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The Latin Language
The Latin language had a huge importance in the past: it was the official Language of the illustrious Roman Empire, as well as of a monumental istitution like the Roman Catholic Church. Nowadays, it is the Official Language of the Vatican State, an independent territory ubicated in the Italian peninsula and due to its past prestige it is considered the language of the learned.History of Latin
Romance languages have originated from Latin, a process which started after the collapse of the Roman Empire. At the beginning, Latin was still used as the official written language and it cohexstisted with ohthers forms of spoken languages, which later evolved in French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian. These languages, apart from phonetics and words origin, inherited many grammar rules from Latin. On the contrary, English grammar is independent from the Latin one, even if many English words derive from Latin-such as literary words created by writers like "extrapolate" and "inebriation". In the 18th century, Latin lost its primate as the language of scientific and political affairs, being replaced by French and eventually, in the 19th century, by English.Dialects
As a living language, spoken Latin was quite different from its written forms. In particular, vulgar oral Latin, the language of the ineducated, was strongly influenced by other forms of speech. In Western Europe, in the region of Gaule, Latin coexisted with the Celtic language for quite a long period. It was CharleMagne who introduced a change in the church liturgy, when he decided that sermons should be given in the local language, while the other parts of the liturgy remained in Latin. Nevertheless, the language which alternated to Latin in Gaule never took an homogeneuos form; broadly speaking, it can be said that they had two main variants, which marked the territory around the Loire river: the dialect spoken in the Southern part was more linked to Latin, the one of the Northern had other features.During the period of migrations (311-382 c.), Latin of the Northeastern Europe was influenced by Germanic languages. The Visigoths and the Ostrogoths translted the Bible into Gothic and even when their language was extinted, the Holy Book remained as the first major document of Germanic literature.
Nowadays, Latin is mainly thaught in High Schools or in some Universities, and mainly its teaching consists in passive translation into one's mothertoungue, or in studying the literature. Nevertheless, some institutions such as the Vatican and the University of Kentucky are trying to offer living Latin instruction, basing classes on both spoken and written communication. The aim of these programs is to offer a deeper insight of the language, as understanding how the langauge is meant to be heard allows the identification of typical patterns of poetry and offers a deeper knowledge of ancient authors.
Latin quotes and proverbs
If you think that Latin is a dead language, and if you are going to read the next section, be prepared to change your mind...here you will find only a short list of latin expressions which we use in our everyday language, as "carpe diem" (seize the day), "lingua franca" (a common language), "et cetera" (and so forth), "cum laude" (with distinction)...What is more, there are lots of quotes that you undoubtely have used at least once:Acta non verba: "Actions, not words"
Ars longa, vita brevis: "Art is long, life is short.
Mens sana in corpore sano: "Healthy mind in healthy body." (An expression which has become the slogan of many gymnasiums!)
Veni Vidi Vici: "I came, I saw, I conquered." (the famous phrase which Julius Caesar after defeating Pharnaces in 47 BCE).