Origins of Latin Flashcards
What lanuages is Latin the direct ancestor of?
The ‘romance’ languages.
These consist of:
➔ Italian
➔ French
➔ Spanish
What is the relationship between English and Latin?
➔ Latin is not a direct ancestor of the English lanuage.
➔ Latin has given us an enomourous number of English words. Some estimate that around half of English words come from Latin.
- 6th Century- The Latin of the Christian Church added new words to which was then essentinely Anglo-saxon.
- 11th Century- words deprived from Norman French and Written Latin entered English due to William the Conquerer’s invasion of England.
English had two versions of what was orignally a single Latin word, in some instances.
Therefore, English often has two words expressing the same idea: one of Anglo-saxon origin, the other of Latin origin. Anglo-saxon words can often seem more simple and straightforward in style, while Latinate words can seem more scientific and academic.
Roman Empire Latin’s Influence on English
1-15th Century- Latin words entered ordinary speech when Celtic Britian was part of the Roman Empire.
The Reissance in Europe- The Enlightment in Britian
19-20th Century- The growth of science and technology produces thousands more words derieved from Latin, such as decimal and computer.