One of the reasons I decided to take Latin as my language was because of my interest in the health field. Right now, besides Latin and the courses in my major, Communication, I am taking 2 classes in the College of Public Health (my minor). Survey of Human Disease and Medical Terminology. In the Med Term class, it started with where the words come from... we all know Latin is a huge source as well as Greek, French, Old English, and many other languages. Latin and Greek seem to be where the majority come from, no surprise. It went on to say that it uses late, middle and new Latin as well as vulgar Latin.
My question is what is considered late...middle...new Latin? And what about Vulgar Latin? I think it would be very useful to be able to cuss in Latin! Gosh knows I've used a few English cuss words while doing my Latin homework. Maybe if I used a few Latin expletives I could more easily get into the Roman mindset.
Tracy
1 comment:
Thank you Tracy! Your comment urged me to poke around a bit, and here is an abbreviated/blended version of some things I found:
VULGAR LATIN:
Not to be confused with Latin profanity.
Vulgar Latin, as in this political graffito at Pompeii (ATTACHED), was the speech of ordinary people of the Roman Empire — different from the Latin used by the Roman elites.Vulgar Latin (in Latin, sermo vulgaris, "common speech") is a blanket term covering the popular dialects and sociolects of the Latin language which diverged from each other in the early Middle Ages, evolving into the Romance languages — a distinction usually attained between the 9th and the 11th centuries CE. The terms Vulgar Latin and Late Latin are often used synonymously. Vulgar Latin can also refer to vernacular speech from other periods, including the Classical period, in which case it may also be called Popular Latin.
This spoken Latin came to differ from literary Latin in its pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar, though some of its features did not appear until the late Empire. Other features are likely to have been present much earlier in spoken Latin.
During the Middle Ages, Vulgar Latin coexisted with a more cultivated form of the language used by scholars, scribes and the clergy in formal settings, but lacking any native speakers, called Medieval Latin.
(I will put some Pompeii grafitto on that I think are relevant. "Vulgar" Latin by the masses for the masses. There is definitely little literature there!).
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