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Contemporary Latin

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Books and publications featuring Latin language titles displayed in a store in Warsaw, Poland.

Contemporary Latin

Contemporary Latin is the way people have used the Latin language since the late 1800s. Even though Latin is very old, many people still find it useful today.

One way people use Latin is by adding new Latin words to name plants, animals, and other things in science. This is called Neo-Latin. It helps scientists around the world use the same names.

Latin is also important in the Catholic Church. The church uses Latin in many of its services and writings. This helps keep traditions alive and makes important texts easy to understand.

The most exciting part of Contemporary Latin is when people speak and write Latin like it is a regular language. Some schools, clubs, and families practice speaking Latin every day. They read books, talk, and even tell stories in Latin. This keeps the language alive and makes it fun for people to use in new ways.

Token Latin

Latin is still used in many words and phrases across different languages because it was very important in the past. Some well-known mottos, like E pluribus unum on the Seal of the United States and the motto of the European Union In varietate concordia, are written in Latin.

Latin also helps us in science. It is used to name living things, stars, planets, and parts of planets. Some chemical symbols, like Au for gold and Fe for iron, come from Latin names. In medicine, Latin abbreviations are often used in prescriptions.

Latin uses and composition from 1900 to the present day

Main article: Ecclesiastical Latin

The Catholic Church still uses Latin today. Latin is used for important papers from the Holy See, and it is also used in some religious services. Some universities in England allow Latin for special ceremonies.

Latin is still used in some places in Europe for serious poetry, in classical music, and in writing for schools. Many universities around the world still use Latin for important speeches and ceremonies, such as giving out degrees. For example, the song Gaudeamus igitur is often sung at university events in Europe. Latin is also used in some science journals and books about old writings.

Living Latin

Living Latin, also called Spoken Latin or Active Latin, is an effort to bring Latin back as a language people can speak and use every day. People do this for fun, to help students learn Latin better, or to make Latin useful for talking to each other around the world.

The idea of using Latin as a spoken language started a long time ago. In the 1800s, people began writing about making Latin a language everyone could use. By the late 1800s and early 1900s, more books and magazines in Latin appeared. In 1956, a big meeting happened in Avignon, France, where about 200 people from 22 countries gathered to support using Latin as a living language. Since then, many groups and schools have worked to keep Latin alive as a spoken language.

Some people think Latin should be used more in schools to make learning it easier and more fun. Others believe Latin could still be a helpful language for scientists, scholars, or diplomats to use when they need a common language. Many organizations around the world now hold meetings, classes, and even radio shows entirely in Latin to help keep the language active and alive today.

Original production

See also: List of recent original books in Latin

People have created new works in Latin. These include poetry, stories, music, movies, TV shows, and even blogs. Here are some examples:

Poetry

    1. Carminum libri quattuor by Tomás Viñas.
    1. Carmina Latina by A. Pinto de Carvalho.
    1. Vox Humana by Johannes Alexander Gaertner.
    1. Pegasus Tolutarius by Henry C. Snurr, writing as Arrius Nurus.
    1. Suaviloquia by Jan Novák.
    1. Cantus Firmus by Johannes Alexander Gaertner.
    1. Carmina by Traian Lăzărescu.
    1. Periegesis Amatoria by Geneviève Immè.
    1. Harmonica vitrea by Anna Elissa Radke.
    1. Sermones by Michael von Albrecht

Prose

    1. Graecarum Litterarum Historia by Antonio d'Elia.
    1. Latinarum Litterarum Historia by Antonio d'Elia.
    1. De sacerdotibus sacerdotiisque Alexandri Magni et Lagidarum eponymis by Jozef IJsewijn.
    1. Sententiæ by Alain van Dievoet, writing as Alaenus Divutius.
    1. Mystagogus Lycius, sive de historia linguaque Lyciorum by Wolfgang Jenniges.
    1. Capti: Fabula Menippeo-Hoffmanniana Americana (Heptalogia Sphingis) by Stephen A. Berard.
    1. Praecursus: Fabula Neophysiologica (Heptalogia Sphingis) by Stephen A. Berard.
    1. Hebdomada Aenigmatum by Luca Desiata

Music

Cinema

Television

    1. Mr. Bean, title sequences.
    1. O Tempora! by the Kulturzeit team.
  • 2020–present. Barbarians A Netflix TV series using German and Latin dialogue.

Blogs

Translations

See also: List of Latin translations of modern literature

Since the 1950s, many children's books have been translated into Latin. This helps teach Latin and shows that Latin can be used for fun stories. Some famous books translated into Latin include Winnie-the-Pooh, The Cat in the Hat, The Little Prince, and even Harry Potter.

Here are some examples of these translations:

Dictionaries, glossaries, and phrase books for contemporary Latin

Books have been written to help people use Latin today. In 1990, a book called Latin for All Occasions by Henry Beard tried to find Latin words for modern phrases. Between 1992 and 1997, a lexicon called Neues Latein Lexicon by Karl Egger included words for everyday modern life. Other helpful books include Imaginum vocabularium Latinum from 1998, Piper Salve from 1999, Visuelles Wörterbuch Latein-Deutsch from 2010 by Dorling Kindersley, and Septimana Latina from 2012.

Images

A Latin inscription at Salamanca University remembering the visit of Prince Akihito and Princess Michiko in 1985.
An ATM machine in Vatican City displaying instructions in the Latin language.
A sign at Wallsend Metro station that reads 'Platform 2' in both English and Latin, along with a 'No Smoking' message.

Related articles

Catholic Church
Science
Neo-Latin
Terence Tunberg
Arcadius Avellanus
Clive Harcourt Carruthers

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Contemporary Latin, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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