceremony, usually performed at colleges or universities. It generally occurs some time near the annual ceremony for the general conference of degrees to students...
ceremony at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
also have Latin Salutatory commencement addresses every year.
The Charles University in Prague
Charles University in Prague
Charles University in Prague is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1348, it was the first university in Central Europe and is also considered the earliest German university...
and many other universities around the world conduct the awarding of their doctoral
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
degrees in Latin.
In addition to the above, Brown
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, Sewanee and Bard College
Bard College
Bard College, founded in 1860 as "St. Stephen's College", is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:...
also hold in Latin a portion of their graduation
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
ceremonies.
The famous hymn Gaudeamus igitur is acknowledged as the anthem of academia and is sung at university opening or graduation ceremonies throughout Europe.
Living Latin
Living Latin (latin vivant in French or Latinitas viva in Latin itself), also known as Spoken Latin, is an effort to revive Latin as a spoken language and as the vehicle for contemporary communication and publication. Involvement in this Latin revival can be a mere hobby or extend to more serious projects for restoring its former role as an international auxiliary languageInternational auxiliary language
An international auxiliary language or interlanguage is a language meant for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native language...
.
Origins
As soon as the decline of Latin at the end of the New LatinNew Latin
The term New Latin, or Neo-Latin, is used to describe the Latin language used in original works created between c. 1500 and c. 1900. Among other uses, Latin during this period was employed in scholarly and scientific publications...
era started to be perceived, there were attempts to counteract this process and revitalise the use of Latin for international communication.
In 1815 Miguel Olmo wrote a little booklet proposing Latin as the common language for Europe with the title Otia Villaudricensia ad octo magnos principes qui Vindobonæ anno MDCCCXV pacem orbis sanxerunt, de lingua Latina et civitate Latina fundanda liber singularis (Villaudric leisure to the eight great princes who signed world peace at Vienna in 1815, a book about the Latin language and the foundation of a Latin city).
In the late nineteenth century, Latin periodicals advocating the revived use of Latin as an international language started to appear. Between 1889 and 1895 Karl Heinrich Ulrichs published in Italy his Alaudæ. This publication was followed by the Vox Urbis: de litteris et bonis artibus commentarius, published by the architect and engineer Aristide Leonori from 1898, twice a month, until 1913, one year before the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
The early 20th century, marked by warfare and by drastic social and technological changes, saw few advances in the use of Latin outside of academia. Following the beginnings of the re-integration of postwar Europe
European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, political, legal, economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe...
, however, Latin revivalism gained some strength.
One of its main promoters was the former dean of the University of Nancy (France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
), Prof. Jean Capelle, who in 1952 published a cornerstone article called "Latin or Babel" where he proposed Latin as an international spoken language.
Capelle was called "the soul of the movement" when in 1956 the first International Conference for Living Latin (Congrès international pour le Latin vivant) took place in Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
, marking the beginning of a new era for the active use of Latin. About 200 participants from 22 different countries took part in that foundational conference.
Pronunciation
The essentials of the classical pronunciation had been defined since the early 19th century (e.g. in K.L. Schneider's Elementarlehre der Lateinischen Sprache, 1819), but in many countries there was strong resistance to adopting it in instruction. In English-speaking countries, where the traditional academic pronunciationTraditional English pronunciation of Latin
The traditional English pronunciation of Latin, and Classical Greek words borrowed through Latin, is the way the Latin language was traditionally pronounced by speakers of English until the early 20th century....
diverged most markedly from the restored classical model, the struggle between the two pronunciations lasted for the entire 19th century. The transition between Latin pronunciations was sudden and drastic (the "new pronunciation" was adopted throughout the schools in England in 1907).
Although the older pronunciation, as found in the nomenclature and terminology of various professions, continued to be used for several decades, and, in some spheres, prevails to the present day, contemporary Latin as used by the living Latin community is largely characterized by the general adoption of the classical pronunciation of Latin as restored by specialists in Latin historical phonology.
A similar shift occurred in German-speaking areas; the traditional pronunciation is discussed in Deutsche Aussprache des Lateinischen , while the reconstructed classical pronunciation, which took hold circa 1900, is discussed at Schulaussprache des Lateinischen.
Aims
Many users of contemporary Latin promote its use as a spoken language, a movement that dubs itself "Living Latin". Two main aims can be distinguished in this movement.For Latin instruction
Among the proponents of spoken Latin, some promote the active use of the language to make learning Latin both more enjoyable and more efficient, in this respect drawing upon the methodologies of instructors of modern languages.In the United Kingdom, the Association for the Reform of Latin Teaching
Association for the Reform of Latin Teaching
The Association for the Reform of Latin Teaching was founded in the United Kingdom in 1913 by the distinguished Classical scholar W. H. D. Rouse...
(ARLT, still existing as the Association foR Latin Teaching), was founded in 1913 by the distinguished Classical scholar W. H. D. Rouse
W. H. D. Rouse
William Henry Denham Rouse was a pioneering British teacher who advocated the use of the Direct Method of teaching Latin and Greek.-Life:Born in Calcutta India on 31 May 1863...
. It arose from Summer Schools which Rouse organised in order to train Latin teachers in the direct method of language teaching
Direct method (education)
The direct method of teaching foreign languages, sometimes called the natural method, refrains from using the learners' native language and uses only the target language. It was established in Germany and France around 1900...
, which entailed using the language in everyday situations rather than merely learning grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
and syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
by rote. The Classical Association
Classical Association
The Classical Association is a British learned society in the field of classics, and a registered charity.The association was founded on 19 December 1903, and its objects are defined in its constitution as:...
also encourages this approach. The Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
has now published a series of school textbooks based on the adventures of a mouse called Minimus
Minimus
The Minimus books are a series of school textbooks, written by Barbara Bell, illustrated by Dr. Helen Forte, and published by the Cambridge University Press, designed to help children of primary school age to learn Latin...
designed to help children of primary school age to learn the language, as well as its well known Cambridge Latin Course
Cambridge Latin Course
The Cambridge Latin Course is a series of textbooks published by Cambridge University Press, used to teach Latin to secondary school students. First published in 1970, the series is now in its fifth edition, and has sold over 3.5 million copies...
(CLC) to teach the language to secondary school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
students, all of which include extensive use of dialogue and an approach to language teaching mirroring that now used for most modern languages, which have brought many of the principles espoused by Rouse and the ARLT into the mainstream of Latin teaching.
Outside of Great Britain, one of the most accomplished handbooks used worldwide that fully adopts the direct method for Latin is the well known Lingua Latina per se illustrata by the Dane Hans Henning Ørberg
Hans Henning Ørberg
Hans Henning Ørberg was born in Denmark and received a master's degree in English, French and Latin at the University of Copenhagen...
published first in 1955 and improved in 1990. It is composed fully in Latin, and requires no other language of instruction, whereby it is used to teach pupils whatever their mother tongue.
For contemporary communication
Others support the revivalLanguage revival
Language revitalization, language revival or reversing language shift is the attempt by interested parties, including individuals, cultural or community groups, governments, or political authorities, to reverse the decline of a language. If the decline is severe, the language may be endangered,...
of Latin as a language of international communication, in the academic, perhaps even scientific and diplomatic, spheres (as it was in Europe and European colonies through Middle Ages until the mid-18th century), or as an international auxiliary language
International auxiliary language
An international auxiliary language or interlanguage is a language meant for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native language...
to be used by anyone. However, as a language native to no people, this movement has not received support from any government, national or supranational.
Supporting institutions and publications
A substantial group of institutions (particularly in Europe, but also in North and South America) has emerged to support the use of Latin as a spoken language.The foundational first International Conference for living Latin (Congrès international pour le Latin vivant) that took place in Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
was followed by at least five others. As a result of those first conferences, the Academia Latinitati Fovendae was then created in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. Among its most prominent members are well known classicists from all over the world, like Prof. Michael von Albrecht or Prof. Kurt Smolak. The ALF held its first international conference in Rome in 1966 bringing together about 500 participants. From then on conferences have taken place every four or five years, in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, Malta, Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
, Erfurt
Erfurt
Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
and Berlin, Madrid and many other places. The official language of the ALF is Latin and all acts and proceedings take place in Latin.
Also in the year 1966 Clément Desessard published a method with tapes within the series sans peine of the French company Assimil
Assimil
Assimil is a French company, founded by Alphonse Chérel in 1929. It creates and publishes foreign language courses, which began with their first book Anglais Sans Peine...
. Desessard's work aimed at teaching contemporary Latin for use in an everyday context. Assimil took this out of print at the end of 2007 and published another Latin method which now focuses on the classical idiom only. Desessard's method is still used for living Latin instruction at the Schola Latina Universalis
Schola Latina Universalis
"Schola Latina Universalis" is a Latin school on the Internet which teaches Latin as a perennial, living language, and bases its teaching on the famous method composed by Clément Desessard, Lingua Latina sine molestia...
.
In 1986 the Belgian radiologist Gaius Licoppe
Gaius Licoppe
Gaius Licoppe, born 27 Juny 1931, is a Belgian radiologist from Brussels who has dedicated his life to the promotion of the Latin language as the common patrimony of a united Europe and the only cultural factor that can unify Europe.- Latin biography :...
, who had discovered the contemporary use of Latin and learnt how to speak it thanks to Desessard's method, founded in Brussels the Fundatio Melissa for the promotion of Latin teaching and use for communication.
In Germany, Marius Alexa and Inga Pessarra-Grimm founded in September 1987 the Latinitati Vivæ Provehendæ Associatio (LVPA, or Association for the Promotion of Living Latin).
One of the most extensive attempt to create a Latin immersion academic environment is on the part of the Accademia Vivarium Novum
Accademia Vivarium Novum
The Academy Vivarium Novum has a reputation as the only college in the world where students can spend one or more years immersed in Latin and Ancient Greek. These languages are spoken both in and outside of the classroom...
located in Rome, Italy. All classes are taught by faculty fluent in Latin or Ancient Greek, and the internationally diverse community of students residing at the Accademia speaks in Latin or Greek during meals and all other moments outside class. Most students are supported by scholarships from the Mnemosyne foundation and spend one or two years in residence to acquire fluency in Latin.
The living Latin movement eventually crossed the Atlantic, where it has grown with equal, if not greater, enthusiasm than in Europe. On October 1996 the Septentrionale Americanum Latinitatis Vivæ Institutum (SALVI, or North American Institute for Living Latin Studies) was founded in Los Angeles, California, by a group of professors and students of Latin literature concerned about the long-term future of classical studies in the US.
In the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
, Prof. Terence Tunberg
Terence Tunberg
Terence O. Tunberg is a Professor of the Latin language and literature at the University of Kentucky and husband of Jennifer Tunberg....
established the Institute of Latin Studies, which awards Graduate Certificates in Latin Studies addressed at those with a special interest gaining "a thorough command of the Latin language in reading, writing and speaking, along with a wide exposure to the cultural riches of the Latin tradition in its totality".
Most of these groups and institutions organise seminars and conferences where Latin is used as a spoken language, both throughout the year and over the summer, in Europe and in America.
Less academic summer encounters wholly carried out in Latin are the ones known as Septimanæ Latinæ Europææ (European Latin Weeks), celebrated in Germany and attracting people of various ages from all over Europe.
At the present time, several periodicals and social networking web sites are published in Latin. In France, immediately after the conference at Avignon, the publisher Théodore Aubanel launched the magazine Vita Latina, which still exists, associated to the CERCAM (Centre d’Étude et de Recherche sur les Civilisations Antiques de la Méditerranée) of the University Paul Valéry of Montpellier. Until very recently, it was published in Latin in its entirety. In Germany, the magazine Vox Latina was founded in 1956 by Caelestis Eichenseer (1924–2008) at the University of Saarbrücken and is to this day published wholly in Latin four times a year. In Belgium, the magazine Melissa created in 1984 by Gaius Licoppe
Gaius Licoppe
Gaius Licoppe, born 27 Juny 1931, is a Belgian radiologist from Brussels who has dedicated his life to the promotion of the Latin language as the common patrimony of a united Europe and the only cultural factor that can unify Europe.- Latin biography :...
is still published six times a year completely in Latin.
The Finnish radio station YLE Radio 1 has for many years broadcast a now famous weekly review of world news called Nuntii Latini
Nuntii Latini
Nuntii Latini is a news service based in Finland that broadcasts news in Latin. It has been broadcast since September 1989 by the Finnish national broadcaster YLE on YLE Radio 1 -channel.- Station output :...
completely in Latin. The German Radio Bremen
Radio Bremen
Radio Bremen , Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster, is the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state of Bremen...
also has regular broadcasts in Latin. Other attempts have been less successful.
The government of Finland, during its presidencies of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, issued official newsletters in Latin on top of the official languages of the Union.
On the Internet
The emergence of the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
on a global scale in the 1990s provided a great tool for the flourishing of communication in Latin, and in February 1996 a Polish latinist from Warsaw (Poland), Konrad M. Kokoszkiewicz, founded what is still today the most populated and successful Latin-only email list on the Internet, the Grex Latine Loquentium. Subsequently the Nuntii Latini
Nuntii Latini
Nuntii Latini is a news service based in Finland that broadcasts news in Latin. It has been broadcast since September 1989 by the Finnish national broadcaster YLE on YLE Radio 1 -channel.- Station output :...
of YLE Radio 1 would also create a discussion list called YLE Colloquia Latina. The Circulus Latinus Panormitanus of Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
(Italy) went a step further creating the first online chat
Online chat
Online chat may refer to any kind of communication over the Internet, that offers an instantaneous transmission of text-based messages from sender to receiver, hence the delay for visual access to the sent message shall not hamper the flow of communications in any of the directions...
in Latin called the Locutorium.
In February 2003 Konrad M. Kokoszkiewicz published an on-line glossary with his proposals for some computer terms in Latin under the title of Vocabula computatralia. The Internet also allows for the preservation of other contemporary Latin dictionaries that have fallen out of print or have never been printed, like the Latinitas Recens (Speculum).
In June 2004 an on-line newspaper Ephemeris was founded once again from Warsaw by Stanisław Tekieli, and is to this day published wholly in Latin about current affairs.
In January 2008 a Schola, (membership 1800) a Latin-only social network service
Social network service
A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities. A social network service consists of a representation of each user , his/her social...
, including a real-time video and/or text chatroom, was founded from London (UK).
A number of Latin web portal
Web portal
A web portal or links page is a web site that functions as a point of access to information in the World Wide Web. A portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way....
s, websites and weblogs
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
in Latin have developed, like Lingua Latina Æterna from Russia or Verba et facta from somewhere in the US.
The Internet also provides tools like Latin spell checkers for contemporary Latin writers, or scansion
Systems of scansion
A system of scansion is a way to mark the metrical patterns of a line of poetry. In classical poetry, these patterns are based on the different lengths of each syllable, and in English poetry, they are based on the different levels of stress placed on each syllable. In both cases, the meter often...
tools for contemporary Latin poets.
Google search engine has Latin as a language option.
The social networking website Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
has Latin as one of its language options.
There is even a Latin Wikipedia
Latin Wikipedia
The Latin Wikipedia is the Latin language edition of Wikipedia. As of , it has about articles. While all primary content is in Latin, in discussions modern languages such as English, French, German or Spanish are allowed and often used, since many users find this easier.Professional latinists...
, although discussions are held mostly in English rather than Latin. As of January 2010, more than half of the articles are stubs and their Latin is often tagged for its dubious quality.
In public spaces
The Wallsend Metro station
Wallsend Metro station
Wallsend Metro station is located towards the centre of Wallsend, a town on the north bank of the River Tyne, in Tyne and Wear, England. The station was originally opened on 19 June 1839 by the Newcastle & North Shields Railway, and was reopened as a Tyne and Wear Metro station on 14 November 1982...
of the Tyne and Wear Metro
Tyne and Wear Metro
The Tyne and Wear Metro, also known as the Metro, is a light rail system in North East England, serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside and Sunderland. It opened in 1980 and in 2007–2008 provided 40 million public journeys on its network of nearly...
has signs in Latin.
The Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
has an automated teller machine
Automated teller machine
An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...
with instructions in Latin.
Original production
Some contemporary works have seen the light originally in Latin, most overwhelmingly poetry, but also prose, as well as music or cinema. They include:Poetry
- 1924. Carminum libri quattuor by Tomás Viñas.
- 1946. Carmina Latina by A. Pinto de Carvalho.
- 1954. Vox Humana by Johannes Alexander Gaertner.
- 1962. Pegasus Tolutarius by Henry C. Snurr aka C. Arrius Nurus.
- 1966. Suaviloquia by Jan Novák.
- 1966. Cantus Firmus by Johannes Alexander Gaertner.
- 1972. Carmina by Traian Lăzărescu.
- 1991. Periegesis Amatoria by Geneviève Immè.
- 1992. Harmonica vitrea by Anna Elissa Radke.
Prose
- 1952. Latinarum Litterarum Historia by Antonio d'Elia.
- 1961. De sacerdotibus sacerdotiisque Alexandri Magni et Lagidarum eponymis by Jozef IJsewijnJozef IJsewijnJozef A.M.K. IJsewijn . He studied classical philology at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, where he became a professor in 1967. He was an authority on Neo-Latin literature . In 1980, he was awarded the Francqui Prize on Human Sciences.-References:...
. - 1965. Sententiæ by Alain van Dievoet (pen name: Alanus Divutius).
- 1966. Mystagogus Lycius, sive de historia linguaque Lyciorum by Wolfgang Jenniges.
- 2011. Capti, Fabula Menippeo-Hoffmanniana Americana by Stephanus A. Berard.
Cinema
- 1976. SebastianeSebastianeSebastiane is a controversial 1976 film written and directed by Derek Jarman and Paul Humfress. It portrays the events of the life of Saint Sebastian, including his iconic martyrdom by arrows. Most of the controversy surrounding the film derives from the homoeroticism portrayed between the soldiers...
by Derek JarmanDerek JarmanMichael Derek Elworthy Jarman was an English film director, stage designer, diarist, artist, gardener and author.-Life:...
and Paul Humfress. - 2004. The Passion of the ChristThe Passion of the ChristThe Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...
by Mel GibsonMel GibsonMel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
. - 2009. "PacificaPacifica-Art:* Pacifica , an eight-story feminine figure built in 1938 by Ralph Stackpole for the Golden Gate International Exposition-Places:* Pacifica, California, a city in the United States** Pacifica Pier, a fishing pier...
" by Samohi Latin Media (SLAM). - 2010. "Barnabus & Bella" by SLAM.
Translations
Various texts—usually children's books—have been translated into Latin since the beginning of the living Latin movement in the early fifties for various purposes, including use as a teaching tool or simply to demonstrate the capability of Latin as a means of expression in a popular context. They include:- 1884. Rebilius CrusoRobinson CrusoeRobinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...
(Robinson Crusoe) tr. Francis William NewmanFrancis William NewmanFrancis William Newman , the younger brother of Cardinal Newman, was an English scholar and miscellaneous writer.-Life:...
. - 1922. Insula ThesavrariaTreasure IslandTreasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the...
(Treasure Island) tr. Arcadius AvellanusArcadius AvellanusArcadius Avellanus, born Mogyoróssy Arkád was a Hungarian American scholar of Latin and a proponent of Living Latin...
. - 1928. Vita discriminaque Robinsonis Crusoei (Robinson Crusoe) tr. Arcadius AvellanusArcadius AvellanusArcadius Avellanus, born Mogyoróssy Arkád was a Hungarian American scholar of Latin and a proponent of Living Latin...
. - 1960. Winnie Ille PuWinnie-the-PoohWinnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, is a fictional anthropomorphic bear created by A. A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie-the-Pooh , and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner...
(Winnie-the-Pooh) tr. Alexander LenardAlexander LenardAlexander Lenard was a Hungarian physician, writer, translator, painter, musician, poet and occasional language instructor. He was born in Budapest, Hungary and died in Dona Emma, Brazil. He is best known as the Latin translator of A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh...
. - 1962. Ferdinandus Taurus (Ferdinand the Bull) tr. Elizabeth Chamberlayne Hadas.
- 1962. Fabula De Petro Cuniculo (Tale of Peter Rabbit in Latin) tr. E. Perot Walker.
- 1964. Alicia in Terra MirabiliAlice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) tr. Clive Harcourt Carruthers. - 1965. Fabula De Jemima Anate-Aquatica (The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck) tr. Jonathan Musgrave.
- 1966. Aliciae Per Speculum Transitus (Quaeque Ibi Invenit)Through the Looking-GlassThrough the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There is a work of literature by Lewis Carroll . It is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
(Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There) tr. Clive Harcourt Carruthers. - 1973–present. AsterixAsterixAsterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo . The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on October 29, 1959...
(Asterix — a French comic book series) - 1978. Fabula de Domino Ieremia Piscatore (The Tale Of Jeremy Fisher) tr. E. Perot Walker.
- 1983. Alix - Spartaci Filius (Alix - Franco-Belgian comics)
- 1985. Regulus, vel Pueri Soli SapiuntThe Little PrinceThe Little Prince , first published in 1943, is a novella and the most famous work of the French aristocrat writer, poet and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ....
(The Little Prince) tr. Augusto Haury - 1987. De Titini et Miluli Facinoribus: De Insula NigraThe Black IslandThe Black Island is the seventh of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as the hero. It was first published in the newspaper supplement Le Petit Vingtième in the late 1930s...
(Tintin - Franco-Belgian comics) - 1990. De Titini et Miluli Facinoribus: De Sigaris PharaonisCigars of the PharaohCigars of the Pharaoh is one of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums, written and illustrated by Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero...
(Tintin - Franco-Belgian comics) - 1991. Tela CharlottaeCharlotte's WebCharlotte's Web is an award-winning children's novel by acclaimed American author E. B. White, about a pig named Wilbur who is saved from being slaughtered by an intelligent spider named Charlotte. The book was first published in 1952, with illustrations by Garth Williams.The novel tells the story...
(Charlotte's Web) tr. Bernice Fox. - 1994. Sub rotaBeneath the WheelBeneath the Wheel is a 1906 novel written by Hermann Hesse. It is also sometimes titled The Prodigy in English.-Plot summary:...
(Unterm Rad) tr. Sigrides C. Albert - 1998. Quomodo Invidiosulus Nomine Grinchus Christi Natalem AbrogaveritHow the Grinch Stole Christmas!How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a children's story by Dr. Seuss written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It was published as a book by Random House in 1957, and at approximately the same time in an issue of Redbook...
(How the Grinch Stole Christmas) tr. Jennifer Morrish Tunberg, Terence O. Tunberg. - 1998. Winnie Ille Pu Semper Ludet (The House at Pooh Corner) tr. Brian Staples.
- 2000. Cattus PetasatusThe Cat in the HatThe Cat in the Hat is a children's book by Dr. Seuss and perhaps the most famous, featuring a tall, anthropomorphic, mischievous cat, wearing a tall, red and white-striped hat and a red bow tie. He also carries a pale blue umbrella...
(The Cat in the Hat) tr. Jennifer Morish Tunberg, Terence O. Tunberg. - 2002. Arbor AlmaThe Giving TreeThe Giving Tree, first published in 1964 by Harper and Row, is a children's book written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. This book has become one of Silverstein's best known titles and has been translated into more than 30 languages.-Plot:...
(The Giving Tree) tr. Terence O. Tunberg, Jennifer Morrish Tunberg. - 2003. Virent Ova, Viret PernaGreen Eggs and HamGreen Eggs and Ham is a best-selling and critically acclaimed book by Dr. Seuss, first published on August 12, 1960. As of 2001, according to Publishers Weekly, it was the fourth-best-selling English-language children's book of all time....
(Green Eggs and Ham) tr. Terence O. Tunberg, Jennifer Morrish Tunberg. - 2003. Harrius Potter et Philosophi LapisHarry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneHarry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is the first novel in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling and featuring Harry Potter, a young wizard...
(Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) tr. Peter Needham. - 2006. Harrius Potter et Camera SecretorumHarry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second novel in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling. The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, during which a series of messages on the walls on the school's corridors warn that the "Chamber of...
(Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) tr. Peter Needham. - 2007. Olivia: the essential Latin edition tr. Amy High.
- 2009. Over 265 illustrated children's books in Latin have been published on the Tar Heel Reader website.
- 2009. Murena, Murex et aurum (Murena, La pourpre et l'or) tr. Claude Aziza and Cathy Rousset.
- 2009. Mundo NovoMundo NovoMundo Novo is a small town and municipality in northeastern Goiás state, Brazil.Mundo Novo is located in the São Miguel do Araguaia Microregion in the extreme north-west of the state. It is cut by the Rio Palmital, which flows north into the Araguaia River...
- adaptation of A Whole New WorldA Whole New World"A Whole New World" is the Oscar winning featured pop single from the soundtrack to the 1992 Disney film Aladdin. It was composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by Tim Rice. The song is a ballad between the primary characters Aladdin and Jasmine about the new world they are going to discover together....
from Disney's AladdinAladdinAladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
Dictionaries, glossaries and phrase books for contemporary Latin
- 1990. Latin for All OccasionsLatin for All OccasionsLatin for All Occasions is a 1990 book by Henry Beard, and Latin for Even More Occasions is a 1991 sequel. Both contain translations of modern English phrases into mostly literal Latin equivalents.Beard is known as a humorist but studied Latin for eight years at Harvard...
, a book by Henry BeardHenry BeardHenry N. Beard is an American humorist, one of the founders of the magazine National Lampoon and the author of several best-selling books.-Biography:...
, attempts to find Latin equivalents for contemporary catchphrases. - 1992–7. Neues Latein Lexicon / Lexicon recentis Latinitatis by Karl Egger, containing more than 15,000 words for contemporary everyday life.
- 1998. Imaginum vocabularium Latinum by Sigrid Albert.
See also
- InterlinguaInterlinguaInterlingua is an international auxiliary language , developed between 1937 and 1951 by the International Auxiliary Language Association...
(IALA) - Latin translations of modern literatureLatin translations of modern literatureA number of Latin translations of modern literature have been made to bolster interest in the language. The perceived dryness of classical literature is sometimes a major obstacle for achieving fluency in reading Latin, as it discourages students from reading larges quantities of text . In his...
- Latino sine FlexioneLatino sine FlexioneLatino sine flexione , or Peano’s Interlingua , is an international auxiliary language invented by the Italian mathematician Giuseppe Peano in 1903. It is a simplified version of Latin, and retains its vocabulary...
- List of songs with Latin lyrics
Further reading
English:- W.H.S.Jones, M.A. Via Nova or The Application of the Direct Method to Latin and Greek, Cambridge University Press 1915.
- Jozef Ijzewijn, A companion to neo-latin studies, 1977.
Spanish:
- José Juan del Col, ¿Latín hoy?, published by the Instituto Superior Juan XXII, Bahía Blanca, Argentina, 1998. Downloadable PDF version: ¿Latín hoy?.
French:
- Guy Licoppe, Pourquoi le latin aujourd'hui ? : (Cur adhuc discenda sit lingua Latina), s.l., 1989
- Françoise Waquet, Le latin ou l'empire d'un signe, XVIe-XXe siècle, Paris, Albin Michel, 1998.
- Guy Licoppe, Le latin et le politique : les avatars du latin à travers les âges, Bruxelles, 2003.
German:
- Wilfried Stroh, Latein ist tot, es lebe Latein!: Kleine Geschichte einer großen Sprache (ISBN 9783471788295 & ISBN 3471788298)