Sententiae Antiquae
You know, I have several Latin text & sourcebooks laying around, as (big secret here) I often use Latin rules to devise new words for my sci-fi stories. I think it gives things a nicely-rounded, every-language feel — except when I want the words to seem more “alien”; then I use an Asian or ancient Oceanic base to build from. I R Linguistics Scavengar, heh.
But maybe I’ll start actually learning some Latin. It just sounds fun, and I haven’t tackled a language in a while. Plus, it makes a good pair with ancient Greek, which is the only other language I have a decent grounding in (er, besides English, but since English is basically Common now, it doesn’t feel like it counts!).
If you were going to start learning a new language now, which one would you pick?
(Sorry for the lack of updates…I’m in a fiction-writing phase, which I’m not about to argue with!)
1 comment
I studied Latin for four years in high school. The last year we translated book 2 of the Aeneid and some Juvenile (and a bunch of other tidbits) and I loved it. Latin prose are by far the greatest works of literature I have ever read. I kept my Wheelock text hoping to pick up studying it in my spare time, but I haven’t gotten around to it.
I want to learn a speakable language, but I have no tendency toward any one.