By Gloria C. Endres
A few times in the past, I have written opinion pieces about the importance not only of teaching classical Latin to young students, but also of recognizing that it is a vital part of our language and history. That was based on my own experience as a high school Latin student for four years plus my work with a wonderful Latin program for public grade school children. (That was before the state School Reform Commission canceled it to save money.)
The beautiful Latin language is most certainly not “dead” as some have claimed. In fact, the recent pandemic we were facing was identified by a Latin compound word COVID formed by “corona” which means “crown” and “virus” which is a microscopic infectious agent. That means this deadly virus is shaped like a crown.
Latin lives on in the Romance languages. We know that five European nations speak vernacular forms of ancient Latin taught to them by the conquering Romans. Those languages include Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Portuguese and French. A sixth country that the Romans colonized was Great Britain, where two-thirds of the English language is derived from Latin. (Some ancient Greek sneaked in there also.)
Also, it was only in the latter half of the 20th century that the Roman Catholic Church switched from all Latin liturgy to the vernacular. Even so, exquisite Latin hymns like “Ave Maria” and “Panis Angelicus” have survived.
While regular European folks were speaking their vernacular versions of the language, pure Latin remained the language of science up to the 18th century. All medical books were written in Latin. Physicians still use terminology from that time. For example, the medical term “pericarditis” is formed from the Latin prefix “peri,” (surrounding); the root word “card” (heart); and the suffix “itis” (inflammation). Together they mean an inflammation surrounding the heart. There are thousands of compound medical terms formed that way.
Lawyers and scholars also use Latin terminology. We all know, for example, that the word “alibi” (in another place) is a legal defense against an accusation of crime. And I hope that all college students are familiar with terms like “alma mater” (dear mother); “magnum opus” (greatest work); and “vice versa” (turn around). I am so proud of the fact that one of my fifth-grade Latin classes once found the words “magnum opus” in “Charlotte’s Web” and couldn’t wait to tell me.
Then again, there is so much everyday Latin that we all use without even realizing it. So, just for fun, let’s see how many readers can ace this test of common Latin/English words. The answers are below. Try to answer these 10 questions without peeking.
Here’s the rule: Write down only one word for each question, except for question No. 10, which has a four-word answer. Do not add letters like “s” or articles like “the.” Just answer the question with a simple word.
1. What is the four-letter word printed on a sign over a doorway telling you that this is the way out?
2. What is a four-letter word for a strong smell, scent or fragrance?
3. What is a hand-held device you use to solve arithmetic problems like addition or subtraction?
4. Where do you go to see clowns, acrobats and animal acts?
5. What do you call the head count of citizens required by government every so many years?
6. What is the common singular word for a horse, a dog, a bird or a fish?
7. Whom do you visit when you are feeling sick and need treatment?
8. What do you call a person who performs on stage in a play?
9. What is a term for an authoritarian leader like Putin or Mussolini?
10. Name the last four months of the year after August.
If you now say these 13 words out loud, you are speaking Latin. Macte (well done)!
OK put your pencil down. These words are part of everyday English. So are thousands of others like horror, solarium, professor, pastor, junior, ante meridian (AM) and post meridian (PM) – all directly from Latin.
Now for the answers: 1. exit, 2. odor, 3. calculator, 4. circus, 5. census, 6. animal, 7. doctor, 8. actor, 9. dictator, 10. September, October, November, December
Don’t you wish all tests were this easy?
For fun, here’s a bonus: Choose two words from the list and make up a Latin sentence. Connect several nouns with the only verb, “exit.” Go ahead – try it.
