“Let’s Be Level-Headed about This Thing, Okay?!”

 

 

 

 

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for March 07, 2009 is:

equanimity • \ee-kwuh-NIM-uh-tee\  • noun
*1 : evenness of mind especially under stress 2 : right disposition : balance

Example sentence:
Carol’s famous equanimity didn’t desert her, even in the midst of the crisis.

Did you know?
If you think “equanimity” looks like it has something to do with “equal,” you’ve guessed correctly. Both “equanimity” and “equal” are derived from “aequus,” a Latin adjective meaning “level” or “equal.” “Equanimity” comes from the combination of “aequus” and “animus” (“soul” or “mind”) in the Latin phrase “aequo animo,” which means “with even mind.” English speakers began using “equanimity” early in the 17th century with the now obsolete sense “fairness or justness of judgment,” which was in keeping with the meaning of the Latin phrase. “Equanimity” quickly came to suggest keeping a cool head under any sort of pressure, not merely when presented with a problem, and eventually it developed an extended sense for general balance and harmony.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

equanimity.mp3

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“Go ahead and salivate!” — A Proven Method for Latin Vocabulary Study and Mastery

Here’s a proven method for vocabulary card creation, study and mastery. It’s based on the principle, familiar to some, called “conditioning” (“conditioned reflex”). In the 1890s Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov demonstrated a repetitive occurrence in the behavior of dogs when presented with food accompanied by an additional stimulus (e.g., ringing a bell). Each time the dogs were presented with food, evoking salivation, a bell was rung simultaneously. After numerous trials of food presentation, accompanied by a ringing bell, with consistent occurrences of salivation by the dogs, the trials were run the ringing without food being presented—yet the dogs continued to salivate in successive trials. 

Similarly, this same “conditioning” principle is very effective in producing consistent memory results when studying Latin vocabulary. Since most pre-printed vocabulary cards only include the Latin word on the front of the card with the corresponding definition on the back, it’s important to create your own vocabulary cards with an important addition. Even if you use pre-printed cards, adding this additional information is critically important. “What is the additional information?” you may ask.  It is simply this:  Write the Latin vocabulary word not only on the front of the vocabulary card, but also on the back of the card—with the definition immediately under it. In this way, you are associating the original Latin word (i.e., the “bell”) with its definition (i.e., the “food”), so that, when you turn the card over to the front side, even though it’s not really there, after repetitive viewings you will actually “see” the definition under the Latin word on the front side of the card as well!  In a sense, you can “salivate” all the way through your study of frequently used Latin vocabulary words in gaining a mastery of those words. Try it; it really does work!!

FRONT of  Card (“mouse” over or click to enlarge)
BACK of Card (“mouse” over or click to enlarge)

Interested in taking a “live, interactive” online Latin class?  Take the POLL here!

A “Repertoire” of English Vocabulary Building Resources from Latin Root Words

“repertoire”  mp3

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for March 11, 2008 is:

repertoire • \REP-er-twar\  • noun 1 : a list of plays, operas, pieces, or parts which a company or performer is prepared to present *2 : a supply of skills or devices possessed by a person 

Example sentence: “She is a pastry chef whose repertoire ranges from chocolate-filled croissants to old-fashioned scones and chocolate chip cookies.” (Linda Giuca, Hartford Courant [Connecticut], January 31, 2008)

 

Did you know? The Late Latin noun “repertorium,” meaning “list,” has given us two words that can be used to speak of the broad range of things that someone or something can do. One is “repertory,” perhaps most commonly known as a word for a company that presents several different plays, operas, or other works at one theater, or the theater where such works are performed. “Repertoire,” which comes from “repertorium” via French, once meant the same thing as “repertory” but later came to refer to the range of skills that a person has under his or her belt, such as the different pitches a baseball pitcher can throw or the particular dishes that are a chef’s specialty. 

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

 

Latin is a DEAD Language!!

“NOW IT’S KILLING ME” NO LONGER

Latin is a dead language,
As dead as dead can be. 
First it killed the Romans, 
And now it’s killing me!   

Many generations of Latin students have employed this little rhyme to voice their frustration over learning a language so very different from English. Granted, they might not get too much sympathy from those readers of this blog who have undertaken Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, and other Semitic languages, but for the average high school student, an inflected language like Latin can be bewildering.

Even for those who have learned Greek and Hebrew and other Semitic languages, there are times when you need to consult Latin texts such as the Vulgate, and if you don’t work with Latin every day, you may find the going a little rough.

Now there’s help for new students and rusty scholars alike. For some time now, we’ve been developing a grammatically-tagged and lemmatized version of the Latin Vulgate. The New Testament is now complete and was recently released at the annual conferences of ETS and SBL. Users of the tagged Vulgate can now drag their cursor over Latin words to get the full parsing information, and can find all inflections of a given lexical form.

The new tagged Vulgate module can’t bring the Latin language back from the dead, but it can reduce its ability to “kill” the Latin student!

posted by David Lang

 

“I’m Confused” . . . OR . . . “‘Babbling’ Away in the 21st Century!”

 Genesis 11 (English Standard Version)

The Tower of Babel

 1Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

 

Word of the Day: “impromptu”

 

impromptu 

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for February 29, 2008 is: impromptu • im-PROMP-too  • adjective* 1 : made, done, or formed on or as if on the spur of the moment : improvised 2 : composed or uttered without previous preparation : extemporaneous. Example sentence: When we dropped by unexpectedly, Aunt Dinah threw together an impromptu dinner from the odds and ends in her refrigerator. Did you know? If you think that “impromptu” looks like a relative of “prompt,” you’re right; both are ultimately derived from the Latin “promere,” meaning “to bring forth, take out.” “Impromptu” was borrowed from French, where it meant “extemporaneously,” but French speakers picked it up from the Latin phrase “in promptu,” a “promere” descendant meaning “in readiness” or “at hand.” There is also another, much rarer descendant of “promere” in English — the noun “promptuary,” meaning “a book of ready reference.”

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

 

[Blogger’s Note:   Think, also, about the English derivative words:  promo, tele-prompter,  even the “Senior prom!! ”  So, like the blog name says:  “Latin IS English!”

impromptu.mp3

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Word of the Day: “divest”

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for February 27, 2008 is: divest • dye-VEST  • verb1 a : to deprive or dispossess especially of property, authority, or title; b : to undress or strip especially of clothing, ornament, or equipment; c : rid, free 2 : to take away from a person.

Example sentence: When tests revealed that the athlete had been taking steroids, Olympic officials divested him of his medal. 

Did you know? “Divest” is one of many English words that come from the Latin verb “vestire” (“to clothe“) and ultimately from the noun “vestis” (“clothing, garment”). Others include “vest,” “vestment,” “invest,” and “travesty.” “Divest” and its older form “devest” can mean “to unclothe” or “to remove the clothing of,” but the word had broader applications even when it was first being used in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the opening scene of Shakespeare’s King Lear, Lear uses the term to mean “rid oneself of” or “put aside”:

“Tell me, my daughters             

(Since now we will divest us both of rule, Interest of territory, cares of state),

Which of you shall we say doth love us most?”    

In addition to clothing, one can be divested of power, authority, possessions, or burdens. *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

[Blogger’s Note:  “Now, who would’ve ‘thunk’ it?!”]

Click here for “Divest“.mp3

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Word of the Day: “esplanade”

 This is why Latin IS English!!  Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for February 18, 2008 is: esplanade • ESS-pluh-nahd  • noun: a level open stretch of paved or grassy ground; especially : one designed for walking or driving along a shore. Example sentence: While walking along the esplanade, we stopped to enjoy yet another gorgeous ocean sunset.  The history of “esplanade” is completely on the level. The Italians created “spianata,” for a level stretch of ground, from their verb “spianare,” which means “to make level.” “Spianare” in turn comes from the Latin verb “explanare,” which also means “to make level” and which is the source of our verb “explain.” Middle-French speakers borrowed “spianata” as “esplanade,” and in the late 1500s we borrowed the French word. In the late 17th century, and even later, esplanades were associated with war. The word was used to refer to a clear space between a citadel and the nearest house of a town or to a slope around a fortification used for defense against attack. Today, however, esplanades are usually for enjoyment.

Click for this “Word of the Day” as an MP3

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The Five Latin Noun Declensions (PowerPoint)

Here’s a downloadable “PowerPoint” presentation which presents—in a one-page “satelllite” view—the structures of all Latin nouns as they occur with their particular genders within their respective five declensions: Latin Nouns Declensions (PowerPoint)
 

Interested in taking a “live, interactive” online Latin class?  Take the POLL here!

The “Nicene Creed” in Latin & English

The Symbolum Nicaenum, or Nicene Creed, has a complex history.  It was first promulgated at the Council of Nicea (325), though in an abbreviated form from what we have below.  St. Athanasius attributes its composition to the Papal Legate to the Council, Hossius of Cordova.  The Creed is also sometimes called the Nicene-Constantinoplan Creed since it appears inthe Acts of the Council of Constantinople (381), but it is clear that this Council is not the source of that composition for it appears in complete form in the Ancoratus of Epiphanius of Salamis some seven years earlier in 374.  In any case, it was this text that appears in the Acts of the Council of Constantinople that was formally promulgated at Chalcedon in 451 and has come down to us as our present Nicene Creed.  It was at the councils of Nicea and Constantinople that the true nature of Jesus was defended against two heresies that had sprung up. The Arians denied Christ’s divinity and the Monophysites denied Christ’s humanity. The councils, drawing upon the traditions handed down to them from the Apostles, condemned both heresies and declared that Jesus was indeed both true God and true man.  

 CREDO in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, factorem caeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium.   

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.  

Et in unum Dominum Iesum Christum, Filium Dei **unigenitum,  ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula. Deum de Deo, Lumen de Lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero, genitum non factum, consubstantialem Patri; per quem omnia facta sunt.   
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father; through Whom all things were  made.  

Qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem descendit de caelis. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine, et homo factus est.   

Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven.  And he was made flesh by the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. 

Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est, et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas, et ascendit in caelum, sedet ad dexteram Patris.  

He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; suffered, and was buried. On the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father.  

Et iterum venturus est cum gloria, iudicare vivos et mortuos, cuius regni non erit finis.  

And He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.  

Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem, qui ex Patre Filioque procedit.  

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son.  

Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur: qui locutus est per prophetas.  
 
Who, with the Father and the Son, is adored and glorified: Who has spoken through the Prophets.  

Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam.   
And (I believe in) one holy, catholic and apostolic Church.  

Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum. Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum, et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.  

I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come. Amen. 

**Not only is Christ God’s “only begotten” son (via His incarnation by a “virgin” woman through the agency of the Holy Spirit), He is more significantly, as one of the three “persons” of the trinitarian Godhead, the “unique” Son of God. For more on the “uniqueness” (uniqenitum) of Christ as the “God-Man,” see: Jesus Christ: God’s “Unique” Son (John 3:16; cf. 1 John 4:9 Greek & Latin).

Primordium

And so, the beginnings (primordium) of yet another blog. In progressō; longanimitas vestrārum diligētur ( = “In progress; your longsuffering will be appreciated”). And yes, there is a red pen included in the banner logo, above. There will be no “political correctness” demonstrated here, particularly as regards educational matters.  I am confident that via much evidence here you will be convinced  and will recognize how Latin, in many ways, is incorporated within the English language (fidens… via… evidentia… convinco… cognosco… corpus). Together, by way of the things we can see in English vocabulary, we will share a trust and have our thinking conquered through the common knowledge how Latin truly is embodied within our own language.