Latin is the beginning of beginnings. It was from her that most of the modern European languages went, of which our Slavic languages already copied something . Latin was the language of science and medicine, it moved the whole world in the Middle Ages and modern times. And it is not surprising that people for a long time borrowed sonorous beautiful Latin words to give solemnity, weightiness to their speech, to make it more complex and colorful - so it is much easier to hit minds. What kind of speech turns from the legendary, but, alas, dead language do we like to use so much, and is it possible to somehow classify Latin borrowings in Russian? Is there something like a ranking of the most famous phrases? We learn together.
Where is she now?
Firstly, it is worth noting that the scope of Latin is now very, very narrowed. Yes, medicine remained - this is a classic, some elements are preserved in jurisprudence (it is not for nothing that students are forced to memorize functional and beautiful words in Latin), some linguistic universities insist that students have at least a lexical minimum in Latin. But what about an ordinary person, not a specialist? Where can he meet Latin?
For us, this language is considered a sign of status, education, high origin. Therefore, most often in order to emphasize the importance of the phrase, to demonstrate the breadth of their horizons and, to be honest, once again draw attention to themselves, people choose the words and phrases of this particular language. Beautiful Latin words for the name of the company, tattoos, some public speaking - all this is a desire to show that you are higher than the rest. But the desire to excel in our blood, so there is nothing wrong with that.
Latin times: the same sound - slightly different meanings
It often happens that beautiful Latin words and their meaning in the Russian language do not quite coincide. Now I'm talking about borrowing in the legal and medical fields, for example. That is, the well-known word "alibi" in Latin has the meaning "in another place" - yes, it is very, very close to our interpretation, but nevertheless it is felt that there is a certain difference. In contrast to such words, borrowings that completely changed their semantics are used: Alma mater, which translates as “mother-nurse,” is used in Russian to denote a university where someone is studying, they say, it is here that a conscious life begins and an independent road nursing the mother directs her children on the true path - that is, the interpretation is already being thought out. And there are also words that completely retained their meaning, acquiring a slight connotation in Russian: casus, for example, in the original language is “case”, while using this word we mean a case that is not ordinary, it differs in its unusualness and possibly confusion, moreover, usually this is still something embarrassing. Thus, we can say that beautiful Latin words with translation of their Russian-speaking are very close in meaning. But this is not always so?
Latin two: already ours
The next category of Latin borrowings that I would like to talk about are phrases that are almost completely adapted to the Russian language. Some beautiful Latin words have become so famous that, although people understand the foreign language of their origin, they do not need to be further explained - it is a kind of genetic memory. These include Memento mori - “Remember Death”, In vino veritas - “Truth in Wine”, Veni, vidi, vici - “Came, saw, won”. For some reason, it was these combinations of words that especially appealed to the intelligentsia, who introduced them into the Russian language from classical literature, and then to the rest of the population. To explain why they were chosen from the whole array of Latin vocabulary is very difficult, the main thing is to understand that we were able to adapt something from a dead but beautiful language to ourselves.
Latin three: well, that's completely off topic
Of course, this is the most extensive layer of vocabulary - when in Latin there is a word, in Russian there is a word, they have one meaning for two, but they are pronounced, and they are written in completely different ways. Such examples can be cited by dozens, if not hundreds - lux ("light"), astra ("star" - here, by the way, it can be noted that the word came to Russian nevertheless, but completely changing its meaning), vita ("life" ) Moreover, in other languages, these words can be used in the same form and with the same meaning.
Latin in proper names
Is it possible to use beautiful Latin words with translation for the name of your own company, for example? Why not. The only wish is that this word be bright and memorable, ideally distinctive - that is, it does not cause associations in a Russian-speaking person, otherwise it will definitely distort your name, no matter how beautiful it is, turning it into some kind of nonsense.
And, of course, remember the meaning of the word. The harmonious Fatum is translated as “rock, fate”, usually meaning something not very good, hence the word “fatal”, known to us. Would you entrust, for example, the organization of your summer vacation to a company with that name? And the celebration for your children? That's it. Moreover, even if a promising name sounds good, its meaning is acceptable for your enterprise, then think about your target audience. Ad manum - “at hand” is an excellent name for a company providing repair services, but are you sure that your customers will be able to remember it?
Beautiful Latin words for the name is, of course, an amazing idea: you definitely stand out from a number of competitors, attract attention to yourself, it is quite possible even amuse your own vanity (you will agree when in a conversation a person casually quits that he runs a Non solus company, you immediately but imagine some serious enterprise, even if in fact it is the Non Solus, which translates as "not alone", is a cheap eatery on the corner). So think twice whether the game is worth the candle.
Latin as a way to perpetuate
Move on. Latin words, beautiful, strong, pathos people like to perpetuate in their tattoos, engravings on rings - in where they will stay for a very long time. There is a certain shade of snobbery here: I will choose the language that the majority does not know, so that people are interested in me, what this means, and I will explain to all of them. Admit, there is a bit of that. Plus, the desire to look higher than others, which was mentioned earlier, is Latin because it is an ancient language, its knowledge has always been considered a sign of belonging to high estates: often aristocratic surnames chose quotes in Latin for their clan mottos.
In tattoos
But as they say, ad rem, to the point. The choice of expression depends entirely on your imagination and preferences. You can get a slightly doomed Amor non est medicabilis herbis - "love is not treated with herbs", or you can also take the proud Aquila non captat muscas - "the eagle does not catch flies." Nobody has canceled even the most famous quotes, for example, the Platonic Bellum omnium contra omnes - “war against all” or Desipere in loco - “to go crazy where appropriate”, which belongs to Horace. The Internet offers a huge number of options, among which everyone will definitely choose something for themselves - gentle or domineering, cold-calm or showing passion. Latin is an endless source of delightful expressions.
And engraving
Beautiful Latin words used in engraving give the impression of reliability, a kind of sacredness - they sound like an oath, as a confirmation of the immutability of feelings. That is why expressions like Gens una sumus ("we are one tribe") or Mane et nocte ("morning and night") will definitely make a good impression, thereby emphasizing its significance for you. The main thing is to choose a really suitable expression, and not something that just sounds good.
A little bit about reading: consonants and their combinations
And as a conclusion and a bonus - some rules according to which beautiful words are read in Latin - you don’t want to make mistakes when reading your tattoos, for example?
Firstly, in Latin there is no letter combination “j”: -j- reads as -y-, to which the next vowel is added (Julius - Julius) , it can still be replaced by -i-, which will perform the same functions (kyrie - kiriye ). Most consonants are read the same way as in English, and -W- is completely absent in this language. In the combinations -bs- and -bt-, the first sound is stunned, turning into -p- (plebs - plePs). The sound -r- in Latin is very similar to the growling Russian -p-, while -V- is closer to deaf English -w- (vino - wino ). -s- denotes only this sound (Sanctus - santus ), no -z-, and -g- in Latin is not soft (gloria - gloria). Borrowed from the Greek -ch-, -ph-, -th- are read as -k, f, t-, respectively (christum - kristum, phobos - phobos, sabaoth - sebout).
A Little About Reading: Vowels
Let's move on to the vowels. -a- is read as Russian -e- (pacem - pekem), -e- and -i- retain the sound familiar to the Russian ear (et - et, caritas - caritas), while -o- and -u- are slightly lengthened, as in English more and foot, respectively (dona - dona, deum - deum). If there is a vertical line above the vowel sound , this means that the sound is pronounced a little longer than by canonical rules.
A bit about reading: diphthongs
The last moment is diphthongs: -ae- turns into -ai- (taedae - tayday), -au- reads like -aau (gaudet - gaudet), and -oe- becomes -oy- (foedus - foydus). Moreover, if the word has a bunch of vowels, then you need to pronounce each of them, unless, of course, these are diphthongs: aeiouy - eeyoui.
A little bit about reading: stress
And about the stress. There are no complicated words with stress on the last syllable - usually it is on the third syllable from the end. If the penultimate syllable is long, then the emphasis will fall on him. The syllable that closes with the consonant will be long when the next syllable also begins with the consonant (honeStus), otherwise (victoRia) the syllable will be short and, therefore, unstressed. In addition, the syllable is lengthened if it faces double or triple consonants (maxilla). In the suffixes –ur- and -at- (mixtura, immaturus), the syllable is also long, while in -ul- and -ol-, on the contrary, short (betula, foeniculum). Another important point: borrowed from the Greek word usually retain their emphasis (peritoneum).