Bonus Ol' Latinus


So I've been studying Latin since May. Probably not surprising–'tis a geeky Catholic thing to do. It's at the same time exhilarating and depressing, and always hard work. For instance, since Latin is one of the most conjugated languages, the word "to chew" (mandūcō, mandūcāre, mandūcāvī, mandūcātum) has at least, sigh, 141 ways one can write the word, and this is not counting all the different ways to write indicative/subjunctive passive perfect, future perfect and pluperfect, which are sort of like the middle ground between a noun and a verb, which can cause headaches, tears and feelings of emptiness and can ultimately lead to mental breakdowns,  but I digressiō.

Because Latin is so precise, words seem to have richer and clearer meanings. For instance, look at English. Many of it's more weightier words stem from a Latin origin, like salvation, justice, virtue and intelligence. The use of conjugations allows for so much precision that you can subtly change to whom you speak to, about, with, and, to get to the point, the entire context with a one or two letter switch-a-roo-ski. This is totally great once you are liberated from the bondage which it at first seems to bring. It's subtle and powerful, as Cicero, probably the greatest Latin orator of all, found to be true.

 

I am indebted to newadvent.org for all the work done on the translation of the Church Fathers and the Summa into English in a free format on the interwebs. I hadn't notice until yesterday that the Bible format that they use has the Greek, English and Latin text side by side by side. This is most definitely the greatest web discovery for me since Google Earth. I tried to work my way through John 1 with some success, and it was very rewarding, that is, if there is a reward in kinda-sorta cheating.

One of the joys and main motivations is the participation in Ecclesiastical Latin in the liturgy of Holy Mass. My hope is that I can read St. Jerome's Vulgate, Virgil, Cicero, St. Augustine and St. Thomas in Latin, but I have a long way to go. I'll start with Caesar's Commentaries and work my way up to Hobbitus Ille (the Hobbit). The more I study it, the more I appreciate it and its huge impact on Western culture. Up until the 19th Century, it was still a commonly used language throughout the west, and "men of distinction" knew it well. I read John Henry Newman's Apologia Pro Vita Sua (first hint) this summer, and he was dropping Latin references like he was Harry Potter or something. After Vatican II it was downgraded for a bit with everyone freaking out and running amok, but now it's going through a little renaissance. After studying this "dead language" for a time, a renaissance is a good thing. The West thinks like a Latin. As an English speaker, it not a foreign language like French or Polish, it's our mother language (and I guess dad would be that barbarish "ye ølde engliƒh"). We can't help being affected by our upbringing. Even now that we're grown up and don't live in her house anymore, not only should we never forget her, we should probably visit often.

"Mater tua tam obesa est ut cum Romae est, urbs habet octo colles!" Oh, slam! See, everything's better with Latin.

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