Why Study Latin?
Why study Latin? What’s the point, after all? It’s a dead language; no one speaks Latin any more. So what benefits can Latin bring us?
Some students want to take Latin to improve their SAT scores, but that isn’t necessarily a good idea. With far less effort, the student could memorize lists of words, their definitions and usage. Others study Latin believing that it will provide a gateway into the language of law and medicine, but again, students who don’t take Latin excel in these fields to the same extent as those who study Cicero and Caesar.
No--we need to look elsewhere for reasons to expend energy and time studying declensions, conjugations, and vocabulary lists.
First on such a list of reasons is the fact that Latin is an inflected language. This means that word endings determine the meaning and place of that word in a sentence. “Marcus,” for example, is the subject form of Marcus; Marcus patriam amat translates as “Marcus loves his country.” Marci translates as “of Marcus”; Mater Marci patriam amat translates “Marcus’s mother loves her country” or “The mother of Marcus loves her country.”
A student may well wonder: what’s the big deal? Well, the big deal is that because Latin, unlike Spanish or French, is an inflected language, you will learn a good deal of solid grammar when you study it. The inflection and the word order in Latin make it quite different than English. In English, we can say “Marcus loves his country,” and that is the only way to say it without changing the meaning. Word order determines the meaning of the English sentence. In Latin, we can write Marcus amat patriam, a direct translation of “Marcus loves his country,“ but by far the most common way of writing “Marcus loves his country” in Latin is Marcus patriam amat: subject, direct object, verb. Not only that, but we can write the sentence several ways, and Latin readers would still easily read it. We could write Amat Marcus patriam, Patriam Marcus amat, Amat patriam Marcus, and so on, and everyone who read Latin would understand the meaning of the sentence because of the word endings.
Again, you may say: what’s the big deal? The answer is that inflection, the order and case of words based on endings, permits us to get at the basics of a language. We come to understand our own language in a way that we can’t when learning Spanish or Italian or French. Studying Latin forces us to know grammar in a different way--in some respects, in a better way.
In addition, inflection provides us with a gymnasium of the mind. It exercises our brain. Like calculus, like chemistry, the study of Latin trains us to think more clearly and logically. By coming at language from a different direction, students find themselves intimately engaged in these mental gymnastics.
Latin also makes easier the acquisition of Romance languages. French, Spanish, and Italian are all related to Latin. Former students of mine who take even two years of Latin excel in French or Spanish at AB Tech and other colleges.
Latin opens windows on the English language as well. Nearly half of all English words are derived from Latin. The longer the word, moreover, the higher this percentage grows. A great majority of four and five syllable our words are rooted in Latin soil.
Nor should the historical significance of Latin for Westerners be overlooked. Not only will students learn the language spoken and written by the ancient Romans, but they will also be taking part in an education common to men and women from Caesar to Thomas Jefferson, from Virgil to Dante and Luther. For twelve hundred years after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, scholars, ecclesiastics, and statesmen read and spoke this ancient language. To study Latin makes us a part of this Great Tradition.
Finally, Latin carries with it a certain cachet. Suppose your grandmother, perhaps suspicious of home schooling, asks you what language you are studying. If you reply, “Spanish,” she will likely say,” Well, that’s very practical these days.” Should you answer “French,” she may comment, “French is a beautiful language.” If, however, you say, “Latin,” your grandmother may well offer one of two comments. She may first ask you why anyone would study a dead language, in which case you should cite the above arguments. But she may just as likely comment: “Latin? Latin? You must be smart.”
And so you are.
Why study Latin? What’s the point, after all? It’s a dead language; no one speaks Latin any more. So what benefits can Latin bring us?
Some students want to take Latin to improve their SAT scores, but that isn’t necessarily a good idea. With far less effort, the student could memorize lists of words, their definitions and usage. Others study Latin believing that it will provide a gateway into the language of law and medicine, but again, students who don’t take Latin excel in these fields to the same extent as those who study Cicero and Caesar.
No--we need to look elsewhere for reasons to expend energy and time studying declensions, conjugations, and vocabulary lists.
First on such a list of reasons is the fact that Latin is an inflected language. This means that word endings determine the meaning and place of that word in a sentence. “Marcus,” for example, is the subject form of Marcus; Marcus patriam amat translates as “Marcus loves his country.” Marci translates as “of Marcus”; Mater Marci patriam amat translates “Marcus’s mother loves her country” or “The mother of Marcus loves her country.”
A student may well wonder: what’s the big deal? Well, the big deal is that because Latin, unlike Spanish or French, is an inflected language, you will learn a good deal of solid grammar when you study it. The inflection and the word order in Latin make it quite different than English. In English, we can say “Marcus loves his country,” and that is the only way to say it without changing the meaning. Word order determines the meaning of the English sentence. In Latin, we can write Marcus amat patriam, a direct translation of “Marcus loves his country,“ but by far the most common way of writing “Marcus loves his country” in Latin is Marcus patriam amat: subject, direct object, verb. Not only that, but we can write the sentence several ways, and Latin readers would still easily read it. We could write Amat Marcus patriam, Patriam Marcus amat, Amat patriam Marcus, and so on, and everyone who read Latin would understand the meaning of the sentence because of the word endings.
Again, you may say: what’s the big deal? The answer is that inflection, the order and case of words based on endings, permits us to get at the basics of a language. We come to understand our own language in a way that we can’t when learning Spanish or Italian or French. Studying Latin forces us to know grammar in a different way--in some respects, in a better way.
In addition, inflection provides us with a gymnasium of the mind. It exercises our brain. Like calculus, like chemistry, the study of Latin trains us to think more clearly and logically. By coming at language from a different direction, students find themselves intimately engaged in these mental gymnastics.
Latin also makes easier the acquisition of Romance languages. French, Spanish, and Italian are all related to Latin. Former students of mine who take even two years of Latin excel in French or Spanish at AB Tech and other colleges.
Latin opens windows on the English language as well. Nearly half of all English words are derived from Latin. The longer the word, moreover, the higher this percentage grows. A great majority of four and five syllable our words are rooted in Latin soil.
Nor should the historical significance of Latin for Westerners be overlooked. Not only will students learn the language spoken and written by the ancient Romans, but they will also be taking part in an education common to men and women from Caesar to Thomas Jefferson, from Virgil to Dante and Luther. For twelve hundred years after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, scholars, ecclesiastics, and statesmen read and spoke this ancient language. To study Latin makes us a part of this Great Tradition.
Finally, Latin carries with it a certain cachet. Suppose your grandmother, perhaps suspicious of home schooling, asks you what language you are studying. If you reply, “Spanish,” she will likely say,” Well, that’s very practical these days.” Should you answer “French,” she may comment, “French is a beautiful language.” If, however, you say, “Latin,” your grandmother may well offer one of two comments. She may first ask you why anyone would study a dead language, in which case you should cite the above arguments. But she may just as likely comment: “Latin? Latin? You must be smart.”
And so you are.
posted by Mr. Minick at
5:41 PM
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