Joseph Anthony Debono, Lija
Vulgar perception of Latin language
It is neither edifying nor entertaining to note the use to which Latin is being put nowadays. The type of "Latin" inscriptions quoted by Carmel Meilak (April 20) and Godwin Drago (April 30) in their letters on the Luqa monument show how far knowledge and appreciation of this noble tongue and its peerless literature have degenerated in Malta today. The Malta Classics Association has been set up to promote the study and appreciation of Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, their literatures and cultures.
If you look beyond the vulgar perception of Latin as a petrified tongue and culture, you could start learning to enjoy the solemn majesty of verses such as: Ultima Cumaei venit iam carminis aestas;/ Magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo. Or, if your mind bends to livelier amusements and controversies, learn to giggle at verses such as those which Jove addressed to his wife: "maior vestra profecto est quam, quae contigit maribus... voluptas."
E-mail us on classicsmaltasoc@gmail.com if you want to discover why from the days of Homer to the beginning of the 20th century, acquiring an education meant, primarily, learning the languages of the ancients and reading their immortal works.
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Joe Xuereb
May 4th 2010, 20:30
How many lawyers speak fluent Latin?
How many priests? Or cardinals for that matter?
How many Maltese speak perfect(duh!!), fluent, seamless (minghajr tlaqliq) Maltese?
........................ditto.......................ditto..................English?
A foreign language, one that actually has some use, takes forever to learn. To suggest we take up Latin to improve our lot is preposterous.
As for speaking Latin. We don't even know what Latin sounded like. Audio-visual aids may be Latin derivatives but what the words sounded like we do not now nor will we ever know. CDs and tapes and stuff are a recent invention.
I am afraid I find this letter pretentious and self-serving.
Set in gior sel fup tu bidis appoint id is sed.
And what's with dating buildings, etc. with Roman numberals? All those Is-Vs-Ms-Cs and an L thrown in for good measure.
Josephus Antonius de Bonus, you should get out more.
William P Flynn
May 5th 2010, 06:45
Agreed the first time I heard someone say "Wickee, wersa" and "Weenee, Weedee, Winkee" and "Sisero", I thought that can't be right. But who's to say. Now I can never say "Cicero" as "Chichero" Here’s a little Limerick I made up.
This will please the purists:
Julius Caesar of the "Weenee, Weedee, Winkee,
Begged for hitchhikes with his pinkie.
Other people think that’s dumb;
They say “Venee, videe, vinchee”;
And for hitchhikes use your thumb”.
Tony Gatt
May 4th 2010, 18:27
The only bit of Latin I remember is "Caesar adsum iam forte" always translated as "Caesar had some jam for tea"(!)
Pretentious, moi? as Miss Piggy used to say!
William P Flynn
May 4th 2010, 17:13
What do you mean "aren't (=are not) we not" doesn't make sense? Yes it doesn't!
And about, "We are a multilingual nation, by definition, aren't we not?" Yes we aren't!
William P Flynn
May 4th 2010, 14:02
Now for the serious translation for you plebs:
Ultima Cumaei venit iam carminis aetas; Now comes the final era of the Sibyl's song;
Magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo. The great order of the ages is born afresh.
iam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna, And now justice returns, honored rules return;
iam nova progenies caelo demittitur alto. now a new lineage is sent down from high heaven
The phrase Novus (not magnus) ordo seclorum (Latin for "New Order of the Ages") appears on the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States, first designed in 1782 and printed on the back of the American dollar bill since 1935.
On the other hand Jove's "maior vestra profecto est quam, quae contigit maribus... voluptas"
is just Jove, dressing up for a bacchanalia, impishly asking his wife, "honey, does this toga make me look fat?"
What can I say? I found the first one on Wikipedia. The other one was too hard.
Franco Farrugia
May 4th 2010, 16:27
Using Wikipedia? And you call us ´plebs´. Right!
Jesmond Micallef
May 4th 2010, 17:39
You forgot another inscription on the US Dollar, "I God we Trust" Mr. Flynn.
William P Flynn
May 5th 2010, 00:25
@Jesmond Micallef
With the global financial meltdown I think it should be changed to:
"Ingot we trust". On the Euro too. Beside I'm the one fishing here, today. Go find your own spot.
Franco Farrugia
May 4th 2010, 13:42
While I find Debono´s letter unnecessary, I equally find Ramon Casha to be commenting about things he is little aware of. Latin is an extremely important language for multilinguists.
Jesmond Micallef
May 4th 2010, 14:52
I agree with your remark on Multiliguistics here. In Germany, Latin is still pretty much taught at school. Why is it not so in Malta ? We are a multilingual nation, by definition, aren't we not ?
John Ebejer
May 4th 2010, 16:25
At Jesmond Micallef - Malta, a multilingualcountry? hehe.
wally vella-zarb
May 4th 2010, 16:33
"We are a multilingual nation, by definition, aren't we not ? "
In many cases, only in our knack of mixing syntax and different languages with gay abandon. For example, in what language does "aren't (=are not) we not" make sense?
Jesmond Micallef
May 4th 2010, 17:55
Indeed, you are quite right, in Maltese it does not make sense, neither in German or Italian, for the matter. You are most absolutely right.
Ramon Casha
May 4th 2010, 11:49
Latin IS a fossilised language (it is not a culture). It is a curio, useful to historians and archaeologists for their study, used by lawyers to ensure that common people can't understand what they're doing, and occasionally by artists or others to give the impression that something is older than it really is - like houses that have their year of construction written in Latin - despite the fact that it actually says "2010".
William P Flynn
May 4th 2010, 13:14
Not-on Ramon! If you want to talk nonsense, go ahead.
As a matter of fact, I would go even further than my comment below and add:
Tiea iello ribbo naro unde olde hoc tre.
Itsbe entrelongi eres;
Do iu stiluant mi?
Justie aiello rib bonaro und deolde, olde hoc tre.
And by the way, smarty pants,how do you know the house in question wasn't built in 2010 BC? I mean, how would they know then there was going to be a BC and an AD, huh? Answer me that!
EGatt
May 4th 2010, 13:53
Well Mr Flynn
If the house was built in 2010 BC, how would they have known that in 2010 years christ would be born!
Ramon Casha
May 4th 2010, 14:31
It isn't nonsense. There are no native speakers of Latin anywhere in the world. It is either studied by specialists, such as historians, archaeologists and linguists, or is used to give an aura of antiquity to modern items.
William P Flynn
May 4th 2010, 16:25
E Gatt
Don’t you get it? Wasn't that my point?
Ramon Casha
Specialists? Oh, I don't know. Would you say Tom Jones is a specialist?
I wouldn't have thought you'd be the sort who'd miss the bus.
Chris Finch
May 4th 2010, 17:08
You are right Ramon, I would also add those pretentious people who want to sound intellectual.
By the way Mr Debono, I don't think anyone actually believed that the supposed inscription on the Luqa Statue existed or was even meant to be in Latin. It was a joke. Lighten up, by Jove.
William P Flynn
May 4th 2010, 11:04
And for sheer excellence, the unforgetable:
forg et abo utus, iust op ondibus, putt hebla meon me.