Most Popular
1500 questions
16
votes
1 answer
Does anyone learn Latin as a native language?
I am interested in finding out if any Latin enthusiasts speak Latin to their children, so that the children grow up with Latin as one of their native languages. If yes, can any description of their experience with this endeavour be found online?
Marcos Cramer
- 261
- 2
- 4
16
votes
2 answers
What is the difference between "ac" (or "atque") and "et"?
What is the difference between ac (or atque) and et? And how do I know when to use atque instead of just ac?
It seems that ac "binds more tightly" than et. Is this true? Or is the difference between ac (or atque) and et the conjunctive analogue of…
Geremia
- 3,628
- 14
- 36
16
votes
1 answer
Omnia vincit amor: vincere or vincire?
The phrase omnia vincit amor (from Vergilius' tenth Ecloga; see full text in Latin and English) is typically translated as "love conquers everything".
However, vincit can come from either vincere (to win) or vincire (to bind).
This leads to the…
Joonas Ilmavirta
- 113,294
- 21
- 192
- 587
16
votes
4 answers
What is "Winter is Coming" in Latin?
I'm an avid follower of the TV-show "Game of Thrones", and wonder what a Latin translation of the Stark's families motto — "Winter is Coming" — would be?
It's used in the form of a warning, that there are dark and difficult days ahead. Should…
Baard Kopperud
- 345
- 2
- 7
16
votes
2 answers
How did Rome transform from republic to empire in Latin?
I would like to understand how Rome transformed from republic to empire from the point of view of Latin language.
I think I already have a sufficient understanding of Roman history to understand the political transformation, but I realized that I…
Joonas Ilmavirta
- 113,294
- 21
- 192
- 587
16
votes
1 answer
Why is the letter K a rare letter?
I was looking in a dictionary to find the meaning of the word: kalendae. When I came to the letter K, I saw that there are only a few words/names which starts with the letter K. I saw that there aren't many words which contain the letter K either.…
L. Peters
- 1,599
- 1
- 12
- 27
16
votes
3 answers
Would it be good Classical Latin style to always use the preposition "ab" and never "ā"?
I understand from Lingua Latina per se Illustrata (chap. 6) that the prepositions ā and ab are equivalent, except that ā is used only before words beginning with consonants, while ab can be used before any word, regardless of its initial letter. …
Nathaniel is protesting
- 11,379
- 4
- 40
- 119
15
votes
1 answer
Were there grammatical disagreements in Latin?
Latin has such a long history that at some point some native — or otherwise very fluent — speakers surely have disagreed about what is correct and grammatical Latin.
I would like to know if such disagreements have survived in literature.
Let me…
Joonas Ilmavirta
- 113,294
- 21
- 192
- 587
15
votes
4 answers
Proper parsing of "Ite, missa est"
In the Catholic liturgy at the dismissal, the Latin phrase used is "Ite, missa est." The usual translation for this is "Go, the Mass has ended."
Can someone suggest a proper parsing of this somewhat opaque phrase?
brianpck
- 40,688
- 5
- 94
- 204
15
votes
1 answer
Use of Greek article in Latin to clarify use of foreign indeclinable nouns
This question concerning the pluralization of letter names has led me to ask a somewhat related question on the use of Greek to clarify indeclinable nouns in Latin.
The background to this question is that I possess a Hebrew Bible edited by Everardus…
varro
- 4,688
- 1
- 9
- 17
15
votes
1 answer
Are there dictionaries that translate profanities profanely?
Sometimes I come across Latin profanities, for example when reading a certain poem of Catullus.
Many dictionaries fail to translate profanities properly, perhaps in order to maintain a certain level of tact.
This makes it difficult to understand…
Joonas Ilmavirta
- 113,294
- 21
- 192
- 587
15
votes
2 answers
What word order resolves the ambiguity of two nominative nouns in a sentence?
This question is a beginner's confusion about sentences of the form:
[subject_noun] [object_noun] est.
E.g. Bob agricola est.
From my understanding, both the subject and object are declined in the nominative. Hence I am wondering how the…
modulus0
- 253
- 1
- 4
15
votes
1 answer
Why is Jesus inflected in such a way?
The name Iesus is declined in a very peculiar way in Latin, and no other word seems to follow similar declensions.
Why is this so?
Is there a way to put this broader declension in context to make some sense of it and make it easier to remember?
It…
Joonas Ilmavirta
- 113,294
- 21
- 192
- 587
15
votes
1 answer
Were mnemonics used to teach Classical Latin?
Latin has quite a complex grammar and many mnemonics have been used in the past as a memory aid. A famous example is the rhytmic "rosa rosa rosam" which is used to teach the first declension. It was immortalised in a Jacques Brel song in 1962 and is…
Lilienthal
- 251
- 1
- 7
15
votes
3 answers
Is llama lama or glama?
I went to a zoo today, and I noticed that the scientific name of llama is Lama glama.
It seems to me that both lama and glama are latinized versions of "llama".
Why were two different versions of the word chosen for genus and species?
I could…
Joonas Ilmavirta
- 113,294
- 21
- 192
- 587