Questions and Answers on Latin

Questions and Answers on Latin Everything You Need to Know About the Latin Language ChaptersWhere Does the Latin Alphabet Come From?The Best English-Latin DictionariesHow to Learn Latin DeclensionsWhat Latin Phrases Do We Use in English?Which Modern Languages Have Latin Roots?In 20 years, the number of Latin speakers has halved.Yet this language is useful in many ways: learning Latin languages, understanding our own language, improving spelling, studying ancient history and mythology ...If you do Latin, you may want to find out more about this ancient language:How was the Latin alphabet invented?How to learn this language by heart?Is English grammar influenced by Latin?Which official or non-official languages come from Latin?Don't worry, we'll answer all these questions in this article., available to buy on Amazon and most bookshopsA Copious and Critical English-Latin Dictionary  by William Smith, available on Google BooksNew College Latin-English Dictionary by Traupman, available to buy on AmazonLexicon Totius Latinitatis, a  free online databaseThesaurus Linguae L atinae, available both in print and onlineYou can find other Latin dictionaries but these are the most popular and highly recommended. It is also possible to enrich your Latin vocabulary thanks to various websites which give lists of Latin lexicon:learn101 is available for free online and covers the alphabet, grammar, phrases as well as vocabulary,ilanguages is another free online resources that teaches through flashcards and quizzesLingQ, available online or on your mobile,  gives you  access to tutoring and guidance from Latin speakers around the worldOur recommendation: the Oxford Latin Dictionary is the most  comprehensive and authoritative dictionary of Classical Latin. With more than half a century in the making, the newly published second edition is an essential resource for any serious Latin student. It contains illustrative quotations, revised English translations and expansion on abbreviations to help you learn Latin properly.latinesice or graverini,Studying with a private tutor: if none of this works or you struggle to work independently, get in touch with a private Latin teacher. They will have surefire methods to help you learn!What Latin Phrases Do We Use in English?English is a Germanic language, therefore, the influences of Latin are primarily lexical. A significant amount of our language stems from Latin, some are even borrowed words and phrases. You will probably already have heard a lot of these, but you may not know what they mean. Here's a short list of the most commonly used English words and phrases which stem either directly from Latin or via French or Spanish:But what have we kept from our origins? The Latin quotations are numerous and you necessarily know. But let's talk about these little phrases or abbreviations. We do not always know what they want to say, so here is a short guide to the most used Latin quotations in French:Ad nauseam: To the point of sickness.Bona fide: In good faith.Carpe diem: Seize the day.Conglomerate:  parts put together to form a unit while remaining separate identitiesDebilitate:  weakenDe facto: In fact.Et cetera: And the rest of such things.Facsimile:  exact copyIpso facto: By the fact itself.Insipid:  lacking flavourNaive:  exhibiting lack of experiencePro bono: For the good.Pro forma: As a matter of form.Rigor mortis: The stiffness of death.Ubiquity:  found everywhereVice versa: The position being reversed.Trust us! Knowing a bit of Latin will help you with modern languages, science and law! Source: Visual HuntSome of these phrases will be very useful if you have to write a thesis or dissertation. And it's still fun to know why we use certain Latin phrases and what they mean, right?Check out these famous Latin quotes.Which Modern Languages Have Latin Roots?Today, 430 million speakers speak a Latin language, nearly 8% of the world's population.The languages spoken in Europe are mostly Indo-European languages, ie languages spoken from Europe to India (from Greek to Sanskrit via Fren ch, Spanish, Occitan, Portuguese, etc.).There are a number of   Romance languages especially in Europe where the Roman Empire exerted its influence for centuries, spreading the Roman language at the same time in the Mediterranean basin in particular.The popularisation of Latin gave rise first to the rural Romance language, then gradually to the different languages that we know today. The languages closest to Latin are:Sardinian (spoken in Sardinia): 8% of derivation compared to Latin,Italian: 12%,Spanish 20%,Romanian 23.5%,Occitan 25%,Portuguese 31%,French 44%.There are many similarities between these languages as shown in the table below:LatinItalianSpanishRomanianOccitanPortugueseFrenchClaveChiaveLlaveCheieClauChaveCléNocteNotteNocheNoapteNuèit/nuèchNoiteNuitCantareCantareCantarCîntaCantarCantarChanterCapraCapraCabraCapraCabraCabraChèvreLinguaLinguaLenguaLimbaLengaLinguaLanguePlateaPiazzaPlazapiataPlaçaPraçaPlaceBut these similarities are only valid in writing. Orally, the Latin languages differ greatly from each other, especially French which was also influenced by the Gallo-Romance spoken in northern France.Here are different Latin-speaking groups in terms of their similarities:Ibero-Romance  which encompasses different dialects, among them are Castilian, Andalusian, Portuguese, Galician and Catalan,Occitano-Romance is composed of French but also other patois like the Gascon or the Languedoc,Italian-Romance includes Italian and all its dialects such as Piedmontese, Lombard, Tuscan but also Corsican,Gallo-Romance group includes the languages of oïl and therefore the patois of northern France and Belgium such as Walloon, Picard or Norman,Rhaeto-Romance is composed of Italian Friulian and Swiss Romansh,Eastern Romance languages was developed in the East, specifically in the  Balkans, and includes Daco-Romance, modern-day Romanian, Moldavian as well as dead languages such as Istro-Romanian and Aromanian.