[Welcome and Introduce Yourself Here]

How glad I am to have found this site!

 

Salvete, omnes.

 

I am a Latin teacher in Memphis, TN and found this site while looking for a forum that my students might use. What a treasure trove of useful information this place is! Thanks to the creators and webmasters. I look forward to many stimulating discussions and informative articles.

 

Valete.

[Can Someone Help Me?]

OMNIA RIDICULOSA SUNT

 

Omnia (3rd decl. neuter plural) = everything

 

Ridiculosa (1st/2nd decl. adjective) = funny

 

Sunt = Present Third Person Plural of "to be"

 

The notion of "everything" would not have been singular as it is in English.

[Romance Languages, But What About Greek?]

Let us not forget our Horace:

 

GRAECIA CAPTA FERUM VICTOREM CEPIT

 

This is as true for the language as it is the culture.

 

Furthermore, in regards to the Greek relationship with Asia Minor etc., the Byzantine Empire ruled much of the area you are asking about and had a tremendous influence up until the Middle Ages when the rise of Islam began to convert the area. The current state of the region has less to do with the impotence of Greece than it does with the thoroughness of Islam. In many ways, a language requires an association with a successful religion to ensure longevity more than anything else.

[Why Latin Died Out?]

Whats the closest modern language to Latin? Is it Spanish, French, Italian etc.

 

I think it's commonly accepted among linguists that Italian is the closest to latin in general, somewhere I've read that it has the highest percentage of latin roots of any Romance language. I've also seen the argument on the 'net that Romanian is grammatically closer. The original home of the language in Latium now located in the Lazio region provinces of Roma and Latina.

 

Looking at Italian, with my admittedly moderate skill level, and Latin they seem to have the same relationship as Old English just after the Normans and contemporary English. In fact the English model may be instructive, no one doubts the evolution between modern British English and earlier versions of English but apparently there are words used in the American Southern dialect--most whites there were descendents from English/Scots-Irish stock--that keep certain words from that era where the Brits have long ago dropped them from use. In the same sense remember seeing a few words from Spanish, French and Portugese that were descendent from Latin but were replaced in Italian.

 

 

I often tell my students that Modern Italian is closer in many ways to the Latin spoken in Rome 2000 years ago than Modern English is to the English spoken in London only 1000 years ago. It's like the Boss said:

 

Well now everything dies baby that's a fact

But maybe everything that dies someday comes back