Latin Language History

The history of Latin begins with the history of Rome, and becomes the history of the world. Over the previous 2500 years, Latin has developed from Indo-European language, through a variety of Italic dialects, to become the language of the entire Western world. It suffered a partial collapse when its homeland did, but was kept alive by the Church and subsequently by scholars. Now, although officially a "dead" language for hundreds of years, Latin is still taught in many schools and new uses for it continue to be discovered.

Indo-European Roots

Latin, like Greek, Sanskrit, German, Hittite and many others, is an Indo-European language. This means that the people and languages stretching from the British Isles as far as India had a common source, back in prehistoric times. There is no written evidence for the Indo-European language itself, but the evidence appears in cognate forms and syntactic constructions in all Indp-European languages.

Early Latin

Latin was spoken in Latium (a mountainous region including Rome but primarily southeast thereof) as early as 800 BC. The oldest extant Latin texts are inscriptions from the sixth century BC. They are written with Greek letter forms, are difficult to understand, and clearly show a relationship with the other Italic dialects, Faliscan and Osco-Umbrian. In "The Latin Language," L.R. Palmer writes, "...while the early evidence yields few positive additions to our knowledge of early Latin, it does permit the conclusion that between the fifth and third centuries BC. Latin had changed so drastically that scholars can no longer understand texts of the earlier period. It is likely that Romans themselves were in similar embarrassment."

Classical Latin

The literary Latin of the Classical period (approximately 90 BC to 120 BC) is generally considered to have reached the apex of refinement. For centuries, scholars and schoolchildren alike have studied the prose of Cicero, Caesar and Tacitus, for style and history. For Latin poetry, the poets of the Augustan period have no equal: Virgil, Horace and Ovid. However, the ornate stylings of literary and poetic Latin were not spoken on the streets by the lower class. There are limited attestations to vulgar Latin in this period, mainly through drama and some letters. It is from vulgar Latin that the romance languages developed.

Ecclesiastical Latin

Ecclesiastical Latin is the language of the Catholic Church, and its usage dates back at least as far as the fourth century, when Pope Damascus I commissioned St. Jerome to compile an official Latin Bible (the Vulgate). Ecclesiastical Latin changed over time in some ways, including simplified syntax and different pronunciation, but has remained substantially the same as Classical Latin.

Modern Usage

Although Latin is considered a dead language nowadays, there remain uses both formal and informal in our everyday lives. Legal jargon is filled with Latin expressions, and college diplomas and universities' and professional organizations' mottoes are often in Latin. There are books that teach conversational Latin, including translating modern slang and idioms. There are even several Dr. Seuss books that have been translated into Latin, such as "Cattus Petasatus" ("The Cat in the Hat").