As you know, the Latin language in the modern world is dead. That is, they do not speak it. But everything turned out so that this language is actively used in medical terminology. Not a single philologist can do without a knowledge of the language, even if elementary: reading and calligraphy. Accent in the Latin language is one of the most difficult phonetic characteristics. This article is about him.
Language history
Latin belongs to the Indo-European family. It is named after the tribe of Latins, who inhabited the tiny region of Italy - Latsium.
Latin has become the official language in a large part of Europe, as well as in North Africa and parts of Asia. In the II century BC e. the mutual enrichment of the Greek and Latin languages takes place, since Greece was conquered by Rome during this period. It is with this that a significant number of borrowings of Greek words in Latin, as well as Greek medical terminology, are associated.
Latin remains the main source for artificially creating new medical terms in modern languages.
For hundreds of years, Latin remained for Europe the language of science and culture. An extensive amount of literature was created on it (historical chronicles, theological, scientific and philosophical treatises, poems).
Mastering even a minimally filled Latin course will make it easy to learn the ancient Greek language, and understanding the vocabulary and grammatical structure of the Latin language will greatly help in learning Romance languages (Spanish, French, Italian), and Germanic (German, English). Latin also influenced the Russian language, in the vocabulary of which there are many Latinisms.
Latin became the basis for the creation of all Romance languages. Yes, and in other European languages penetrated a lot of Latin vocabulary, mainly from science, medicine, culture and intellectual heritage.
The grammar of the Latin language is clear, concise and, in general, is available for quick learning. This is practically the only language in the world that has such a harmonious and structured grammar. Latin terminology has become common in world linguistics. This language develops linguistic thinking, and also contributes to the most accurate expression of their feelings and thoughts in their native language. Not without reason all the outstanding minds of past centuries included this language in their compulsory educational program.
Today, medical and philological education is impossible without understanding the basics of Latin. Learning a language is of great importance in training these professionals.
And they usually begin their journey by understanding phonetic foundations, one of which is the accent in the Latin language.
rules
In terms of learning, Latin is not the easiest language in the world. But only because there are no living carriers. From the point of view of linguistics, it is quite simple, of course, if you carefully understand all the details.
We can distinguish only three rules of stress in the Latin language:
- In Latin, stress can never be put on the last syllable.
- The emphasis falls on the penultimate syllable, but only if it is long; if the penultimate one is short, then put on the third from the end.
- Emphasis is never placed beyond the third syllable.
That's all! Three simple rules that are easy to remember. But when you read them, many questions may arise right away. For instance:
- How is the number of syllables determined?
- What does a long syllable mean?
- What is a short syllable?
- How does the syllable section happen?
In fact, these questions have very simple answers.
How to determine the number of syllables
The accent in Latin depends on the syllable. What is a syllable? This is the minimum pronunciation unit of the language. That is, it does not carry any semantic load, but is simply a combination of different sounds.
As in many other languages, the number of syllables in Latin is determined by the number of vowels in a word. But in Latin there are also diphthongs, that is, combinations of two sounds that imply a transition from one vowel sound type to another. Simply put, two vowels not separated by consonants.
This linguistic phenomenon can confuse one who has just begun to learn a language. But diphthong is one syllable, although it consists of two vowels.
For example, oesophagus . There are four syllables in this word, although there are five vowels. Diphthong is one syllable! Similarly:
- auris - 2 syllables, diphthong au ;
- vertebrae - 3 syllables, diphthong ae ;
- foetor - 2 syllables, diphthong.
How does the syllable occur?
To understand how the syllable section goes, you need to learn only nine rules. They will help to accurately place emphasis in the Latin language.
Syllabus:
- Between two vowels (if they do not form a diphthong). For example, tu-a .
- Before a single vowel. For example, simi-a (note: the rule is valid if qu is not before this vowel).
- Between two consonants. For example, jus-tus (exceptions: a combination of mute ( d, t, g, k, b, p ) and smooth ( r, l ).
- Before the combination "qu" . For example, anti-quus .
- Between diphthong and vowel. For example, europae-um .
- Before combining a bit and smooth sounds. For example, tene-brae .
- Within a group of three or more consonants (remember that combinations of silent and smooth are indivisible). For example, mons-trum .
- After the prefix prefix. For example, in-structio .
- After the letter "j" , which is located between the two vowels. For example, pay-us .
Short syllables
From whether a long sound or a short one, its pronunciation does not depend. But this point significantly affects the rules for setting stress in the Latin language.
So, the syllable is called short:
- if it is located in front of a group of vowels. For example, atr i um . It is worth remembering that a vowel before a vowel is always short!
- if located before the letter "h". For example, extr a ho .
These are types of short sounds by position. But there are also those that are brief in nature. That is, historically, they were pronounced longer (melodious) than long vowels. Usually in a letter they are indicated by a semicircle “hat”. For example, vól ŭ cre .
Long syllables
Yes, as it turned out, this Latin is not so simple! Stress in words depends on many factors. Including the longitude and shortness of the syllable, its openness and closeness (recall that an open syllable ends in a vowel, closed in a consonant, as in Russian).
So the syllable is long:
- if it contains diphthong (digraph). For example, crat ae gus .
- if it is located in front of a group of consonants. For example, pot e ntilla .
- if it is located before one of the consonants "x" or "z". For example, refl e xus .
It is very important to remember the following! Consonants with, b, p, t, d in combination with l, r will not create longitude to the previous vowel. For example, vert e bra, anh y drus. Highlighted sounds are concise!
In the case of the longitude of sound (and hence the syllable), there are also historical patterns. On the letter they are indicated by a line. For example, am î cus.
Homonyms
A very interesting and informative topic in the study of Latin will be the appeal to such a phenomenon as homonyms. Everyone knows from the rules of the Russian language that these are words that are the same in spelling, but different in meaning. But with the language that most Russians speak, everything is clear. But Latin can bring many surprises in this regard.
The fact is that the longitude and brevity of the sound is not always displayed on the letter. There are many homonymic words in the language, which, depending on the emphasis, change their lexical meaning.
For example, malum is evil (long vowel), m a lum is an apple (short vowel).
In order not to make a total mistake, you need to understand how to put emphasis in the Latin language, in longitude and brevity of sounds.
Let’s take a look at a few more words. When there is a graphic designation on the letter, the lexical meaning of the word is easier to understand. For instance,
- occ ī dit - kills (indicated by longitude);
- occ ĭ dit - subsides (indicated by brevity).
When there is no saving icon, everything is much more complicated.
Exceptions to the Rules
Stress in the Latin language is due to a number of rules. But as you know, there are always some exceptions to them. In Latin, they are usually associated with words that come from outside, i.e. borrowed. Most of these words came from Greek.
In them, in the second syllable from the end, the vowel before the vowel was stressed. Greek diphthongs in the process of latinization turned into long vowels. For example, Achillea (yarrow), giganteus (giant).
The following category of exception words refers to neologisms, names that have been borrowed from modern languages. Most often, they may also stress not according to general rules.
Examples
Now we will examine in more detail the principles of stress in Latin. Examples will help to understand everything in this matter completely.
- B e ne - the word consists of two syllables (because there are two vowels), therefore the first is stressed.
- A rma - by the same principle.
- Nat u ra is a polysyllabic word (three syllables because there are three vowels), the second syllable is open and long, so the stress falls on it.
- P u blicus - stress falls on the third syllable from the end, as the second syllable is short.
- Pot e ntia is a word consisting of four syllables (four vowels), the emphasis falls on the third syllable from the end, because the syllable before it is short.
- Eur o pa - a word consisting of three syllables (the combination eu is a diphthong), the emphasis is placed on the second syllable, because the latter is short and open.