BACKGROUND

Latin, once the bane of schoolchildren everywhere in English-speaking countries, has managed to pick up an air of mystery in recent times. Rock bands are naming themselves and their songs in Latin, even the movie star Angelina Jolie has a Latin tattoo now. People seem to be drawn to its archaism and almost magical eeriness.

In antiquity, Latin was spoken by the ancient Romans and developed in the heart of Italy. Though the Roman Empire is no more, one should be careful before calling Latin a dead language. Latin is restricted as a spoken language to the Vatican, but there are millions of people who know Latin worldwide, which is more members than many other "living" languages can boast. However, the exclusive nature of having something written in a half-forgotten ancient tongue may be quite appealing.

In ancient times, Latin spread wherever the Roman Empire did. No longer just a collection of Italian dialects, it spread across Europe as an international language and even into large parts of Asia and Africa. Latin donated thousands of words to other languages, including English, and borrowed from them as well. Over 70% of English words and much of English grammar are borrowed directly from Latin. Still more English words derive from the offspring of Latin, particularly French. Over a long time and the dissipation of the empire, Latin dissimilated into various daughter languages, including the languages of French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, and Italian. Even as Latin divided into what are now known as the Romance languages, it continued to be used in Medieval times as a common language across Europe and the language of the Church. Depending on which period of Latin one wishes to use, words and style will vary, since languages do tend to mutate over a thousand years of use. In addition to the proper literary Latin, there was also a "Vulgar Latin" spoken by the common people, but we know little of it since it was not the language of writing. Translations done by me will typically make use of the style and vocabulary of Classical Latin, i.e. the Ciceronian and Augustan Eras.

TRANSLATION

Latin is a highly inflected language. Both verbs and nouns change in form depending on their roles in the sentence; verbs conjugate and nouns/adjectives decline. Most verbs can have up to 94 forms, not including variants, contracted forms, and a vast array of participles. Most nouns have at around 10 or 12 forms, also not including the many variant forms. This usually allows Latin translations to be very concise with fewer words than the given English. As it is another language, Latin may have single words to describe what may require many words in English, but the same can be true in reverse. It is also possible to say some things in Latin that would sound very odd translated literally into English, although it might be perfectly good Latin. When converting from English to Latin, it is usually best to resculpt the wording and grammar to something that would sound more Latin, without altering the meaning of the sentence of course. Adhering too closely to the English words and not enough to the meaning behind those words tends to generate Latin that looks too much like English.

Latin has personal pronouns such as "I", "we", "he", and "they", but these words are not usually necessary because the verb itself says who is doing the action through conjugation. Latin lacks the definite article "the" and the indefinite article "a/an". Latin verbs have 3 persons, 2 numbers, 2 voices, 6 tenses, and 4 moods. Nouns have 6 cases, 7 in a few instances, as well as being singular or plural, though many noun forms overlap. There are 4 conjugations and 5 declensions, with a good share of irregular verbs and nouns.

My translations typically consist of a Latin sentence represented in both a Classical and a Modern style of lettering, unless the two styles would be identical and I only give one. If there are any concerns with the sentence, I will mention what slight editing needed to be made and/or offer several translations just in case. It is very necessary for adjustments to be made when converting between two very different languages, as it is not just a matter of matching up two words from English and Latin, but finding the best means for expression of a concept. Following this, I write a detailed explanation of the words, with their etymology and other meanings if it is interesting, and often some English derivatives.

LETTERS AND PRONUNCIATION

The English alphabet is based upon the Roman alphabet and the letters are the same, but a few letters have been added to the English version. Classical Latin was written in all upper-case letters, rarely with any spaces between words. The letters J, U, and W are modern conventions. In Latin, the letter I can be a consonant or vowel, depending on its position; in some modern scripts, it is written as a J when used as a consonant, which is in fact just an I with a tail. The letter V also represented both a vowel and consonant; most modern texts write is as a U when it is used as a vowel, which is a rounded V. Here is an example of the differences in the styles, though the Classical one is spaced here:

Modern style: At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum

Classical style: AT VERO EOS ET ACCVSAM ET IVSTO DVO DOLORES ET EA REBVM

Latin letters usually make the same sounds as their English counterparts, but unlike English letters, each consonant can only make one sound. Each vowel makes roughly the same sound each time it is used, but these can either be pronounced short or long in duration. A letter in Latin is always pronounced, not silent. You might wonder how it is possible to know what Latin sounded like. Phonologists have been working on this problem for a very long time and it is safe to say that they are at least close to the original sound of Latin. Whatever the case, the reconstructed pronunciation is certainly more accurate than pronouncing Latin as you would English or even Italian. No one is likely to chide you if you do pronounce it as English or Italian, since that was the traditional method for some time.

consonants

C as in "candle", never as in "cell"

G as in "good", never as in "gem"

I / J is pronounced as our letter Y as in "yes", there is no sound for our J

R is rolled slightly

S as in "soft", never as in "pose" or "mission"

T as in "tail", never as in "ignition"

V is pronounced as our letter W as in "win", there is no sound for our V

X as in "mix", never as in "xylem"

vowels

A should be pronounced as in father

E should be pronounced as in red

I should be pronounced as in liter

O should be pronounced as in code

U should be pronounced as in flute

Y is pronounced as a French U, a sound not native to English