1. Welcome to Latin 101 1.Why learn Latin? 2.Latin you know

2. 1. Why learn Latin?  The Foreign Language requirement  To understand “grammar”  “To think more clearly and systematically”  To learn the history of the Romance languages that descended from Latin (Spanish, Italian, French, Romanian, etc.)  To trace a major historical influence on English language (though not directly “descended” from Latin)

3. 1. Why learn Latin? (cont.)  To know “the lingua franca of western civilization”  To understand specialist vocabularies (medicine, botany, Catholicism, etc.)  “To know a dead language” …  To read:  Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis  Alicia in Terra Mirabili  Winnie ille Pu

4. 1. Why learn Latin? (cont.)  To learn the language of a living ancient community (the Romans):  Inscriptions ( graffiti from Pompeii, c. 59 CE) CAMPĀNĪ, VICTŌRIĀ ŪNĀ CUM NŪCERĪNĪS PERĪSTIS “Campanians, in victory you perished together with the Nucerians” Cf. HBO Rome opening credits:http://www.youtube.com/watc h?v=6BZmK3_IIZghttp://www.youtube.com/watc h?v=6BZmK3_IIZg

5. 1. Why learn Latin? (cont.)  To learn the language of a living ancient community (the Romans):  Literature (from Vergilius Vaticanus manuscript, c. 400 CE; Aeneas describes his voyage; Aeneid 3.681–89) praecipitis metus acer agit quocumque rudentis excutere et uentis intendere uela secundis. “Our terror drove us headlong—anywhere. We let the sails out for the wind to take.” —trans. Ruden

6. 2. Latin you know What do you know?

7. 2. Latin you know (cont.)  Further examples: semper fi = semper fidelis e pluribus unum prima facie vice versa ante meridiem in vino veritas minutiae desiderata casus belli deus ex machina veni, vidi, vici alea iacta est habeas corpus always faithful from one, many on first impression the situation turned around before noon in wine, truth small details things desired incident of/for war god from the machine (stage-crane) I came, I saw, I conquered the die has been cast you can have the body

8. 2. Latin you know (cont.)  Further examples: carpe diem status quo (ante) sine qua non quid pro quo referendum referenda agenda seize the day the state in which (earlier) without which not one thing for another a referral items to be referred things to be done

9. 2. Latin you know (cont.) What do the examples let you say …  About the role played by Latin in modern American and anglophone discourse?  About the ways in which the grammatical rules of Latin may differ from English?

10. 2. Latin you know (cont.) For next class-meeting : Read Intro to Latin pp. 1–3 on pronunciation: How much of Latin pronunciation did you already know, and how much could you have guessed?