I've been learning a little bit of Latin recently, and I've found out some interesting things about pronunciation. The most interesting thing is that the letter v is pronounced w--the opposite of German. This leads to an interesting pronunciation of Julius Caesar's famous statement "veni, vidi, vici." This would be pronounced "wenny, widdy, wikky." That sounds utterly absurd. How did anyone ever take him seriously?
I don't understand why textbooks that teach Latin insist on using the classical pronunciation. Not only is it harder and more complicated than Ecclesiastical or Vulgar Latin, it completely ignores the fact that languages evolve over time--even dead ones. I don't pronounce things the same way Shakespeare did, and I certainly don't speak the same way as Chaucer. Why should we pronounce our Latin the same way Julius Caesar did?
The value of good high schools
25 minutes ago
Um...Jakob? This is a little above me. I honestly have no interest in Latin. Well, actually I do, because of my interest in Anatomy. So I really should learn Latin.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, the evolution of whales is much more interesting. :)
ReplyDeleteBut Mosasaurs are more interesting than whales.
And feathered dinosaurs are more interesting than mosasaurs.
And I am finally done with camp.