Certum Est Quia Impossible Est

 certum est quia impossible est

It is certain because it is impossible. 

Again and again I refer to Latin as the dead language.  Again and again I’ve advocated that it’s not.  It is no longer a “used” language, other than in small circles and in the Vatican.  No one knows how it’s spoken; we have some great educated guesses though.  It has no prominence in most of society.   But is it really dead?

I hope that in my explorations I have proved the opposite. 

It may not be like Spanish or Italian or French.  It isn’t taught the same way as other languages.  It’s hard to find people who agree on the way to teach Latin because it isn’t spoken anymore.  The concentration in Latin is on the grammar.  What and how it is said, not how to actually say it.

My goal was to find relevance for Latin.  I believe I have.  It has many uses though it is unused.  In all of my previous posts I have found a use for Latin.  From something basic like language to the higher fields of medicine and law, Latin has infused itself into all of these.

I have only broken the surface of Latin hiding in our lives.  In video games, especially Japanese based games, they use Latin in their songs.  Harry Potter has Latin based words sprinkled throughout the book.  Disney’s Beauty and the Beast has a Latin saying in the beginning of the movie, “Vincet quia se vincet.”  Latin lurks in our language.  Latin sneaks into our modern media.  There is a high school that has produced two independent films completely in Latin.  Many stories by Dr. Seuss have been translated into Latin, along with Harry Potter and Winnie the Pooh.

Going back to the idea that everything that we do is like sales, feature, function, benefit.  What it is, what it does, and what it does for me.  Latin is a language spoken years ago and has still lingered in our language, grammar, history, law, and sciences.  Latin does many things; it depends on what you are looking for.  It makes up the basis of our medical and judicial jargon.  It is what gives us more abstract words.  It is a big part of our history.  What Latin can do for you is increase understanding in what is around you.  Your language, your future career, and is fun in a unique way.  There is always a thrill when you know something someone else doesn’t.  I love finding Latin sayings myself.

For now I will rest from this journey.  I may pick it up again one day but for now Latin can be found almost everywhere.  It’s still relevant in our lives today.  I like Latin and I hope to bring this to my future students.  

Latin, The Language of Medicine

It’s that time of year again, time for a check-up.  I’m generally a healthy individual but with the last bout of influenza I faced, I’ve felt drained.  I upped my annual check-up to make sure that it was just the flu and nothing else.  It isn’t, I just need more vitamin B.

This was my first visit to this doctor.  Most doctors have a small get to know you session littered throughout the medical history.  The big question that always comes up, “So, what do you do?” and when I tell them I’m back in school, they always ask, “Going back for what?”  I stated my lofty career choice of Latin teacher and the doctor smiled.  “I wished they’d offered that in high school.  I’ve always known I was going into the medical field.  It would have been so useful.”

Latin, the language of medicine.  No doctor can do without some knowledge in Latin.  Probably its first and primary function is in anatomical nomenclature, followed by clinical and pharmaceutical terminology.

Ecclampsia: Convulsions

Musculus latissimus dorsi - The widest muscle of the back

Partes aequales (P. AE.) - Equal parts

These are just a few examples.

Henrik R Wulff, MD makes a case in his article “The Language of Medicine” in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine for creating a discipline called medical linguistics.  He goes into the history of medicine and the languages used.  Latin as the medical language really didn’t appear until after the Middle Ages, it was mostly Greek before that.  1853 was the last known use of just Latin in medicine.  As time progressed each country kind of used their own language, but found it hard to communicate with other medical practitioners.  So they decided to use Latin to kind of uniform the medical language.  They still add to the vocabulary all the time adding French, German, and English to its vocabulary.

There are some people who think Latin will disappear from medicine. Some hospitals may not take prescriptions with Latin abbreviations on them.  It’s also no longer a prerequisite in becoming a medical practitioner. 

Latin has itself deeply imbedded in medical terminology.  I don’t believe that it will be completely weeded out.  It’s the roots to most of the words and the names of others.  Even if it’s not required to learn Latin to become a doctor, it’s still learned anyways through medical texts at the very least.

Latin is still a thriving language in the medical world for the time being.  It’s a kind of universal language for them.  I’ve spoken with many people who deal with the scientific and medical world who do believe that even a year in Latin just learning vocabulary would have been a great deal of help to them.  I’d advocate bringing in a “scientific” or “medical” Latin course for students going into these fields. 

I’m glad to see that Latin is still pretty healthy here.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1079361/

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2272307/Latin-Phrases-and-Terms-Used-in-Medicine

http://www.smw.ch/docs/pdf200x/2002/41/smw-10027.pdf

Hidden Latin

Latin seems to hide in plain sight.  I turn around and spot it randomly.  Many things are also written to look like Latin using English words.  People place –us and ­–um­ to the end of words and “create” Latin.   I’ve seen that often.  On to finding Latin under my nose, yes there is some “duh” and “no, really” moments but I’m just showing that Latin is still in use.

Latin is used as dummy text.  Not my favourite use of Latin but it is still a use.  You’ve probably seen this text before.  The text is called lorem ipsum.  Most people think it is just made up and has no meaning.  It has a meaning, very roughly translated, “pain itself.”  Lorem is short for delorum meaning pain, grief, misery, and suffering.  It came from Cicero’s text, De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum (Of the boundaries of good and evil).  It came from sections 1.10.32-1.10.33.  The full text can be viewed at lipsum.com with translation.

I first came across it when I was creating a website on Google Sites.  One of their templates was full of this Latin text.  At the time I hadn’t a clue what it was.  I tried to translate it.  Sometimes it makes sense, other times it does not.  In more research I came to find that it has some words missing.  I also found that it is supposed to be nonsense that someone can use to advertise a website template or it can be used a kind of place holder too.

lorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur?

In the creating of a website and in general, when you are showing something, like a template, the reader will be distracted by readable content.  Lorem ipsum looks like a normal distribution of letters but it is not immediate recognizable to the English eye.  It also looks better than “content here.”

Latin can be found in really random places.  I know that we all know about the Latin saying throughout our government.  Latin is on our currency.  E pluribus unum, a saying we see every day.  It is part of a poem that was written by an unknown author and is generally attributed to Virgil.  It came from the idea “out of many one.”  When the United States was young it suggested that out of the many states and colonies would come one nation.  It is one of the three dictums on the Seal of the United States.  These are not as well known.  The mottos are Annuit coeptis and Novus ordo seclorum.  The meaning of Annuit coeptis is “he approves of all undertakings.”  Novus ordo seclorum means “new order of the ages.”

Latin is a highly visible, dead language.  It is part of our currency and on the Seal of the United States.  Latin is used because of how it looks on dummy sites and templates.  Latin is used more often than one might think.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_pluribus_unum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_ipsum

http://www.lipsum.com/

Confusion

To set the records straight I am studying L-A-T-I-N not Latin America or Spanish.  Much to my chagrin the word Latin befuddles minds. 

Recently, I had another “what are you going to school for” conversation with a new co-worker.  She had recently graduated herself and in business management.  I know you don’t have to be a genius to obtain a business degree, but still.  I guess I expected a little more (sorry to those with business degrees who know what Latin is and/or are geniuses.)

I guess this will be a hazard of my soon-to-be new profession, the confusion of Latin with Latin America.  I have to admit that the confusion for me is why is it called Latin America?  They don’t speak Latin.  They do speak a Latin based language though.  Today the word Latin is short for Latin American.  It is based on a Spanish word Latinoamericano, which means someone born in Latin America but migrates to the United States.   If you remain in Latin America you are considered Hispanic.

I do not know every thing.  I'll admit that.  I had to do some research on where the term Latin America came from.

Latin America is all of the countries, in the Americas, in which Spanish and Portuguese language prevails.  The idea of Latin America was a way that the “Latin” European nations could ally themselves with people in the Americas.  They did not want to deal with the Anglo-Saxon Americans.  They made a distinction between the two Americas by the conversion of the natives’ tongues.  It has made a huge impact on these cultures.

Latin versus Anglo-Saxon, both groups trying to gain purchase here in the Americas.  Today most of Latin America speaks a Latin based language, mostly Spanish or Portuguese.  French also has some hold in Latin America but to a smaller extent.

They decided to call it Latin America based on the roots of their language.  I guess I can see where people might get the idea that I am going to teach Spanish.  I guess I can also see where they think I’m going to teach the history.  An abbreviated term has made a significant change in the meaning of Latin.  The word, Latin, is gaining a new life.  Maybe if contemporary Latinists keep up the language it too will have a new life and possible a new name.  That would cause less confusion for me and others.

In the search for more modern Latin, I have found a German news site that has articles in Latin.  Nuntii Latini is the page.  On the site they are showing a book that is written in Latin.  Modern media is picking up this esoteric taste.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_America

http://www.hispaniceconomics.com/overviewofushispanics/hispaniclatinolatin.html

http://latindiscussion.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=4259

Back From the Grave

It is rising from the grave.  No, not the zombies, but used long ago.  A language that still lurks in our own language, it's judicial system still thrives in ours, and its sayings are often used every day in our lives.  Latin.

It is making a comeback, in some small ways.  Latin is coming back into the lives of school children.  Only a small percentage of secondary schools host the privilege of teaching a Latin course.  Susan Vela from The Cincinnati Enquirer found that from 1990-1994 there was a 15 percent increase nationwide of students joining Latin programs.  When students were asked why, most talked about increased scores on standardized testing.  For other students it was hopes of entering a medical or law career.  There were still a few who just hoped it would help them in the future.  One of my favourite answers was from a 14 year-old, Ashlie Reker.  She stated, “You feel special when you speak Latin because it's a different language that all these great people spoke [speaking about Vigil, Caesar, and Cicero].  It makes you feel like you're a part of that.”

Amy High from Virginia is a teacher in a third grade class.  She feels that Latin will help open doors for many of her students.  One morning she comes in to class, decked out in a traditional pink dress and gold stole of an ancient Roman woman.  She engages her students with Latinate words and asks for the meaning.  After the students answer a question she replies “Plaudite!” and all of her students applaud.  She goes on to explain the Latin roots to her third graders. “Latin's going to open up so many doors for you,” High says. “You're going to be able to figure out the meaning of words you've never seen before.”

Teachers are seeing the benefits of this language.  Winnie Hu from the New York Times reported in 2008 that,

The number of students in the United States taking the National Latin Exam has risen steadily to more than 134,000 students in each of the past two years, from 124,000 in 2003 and 101,000 in 1998, with large increases in remote parts of the country like New Mexico, Alaska and Vermont.

There has been a steady increase of students taking the National Latin Exam.  Many students are also pushing for an Advanced Placement Latin course in their school.  There are actually a few places where Latin teachers are sought after. 

But that’s not to say that everyone, everywhere want to take Latin.  Many Latin programs are still being shut down, generally due to the lack of interest in the subject.  It is still a “dead” language.  People are starting to notice its usefulness and are beginning to embrace it.  I hope to see more stories like these soon.

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/1999/01/24/loc_latin_rises_from.html

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,90457,00.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/nyregion/07latin.html

Non Compos Mentis

“The doctor has declared him Non compos mentis; he will be unable to stand trial”

If you’ve watched an episode of Law and Order, then you will have heard something like that.  The legal system and all of its parts are littered with Latin words and phrases.  You hear things like alibi and alias from police officers. You also hear words like ex post facto, pro bono, and affidavit from the courtroom.  Lawyers seem to spout Latin left and right. 

Another part of the judicial system that work both with the lawyers and police is the forensic science groups.

The world of forensic science, which actually encompasses more than I thought, they often use Latin.   

Forensic science, also know as Forensics is an application of science, more specifically a form of the scientific method, which are there to help the judicial system.  Everything within the forensic sciences can be used in the interest of our legal system and include branches like: forensic medicine, pathology, toxicology, psychology, anthropology, DNA fingerprints, marks of violence, and many more.  Each of these sciences are used to help our judicial system and are filled with Latin words.

An autopsy can also be called a postmortem (after death).

To abet someone with a crime, in other words it is to assist or goad someone into a crime.  Abet is one of those funny modern Latin words but it has its roots in apere meaning to join or connect.  The p probably changed to a b with time.

The reason Latin is still thrown around the legal system is because of Rome.  Rome still has a strong influence on the legal systems of most western countries.  Rome conquered much and only implemented their legal system where they went.  When the Roman Empire fell, the “new” legal systems were adapted into the lands.  The United States has a variation of Roman “Common Law.” 

There are many terms and sayings tossed around the legal system.  Many of those terms are Latin or are at least based in Latin.  Our whole legal system still has its roots in ancient Rome.  Lawyers and police have to learn to understand some Latin, another daily use of this language.

http://www.forensic-medecine.info/

http://www.enotes.com/forensic-science/latin-forensic-terms

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/understanding-latin-legalese.html

Learning Languages Through Latin

Latin is the root of the romance languages.  The romance languages include: Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Romanian.  Also English to an extent, though we have a very Germanic based language.  Because Latin is a root language many of these languages are still strongly based in it.  Most specifically Italian which derives almost directly from Latin, most of the Italian vocabulary is similar to Latin’s.

Italy, well Vatican State, Is still the only place you can hear Latin on a daily basis.  It is one of the two officially spoken languages, the other being Italian. 

Latin can be used in the learning of foreign languages.  If Latin is the root of these languages then learning Latin will help learn other languages.  According to Ethnologue the “[l]exical similarity [of Italian]: 89% with French, 87% with Catalan-Valencian-Balear, 85% with Sardinian, 82% with Spanish, 78% with Ladin, 77% with Romanian"; gain an understanding in Latin and the similarities to other romance languages is astounding.

There are still arguments to the contrary.  Many people do not believe that learning Latin can help with any other language.  Dawie from a forum on antimoon.com, a site on “how to learn English effectively", states;

 Saying that Latin will help you learn other languages is like saying that dating your girlfriend's grandparents will help you get to know her better.  If you were going spend all that time learning Latin, you might as well use that effort to directly learn the particular language you want to learn.

Dawie doesn’t feel that learning Latin to understand other languages is worthwhile.  They compare it to dating the grandparents of a girlfriend to get to know her better.  I understand the point, While it is true that you should spend the time and learn the language you're looking at, it does not necessarily follow that learning Latin can't help them with the language they want to learn.  Latin is the root of many other languages.  Italian shares about 80% of vocabulary with Latin and Italian sharing 50% of its language with Spanish.  If you are interested in learning more than one of these languages having Latin a its base helps.  I have found it most helpful to learn Latin even for English.  Also in looking on the back of shampoo bottles and instruction booklets where they have English, Spanish, and French I am starting to be able to read some of the Spanish here and there. 

Albeit, I am still unable to understand much, if any, of what is spoken.  But I am starting to be able to pick up some of what is written and I don’t know any Spanish outside of “hello,” “goodbye,” “water,” “thank you” and “look!”

 

In a poll on how-to-learn-any-language.com most people found that Latin was “not important at all” to learning other Romance languages, followed by “somewhat important.”  This forum frequented by a bunch of diglots and polyglots discussing the matter.  It is interesting to see it from the point from someone who has learned other languages.  From what it looks like though, many are diglots because of being born in Europe and learning two languages in school. 

Latin is the base of many other languages.  It helps with grammar and vocabulary in other languages.  It can be useful in the study of other languages.

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ita

http://www.antimoon.com/forum/t5506.htm

http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=17037&PN=16