#latin linguistics

[virromanus]

20 Latin Phrases And Their Italian Equivalents Still In Use Today

Latin: "Carpe Diem" - Seize the day. Italian: "Cogli l'attimo" - Catch the moment.

Latin: "Veni, Vidi, Vici" - I came, I saw, I conquered. Italian: "Venni, Vidi, Vinsi" - I came, I saw, I won.

Latin: "In vino veritas" - In wine, there is truth. Italian: "Nel vino c'è la verità" - In wine, there is truth.

Latin: "Aqua vitae" - Water of life. Italian: "Acqua della vita" - Water of life.

Latin: "Caveat Emptor" - Let the buyer beware. Italian: "Acquirente, attento" - Buyer, be careful.

Latin: "Homo Sapiens" - Wise man. Italian: "Uomo sapiente" - Wise man.

Latin: "Ad Astra" - To the stars. Italian: "Verso le stelle" - Towards the stars.

Latin: "Ars longa, vita brevis" - Art is long, life is short. Italian: "L'arte è lunga, la vita è breve" - Art is long, life is short.

Latin: "Tempus fugit" - Time flies. Italian: "Il tempo vola" - Time flies.

Latin: "Amor Vincit Omnia" - Love conquers all. Italian: "L'amore vince tutto" - Love wins everything.

Latin: "Memento Mori" - Remember that you must die. Italian: "Ricorda che devi morire" - Remember that you have to die.

Latin: "Alea iacta est" - The die is cast. Italian: "Il dado è tratto" - The die is cast.

Latin: "Verbatim" - Word for word. Italian: "Parola per parola" - Word for word.

Latin: "Vox Populi" - Voice of the people. Italian: "Voce del popolo" - Voice of the people.

Latin: "Mea Culpa" - My fault. Italian: "Colpa mia" - My fault.

Latin: "Tabula Rasa" - Clean slate. Italian: "Tavola rasata" - Clean slate.

Latin: "Non sequitur" - It does not follow. Italian: "Non segue" - It doesn't follow.

Latin: "Per se" - By itself. Italian: "Di per sé" - By itself.

Latin: "Status Quo" - The existing state. Italian: "Stato Quo" - The existing state.

Latin: "De facto" - In fact, in reality. Italian: "Di fatto" - In fact.

[jimvasta]

Latin, it was a fucker to learn at school and tricks like this are why.

I love and hate this equally.

what the fuck

saxo cere comminuit brum

what the actual fuck

[prokopetz]

Real reasons to study Latin:

Construct spurious Latin plurals for non-Latin words

Give words which do have Latin roots the wrong Latin plurals

Understand all the stupid puns in species/genus nomenclature

Make complicated dick jokes only other Latin students understand

Give the stats in your indie tabletop RPG really annoying names

[fluentisonus]

everybody's a theatre nerd on here until it's time to appreciate that comedy as a medium is just as rich & fascinating & culturally important as tragedy

[yvanspijk]

Wool & lana

The word lana (wool) in languages such as Spanish is etymologically related to English wool. For words to be related, they don't have to look like each other. Instead, you have to be able to trace them back to the same ancestor through regular sound changes - and that's what linguists managed to do with wool and lana. The infographic shows the Germanic and Romance family trees of these words.

[official-linguistics-post]

I think that for Latinx, there's this misconception that it comes from like people that are in the ivory tower, these people that are non-Latinx people trying to impose it on the Latinx community. And you notice I use Latinx, and I use Latinx and Latine interchangeably. Yeah, they're the same thing. But yeah, there's this misconception and it's not true. Both terms, Latinx and Latine have both come out of activist communities that are Latin American.

A short radio interview (plus transcript!) with linguist Dr. Megan Figueroa on the use of gender-neutral Latinx and the rise of Latine as an alternative form.

[ikuzeminna]

I need your help with a hypothesis!

For context: My linguistics professor and I got into a discussion after a test she did with us, and I was of the opinion that the reason for the results was different from the one she offered, so she encouraged me to test my theory.

What I need

All you need to do is draw a coffee cup (with a handle, not the disposable stuff) and then answer three questions.

I don't need to see the coffee cup. You can draw it wherever you like; on a piece of paper, digitally, in the sand, on a foggy window. Anything works. It does not have to be good. A doodle is fine.

You have to draw the coffee cup before you see the questions. This is very important. If you decide to help me with this, please doodle the coffee cup before you keep reading.

Assuming you have drawn the coffee cup, I now need you to answer these three questions:

On which side did you draw the handle?

Are you right-handed or left-handed?

Do you primarily write using the Latin alphabet or a different one? (please specify which)

More context

Most people will draw the handle on the right side. My professor says it's because most people are right-handed, so they draw the handle in the direction that would be comfortable for them to pick up.

I said drawing it on the right side just felt more comfortable to my hand and argued it's probably because we write a bunch of letters like that. B, b, D, P, p, R all look like a tiny "handle on the right side" and are all a straight line followed by a round one (so "cup first, handle second," like most people draw cups). The Latin alphabet doesn't have letters like that that face the other way, except maybe d, depending on how you write it, so it makes sense to me that people writing mostly Latin letters would go with the handle on the right side.

Which means that I need to know what Asians, Arabs and Greeks do and if the distribution of left and right sides of handles differs from the Latin alphabet group. Cyrillic seems to favor right, too, though it'd be interesting to see if there are differences.

If there are, my theory is right. Doubly so if there is a sizeable increase in a group whose alphabet has letters that benefit the left side choice.

So feel free to spread this to as many people as you like and put the answers in the comments or the tags of a reblog. The more answers I get, the better I can assess whose theory is better.

Thank you for your help!

[dickensianenglishbulldog]

French lessons: ✨Je suis allé en France. C’était bien. J’aime le football. Mon père n’aime pas le football.✨

Latin Lessons: 💀gladiator in viro gladium posuit. multum sanguinis fluxit. Homo mortuus est.💀

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Hello! May I request a lot of latin forensic terms?

The most popular I am aware lf it's "post-mortem"!

Abet - to assist, encourage, instigate, or support with criminal intent in attempting or carrying out a crime—often used in the phrase, "aid and abet"

Actus reus - the wrongful act that makes up the physical action of a crime

Amicus curiae - one (such as a professional person or organization) that is not a party to a particular litigation but that is permitted by the court to advise it in respect to some matter of law that directly affects the case in question

Compos mentis - of sound mind, memory, and understanding

Corpus delicti - the substantial and fundamental fact necessary to prove the commission of a crime; also: the material substance (such as the body of the victim of a murder) upon which a crime has been committed

Functus officio - of no further official authority or legal effect—used especially of an officer who is no longer in office or of an instrument that has fulfilled its purpose

Habeas corpus - any of several common-law writs issued to bring a party before a court or judge; the right of a citizen to obtain a writ of habeas corpus as a protection against illegal imprisonment

Habeas corpus ad subjiciendum - a writ for inquiring into the lawfulness of the restraint of a person who is imprisoned or detained in another's custody

In flagrante delicto - in the very act of committing a misdeed; red-handed; in the midst of sexual activity

In esse - in actual existence

In loco parentis - in the place of a parent

Indicia - distinctive marks; indications

Mens rea - a culpable mental state, especially: one involving intent or knowledge and forming an element of a criminal offense

Modus operandi - a method of procedure, especially: a distinct pattern or method of operation that indicates or suggests the work of a single criminal in more than one crime

Obiter dictum - an incidental and collateral opinion that is uttered by a judge but is not binding; an incidental remark or observation

Onus probandi - burden of proof; the duty of proving a disputed assertion or charge

Prima facie - at first view; on the first appearance; legally sufficient to establish a fact or a case unless disproved

Pro se - on one's own behalf; without an attorney

Res judicata - a matter finally decided on its merits by a court having competent jurisdiction and not subject to litigation again between the same parties

Ultra vires - beyond the scope or in excess of legal power or authority

Hope this helps. Do tag me, or send me a link to your writing if it does. I would love to read your work!

More: Latin Phrases ⚜ Word Lists

[twinliches]

it is often assumed that [sic] is shorthand for sic erat scriptum, latin for thus it had been written, when it is actually just sic, latin for yes, which in itself is shorthand for yes, they actually said that shit, can you believe this fucking clown

[virromanus]

Where Can I Learn Latin Online?

Here are the various avenues you can go to learn Latin online.

Latin Derivatives. Find over 1750 Latin derivatives, along with definitions and usage in sentences.

Conjuguemos. Teachers and students can use this site to learn Latin (among other languages) through games and activities, which are automatically graded. They request a small payment, but will waive the fee if you cannot afford it.

Linney's Latin Class.com. William E. Linney literally wrote the book on teaching Latin and shares lessons for self-learners and homeschoolers here that include pages from his text, lectures, and homework.

Latin Language Builds Powerful English Vocabulary. Get an overview of Latin and tips for learning it easily along with links to helpful resources.

Latin: The Language of Rome Fun Worksheet #1. For $1 you can download this Latin worksheet to use personally or in the classroom. This teacher also has other versions of Latin worksheets available for the same price.

Learn Latin Quickly. This website is run by an individual as a hobby, but provides tons of information on Latin and learning Latin.

KET Distance Learning – Latin 1. Go through the lessons here in your own time, then move up to Latin 2 and Latin 3 after completing this class.

Beginners' Latin. This online tutorial doesn't require you know any Latin and steps you through the basics with twelve lessons, reference material, activities, and more.

Latin Grammar. A great resource for learning Latin, this site provides information on the five noun declensions and the four verb conjugations as well as several irregularities.

Latinitium. An online website to start learning Latin with a free e‑mail course from Latin teacher and speaker Daniel Pettersson, M.A.

Polymathy/ScorpioMartianus. A Youtube channel by Latin speaker Luke Ranieri, who teaches Latin for beginners hosted live on his YouTube Channel.

[linguisticdiscovery]

peninsula

peninsula comes from the Latin paene īnsula, literally ‘almost an island’. How cute is that?

[aardappel-van-mijn-oog]

[volumina-vetustiora]

it's crazy that "person" and "people" come from two completely different Latin words and yet in English one is the plural of the other

if you didn't know (or it hadn't clicked) "person" and "people" used to be separate words. you still see them used like that in some contexts, which is also where you find the plural forms "persons" (i.e. individuals) and "peoples" (i.e. groups of humans)

"people" comes from Latin populus with much the same meaning (nation, community, crowd). in my opinion much more interesting is the word "person", which comes from Latin persona

the word persona originally referred to a mask. then, since masks were used to distinguish roles in ancient theatre, it began to also mean a character in a play, and then by extent the character or personality of a real individual. from there it eventually began to be used similarly to its modern English meaning

I find it very interesting how "person" - a word which in today's English carries a great deal of implication about being real, and capable of independent thought, and worthy of rights - has its origins in fiction and theatre, and specifically the mask, often a symbol of all that is fake and artificial

[yvanspijk]

Light vs. light

Light ('not heavy') as in a light load stems from a different word than light ('bright') as in a light room. Due to regular historical sound changes, they happened to converge, which already happened in Old English. In German, these words are still different: leicht vs. licht. Click the infographic to see the journeys these words made.