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THE LATIN TOUCH

I have a confession to make. As well as being a writer, I am a teacher of Latin (and Ancient Greek). Do the British
study Latin? 50 years ago, a large percentage of school children did. Now it is mainly taught in private schools. Many
teachers retire every year; only two universities train new teachers. Many students study classical works only in
translation. Surely this means the end for Latin and, some will say, good riddance
PROPHETS OF DOOM

(eliminacin).

(destino, muerte)

Journalists and other prophets of doom constantly predict the end of Latin. To me it seems comical to predict the
death of an extinct language. When I admit I am a Latin teacher, people look at me as if I were a dodo

(pjaro extinguido).

They often send me newspaper articles about:

How useless Latin is.
How important Latin is.
How Latin is making a come back.

Why do people get so worked up

(exaltarse, emocionarse)

about it? Somehow Latin provides a focus for all our fears about

education: vocational against non vocational, privileged against under-privileged.

WHO AND WHY
Why do we study Latin? Its not the basis of our language, as it is for Italian, Spanish and Portuguese speakers. Yet,
despite the Germanic structure of English, perhaps 45 per cent of our vocabulary is Romance-derived. Significantly,
intellectual vocabulary is often Latinate: the language of science, art and technology.
Who learns Latin today? One definition of the typical English gentleman is: Someone who once knew the classics
but has forgotten them. We think of aristocratic Oxbridge comics showing off

(destacados)

on clever TV shows: actor/writer

Steven Fry, John Cleese and his Monty Python gang; Boris Jonson, Mayor of London.
This elitism elicits

(suscitar)

anger as well as admiration. The Campaign for plain English has fought a war against

unnecessary Latin. Lawyers no longer use Latin phrases where there are English alternatives. Yet we love the scene in
Monty Pythons Life of Brian where the centurion corrects Brians graffiti. To get the joke properly, you need to know
Latin: Romanes eunt domus is nonsense, he means Romani, ite domum (Romans go home).
EVERYDAY LANGUAGE
Everyday English is full of Latin words. Many are borrowed directly, many more are derivations.
Science (from Latin) and technology (Greek) have filled English with classical vocabulary:
galaxy,
protons,
electric,
democracy
telephone (Greek);
universe,
circuit,
election

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Prime Minister (Latin).

Bones are Latin: from patella to clavicle; organs and diseases are often Greek:
stomach,

Leukaemia.

Botanists and zoologists give plants and animals classical names. Other school subjects have Greek names:
Geography,

History,

Maths,

Psychology,

Philosophy

WHERE NEXT
Its all Greek to me is a phrase from Shakespeare used to dismiss

(rechazar)

anything we cant understand. Yet we

still admire those who have Latin on their curriculum vitae. George Bush Seniors notoriously ignorant vice president,
Dan Quayle, regretted

(lament)

not studying Latin harder in school when he visited Latin America!

People pay me to translate club mottos, degree certificates and tattoos. They buy furniture, stationery and Tshirts with Latin on them. David Beckham has Latin tattoos (and the Roman numeral VII). Why? Because it seems
important. Latin has dignity, grandeur, gravitas.
So, even if you think it is useless, remember: quod Latine dictum est altum videtur, or whatever you say in Latin seems
deep.

PRONUNTIATION AND SPEELING

English speakers pronouncing Latin are confused. When a word is normal English, it is unashamedly anglicised:
alias,

alibi,

audio,

doctor,

exit,

flux,

memorandum,

status.

Quasi in English has long a and i sounds. The second c in cancer is soft. The g in agenda is also soft. And there
is a j in de jure.
When the English adopt a whole phrase, their pronunciation is a little more latinate:
sine qua non,

mea culpa,

modus vivendi,

quid pro quo.

When the English sing Latin in church, they use the Italian style. But in school they follow standard European
Erasmus pronunciation and Italians find it amusing when the English read phrases like arma virumque cano

When British English adopts Greek words like encyclopaedia, it keeps the ae after the p, whereas the Americans
use a simple e, as in encyclopedia. This causes confusion with names: Aeschylus usually retains the ae at the
beginning, while Oedipus can either be written with an oe, or a simple e at the beginning: Edipus.
And Daedalus can either be written with an ae Daedalus- or with an e Dedalus-.
And we love Latin abbreviations, even if we rarely know what they stand for, but there are some examples:
AD

Anno domini

Am

ante meridiem

Pm

post meridiem

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Eg

exempli gratia

Ie

id est

Viz

Videlicet

QED Quod erat demonstrandum

ALIVE AND KICKING

(vivito y coleando)

The UK government has ignored demands to offer Latin in all schools. But the ancient world still holds our
imaginations, from law and politics through to films like Clash of the Titans and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.

COGITO ERGO SUM: Pienso luego existo

Politically, Roman laws passed through two houses. The UK copied this arrangement. The US went further,
placing the Senate and House of Representatives on Capitol Hill. Money stamped with our leaders faces is inspired by
Roman coins.
The Romans gave us public and civil law, trial by jury and the principle innocent till proven guilty. Todays
politicians are still influenced by Ciceros oratory. We take rhetorical devices
simile

metaphor,

synecdoche

(recursos)

from the classics:

metonymy.

Although we may prefer films to poetry, we use their literary genres:

Tragedy

comedy,

epic

satire.

Ever since Freud, psychology has used classical words and concepts. We are aware of our ego, id and superego.
We recognize narcissism,

mania and

the Oedipus complex.

Philosophy is built upon Plato and Aristotle, giving us arguments a priori and a posteriori, syllogisms and
reductio ad absurdum.
Everybody knows Descartes phrase: Cogito ergo sum.

SCIENCE AND SPORT

Science is full of Latin from geometrys humble oval to paleontologys mighty Tyrannosaurus rex.

In meteorology, we have cumulo-nimbus clouds;

in physics, the quantum.
We named the planets after Roman gods. Neighbours Venus and Mars reflect the mythical entanglement
love and war. The god Pluto was dismissed to the underworld: in 2006 his planet was deplaneted
In sport Romans took Greek pursuits

(persecucin, caza, bsqueda)

(enredo, lo)

of

(desembarcado) .

and turned them into big business, with

stadiums and gambling.

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Watch todays racing, horses or Formula One, and you cant help thinking of chariot racing in the Circus Maximus.
The celebrities and hysteria in boxing, wrestling, rugby and football recall

LATIN ADVOCATES

(nos recuerdan a)

Romes gladiators.

(el latn propone)

Oxford classics professors recently urged the British Government to give Latin the same status in schools as modern
languages. The Department for Education replied: Latin is an important subject, valuable for learning of modern
languages and a useful basis for many disciplines. It is, however, not classified in the curriculum as a modern language
as pupils cannot interact with native Latin speakers or visit parts of the world where Latin is spoken as a native
language. A diplomatic response! Even if few English schools teach Latin, nobody denies its influence on modern life. The
title of a recent book says it all: Vote for Caesar, How the Ancient Greek and Romans solved the problems of today.
Next month well investigate whether thats really true. But there is no doubt classical culture is with us every day,
whatever the Education Secretary says QED. And to prove our point, here are some Latin words and expressions used in
everyday English:
Virus,
antenna,
doctor,
facsimile,
via,
modus operandi,
per diem,
sine qua non,
RIP (Requiescat in pace),
QED (Quod erat demonstrandum),
Vice versa,
alter ego,
alumnus,
alma mater,
post mortem,
bona fide,
tedium,
museum,
simulacrum,
agenda,
de facto,
ex cathedra,
statu quo,

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quid pro quo,

sic,
ad hoc.

FIND IN THIS ARTICLE THOSE ENGLISH WORDS THAT COME FROM THESE LATIN TERMS:
Admirare To/look:
Admittere to/ send:
Alter/alterno one of two/change:
Angere squeeze, be too tight:
Anti-annus before-year:
Ars-artis art:
Articulus articulation + diminutive:
Actor to do+ suffix of author:
Basis pedestal:
Campus plain ground:
Comicus Comic:
Confiteor to confess:
Constans with-to be still, remain:
Corrigere/ correctum with-to rule/right:
De/finire from-finish:
De/rivus from/river:
Dies day:
Educere from-drive:
E-legere-lectum from- to read or to collect:
Exstinguo from- to delete:
Focus home, fire:
Gens-gentis family:
Graphia writen word:

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Importare to-to take:

Inter-legere between- to read, collect:
Iocus toy:
Lingua language:
Largus abundant
Longus large, long:
Maior bigger:
Ne/cedere-cessum non- to cede:
Per-centum per-hundred:
Phrasis style or phrase:
Planus plain:
Populus people:
Pre-dicere befote- to say:
Privatus particular:
Privus /lex-legis: particular /law:
Pro/fateor in front of/ to speak:
Proprius mine:
Pro/videre in front of / to see
Scaena Scenary:
Scio To know, related to the Greek word sjol school:
Signum-facere sign/to do:
Stephanus coronado:
Struere disponer por capas:
Studeo to make an effort:
Typus type:
Trans/ ferre, tuli, latum to the other side / to take:

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Unus one:
Utor/usus use:
Vocare to name: