Languageorigin
Latinisacomprehensivelanguage,andthecomplexsystemoftwistsandturnsformsthemainpartofLatingrammar.Thesechangesareusuallymadebyaddingasuffixtotheendoftheword(externalinflection)orchangingtheconsonantsorvowelsofthestem(internalinflection).Fornouns,adjectivesandpronouns,thiskindofchangeiscalled"declinatio",andforverbs,itiscalled"coniugatio".Beginnershavetomemorizeaconsiderablenumberofrulesatthebeginning,whichoftenleadstofrustration.TheGermanpoetHeinewasunabletomemorizeitbyheart,andexclaimed,"IftheRomanshadtolearnLatinfirst,theyprobablydidn'thavemuchtimetoconquertheworld."
Languageevolution
TheclassicalChineseusedintheperiodofEmperorAugustusoftheRomanEmpireiscalled"latinaclassica",andthevernacularusedbythepeopleinthe2-6thcenturyItiscalled"PopularLatin"(sermovulgaris).IntheMiddleAges,popularLatinderivessome"Romanticlanguages",includingCentralRomance:French,Italian,Sardinian,Catalan;WesternRomance:Spanish,Portuguese;andEasternRomance:Romanian.Afterthe16thcentury,theSpanishandPortugueseforcesexpandedtotheentireCentralandSouthAmerica,soCentralandSouthAmericaisalsocalled"LatinAmerica".
IntheprocessoftheevolutionofLatintoRomancelanguages,manygrammaticalchangesandendingsofwordshavebeenlost.Inparticular,manyofthedeclensionendingsofnounshavebeencompletelylost(exceptforsomepronouns).ButnoundeclensionstillhasreservationsinRomanian.
LiturgicalLatin(LiturgicalLatin)belongstolateLatin,whichisdifferentfromclassicalLatinintermsofvocabularyandsyntacticstructure.PassesinallparishesoftheCatholicChurch.
ModernLatinpronunciationisdividedintotwotypes,classicalandecclesiastical.Theecclesiasticalstyleisstillinusetoday,theLatinusedbytheCatholicChurch,whiletheclassicalstyleistheancientRomanpronunciationrestoredbylinguists.MostofthedomesticLatintextbooksareclassical.TherearenolettersWandJinLatin.InmodernLatintextbooks,ahorizontalvowelisaddedtoindicatealongsound.Thiskindofexpressiononlyappearedinmoderntimesanddidnotexistinancienttimes.Atthattime,readerscanonlydeterminebycontext.Inaddition,theLatinUandVinancientRomearewrittenasVregardlessofthedifference.TheletterYisonlyusedtowriteGreekloanwords.IntheancientRomanperiod,theLatinalphabetwasonlyuppercaseandnotlowercase.LowercaselettersappearedintheMiddleAgesandtookshapeuntilmoderntimes.
Vocabularycomposition
Nouns
Generally,eachnounhassixdifferences;therecanbesevenmore,andtwoless.Thesevencasesofanounare:
"Nominative"(representingsubjectorpredicative)
"Genitive"(representingAllrelations,sameasthepossessivecaseofEnglish)
"Dative"(representingindirectobjectorotherindirectgrammaticalmeaning)
"Objective"(indicatingdirectobject,alsocalledaccusativeoropposite)
"Duoge"(usedinconjunctionwithsomeprepositions,orusedsolelytoexpresstools,Means)
"Huge"(usedtoaddresssomeone)
"Zhuge"(usedtoSomespecificwordsareusedtoindicatetheposition)
BecausecasechangeshaveexpressedthegrammaticalrelationshipbetweennounsandverbsinLatin,thewordorderofLatinishighlyfreeanddoesnotFollowthesubject-predicate-objectformat.Forexample:Fatherlovesson.ThissentencecanonlyhaveonewordorderinChinese,English,andFrench,namelysubject-predicate-object.ButinLatin,therecanbesixwordorders,theyare:
Pateramatfilium.
Paterfiliumamat.
Filiumamatpater.
p>Filiumpateramat.
Amatpaterfilium.
Amatfiliumpater.
Theabovesixsentenceshavethesamemeaning.Ifyouwanttoexpress"thesonlovesthefather",youneedtochangethestyle.Therearealso6wordorderstoexpressthissentence:Filiuspatrumamat.Otherwordordersareomitted.
AlthoughwordorderisnotimportanttoLatin,themostcommonlyusedwordorderinLatinisasubject-object-predicatestructure.
TherearefivetypesofLatinnounsandtwodeclensionmethodsforadjectives.Eachdeclensionmethodusesadifferentdeclensionmethodtodistinguishtheabovesixcases.Thesingulargenitiveendingofnounsisusedtodeterminethedeclensionmethod.
Verbs
Thedifferencebetweenverbsinperson,number,tense,tone(direct,virtual,command)andstate(active,passive).TherearefourdifferentconjugationsofLatinverbs,andsomeirregularverbsarealsoincluded.
Mostregularverbsdistinguishtheirconjugationsbytheirinfinitiveendings:theinfinitiveendinginthefirstconjugationis"-āre",andthesecondconjugationis"-ēre"",thethirdconjugationis"-ere",andthefourthconjugationis"-īre".TherelationshipbetweenLatinandEnglish
EnglishandLatinaregrammaticallydifferent.ModernBritishwriterstriedtoapplythegrammarofLatintoEnglish.Forexample,theruleprohibitingtheuseofadverbsbetweentoandverbscouldnotbesuccessfullyappliedtoeverydaylanguage.Evenso,morethanhalfofEnglishvocabularycomesfromLatin.ManyEnglishvocabularyevolvedfromFrenchorItalian,etc.,andtheselanguagesevolvedfromLatin(forexample:Latin:mercēs/French:merci/English:mercy),andsomeevolveddirectlyfromLatin(forexample:Latin:serēnus/English:serene),andsomearedirectlyadoptedwithoutchange(forexample:Latin:lārva:English:larva).ItcanbeseenthatquitealotofEnglishvocabularyhasevolvedfromLatin.Inaddition,someLatinlanguagesarederivedfromGreek(forexample:Greek:schǒlē/Latin:schǒla/OldEinglish:scōl/ModernEnglish:school).AfteradoptingsuchalargenumberofforeignwordsinEnglish,ithasindeedenrichedtheoriginalmonotonousEnglishvocabularyworld.
ManypeopleareusedtocallingA-Z"Englishletters",butinfacttheyshouldbecalled"Latinletters"or"Romanletters".Becausethetwenty-sixlettersA-ZinEnglisharetheLatinalphabetsfromLatin.
ThefollowingisacomparisonlistofsomespecificnounsinLatinandEnglish,showingtherelationshipbetweenLatinandEnglish:
Month
Iānus | January | January | Janus,thegodwhosymbolizestheendandthebeginninginRomanmythology |
February | February | febris | Fever(Februaryistheseasontocatchcolds) |
March | March | Mars | Mars,thegodofwarinRomanmythology |
April | April | Aprilis | TheoriginalintentwastheSpringFestivalreturnoftheearthandtherenewalofVientiane |
May | May | Maia | Maia,thegodofspringinRomanmythology |
June | June | Junō | Junō,RomeThequeenofmythologyisalsothegodofmarriageandmotherhood |
July | July | Julius | GaiusJuliusCaesar'smiddlename |
August | August | Augustus | Gaius·UdaWei’stitle"Augustus"(Augustus) |
September td> | September | Septem | Latin"seven" |
October | October | Octō | Latin"eight" |
November | November | Novem | Latin"九" |
December | December | Decem | Latin"ten" |
Note:"April"inAprilcomesfromGreekmythology.
Week
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Celestialbodies
Mercury | Mercury | Mercurius | Mercurius,themessengerofthegodsinRomanmythology(Mercuryrevolvesfastest) |
Venus | Venus | Venus | Venus,thegoddessofbeautyinRomanmythology(goldsymbolizesbeauty) |
Mars | |||
Mars p> | Mars | Mars | Mars,thegodofwarinRomanmythology(thesurfaceofMarsismainlyred,symbolizingbloodandwar) |
Jupiter | Jupiter | Iuppiter | Jupiter,thekingofgodsinRomanmythology(Jupiteristhelargestplanetinthesolarsystem) |
Saturn | Saturn | Satūrnus | Satūrnus,Jupiter’sfatherinRomanmythology | tr>
Neptune | Neptune | Neptūnus | Neptūnus,PoseidoninRomanmythology(thesurfaceofNeptuneisblue,symbolizingtheocean) |
Note:Uranus’snamecomesfromUranusinGreekmythology,ItistheonlyplanetinthesolarsystemnamedafteradeityoutsideofRomanmythology.
Ceres | Ceres | Cĕrēs | gReis,thegoddessofagricultureandharvestinRomanmythology |
Pluto | Pluto | Plūtō | Pluto,PlutoinRomanmythology(Plutoisthefarthestanddarkestinthesolarsystem) |
Constellation
AriesAriēsRam
TaurusTaurusTaurusBull
GeminiGeminiGeminītwins
CancerCancerCrab
LeoLeoLeoLion
VirgoVirgoVirgin
LibraLibraLibraScale
ScorpioScorpioScorpiōScorpio
SagittariusSagittariusarcher
CapricornCapricornusupperbodysheep,lowerbodyfishmonster
AquariusAquariusAquariuswatercontainer
PiscesPiscēsFish[plural]
TherearealsosomedifferencesbetweenEnglishandLatininEnglishandLatin.LeteveryonefeelthedrivingroleofLatininEnglish:
OFortuna,(OFortune,)
velutluna(likethemoon)
statuvariabilis,(youarechangeable,)
sempercrescis(everwaxing)
autdecrescis;(andwaning;)
vitadetestabilis(hatefullife)
nuncobdurat(firstoppresses)
ettunccurat(andthensoothes)
ludomentisaciem,(asfancytakesit;)
egestatem,(poverty)
potestatem(andpower)
dissolvitutglaciem.(itmeltsthemlikeice.)
Sorsimmanis(Fate-monstrous)
etinanis,(andempty,)
rotatuvolubilis,(youwhirlingwheel,)
statusmalus,(youaremalevolent,)
vanasalus(well-beingisinvain)
semperdissolubilis,(andalwaysfadestonothing,)
obumbrata(shadowed)
etvelata(andveiled)
michiquoqueniteris;(youplaguemetoo;)
nuncperludum(nowthroughthegame)
dorsumnudum(Ibringmybareback)
ferotuisceleris.(toyourvillainy.)
Sorssalutis(Fateisagainstme)
etvirtutis(inhealth)
michinunccontraria,(andvirtue,)
estaffectus(drivenon)
etdefectus(andweighteddown,)
semperinangaria.(alwaysenslaved.)
Hacinhora(Soatthishour)
sinemora(withoutdelay)
cordepulsumtangite;(pluckthevibratingstrings;)
quodpersortem(sinceFate)
sternitfortem,(strikesdownthestrongman,)
mecumomnesplangite!(everybodyweepwithme!)
(Note:LatinontheleftandEnglishontheright)
Latinproverbs
Altissimaquaequefluminaminimosonolabi
Stillwaterflowsdeep
AmicusPlato,sedmagisamicaveritas
IlovePlato,butIlovetruthmore
Amorestvitaeessentia
Loveistheessenceoflife
Audentesfortunaiuvat
Thegoddessofdestinyfavorsthecourageous
Cogitoergosum
Ithink,thereforeIam
Fasestetabhostedoceri
Youcanalsolearnfromtheenemy
Errarehumanumest
Itishumannaturetomakemistakes
Inlibrislibertas
Freeinbooks
Jusestarsbonietaequi
Lawistheartofkindnessandjustice
Nonsibi,sedomnibus
notforyourself,butforEveryone
Nosceteipsum
Knowyourself
Saluspopulisupremalex
Theinterestsofthepeoplearethehighestlaw
Scientialumenvitae
Knowledgeisthelightoflife
Unusproomnibus,omnesprouno
Iameveryone,everyoneisme
p>Veritasvosliberabit
Truthsetsyoufree
Vigiliapretiumlibertatis
Vigilanceisthepriceoffreedom
Vincitomniaveritas
Truthdefeatseverything
Inmundonondaturcasus
Therearenoaccidentsintheworld
Representativeworks
Caesar:"GaulWars"and"CivilWars"