The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1922-01-19
WHAT Is LATIN GOOD FOR
TODAY?
Part IT..

What Is Latin good for today? So
fully is the ancient Latin a part Of
English and Of the Romance Ian
guages that today it has a far wider
use as living tongue than in the
time Of the Caesars. For instance,
eighty-seven percent of the words Of
the Declaration Of Independence that
carry meaning are of Latin origin.
The Latin verb sto, with its stems
sta and stat. appear in more than two
hundred English words. Facio. to
make. with its stems faci. fci. fac,
fic. fact, fct. feet. give the basic
meaning Of make. made to more than
two hundred English words. The
Latin proposition con. with. and its
forms com, col. co. cor by assimila-
ton, begin the words of over fifty
pages Of Webster's Unabridged, and
in affects the meaning of over sixty
pages. why not cfrects?)
Still further Latin is a living Ian
guage because by il the boy and girl,
the man and woman, have the pri.
mary meaning Of known words and
can translate unknown words into
English, e.g; suspicious looking
under. translate" carry across. "im-
murc." wall in. "bibulous," full of
drinking. "victuals," means Of living.
"vittles," hasn't any such story to
tell. The fact is that when one
knows hundred Latin verbs and the
force Of dozen derivative endngs
like men, -mentum, -osus, tito, bills, and
dozen particles like in. re. ex. he
has an open door to the meaning Of
thousands Of English words They
will make every page Of English,
French, Italian, Spanish and Latin
luminous There it is again, "lumi-
nous full of light)
But if the student is to get this
certainty of the meaning of words and
this saving Of time, his teacher will
have to be concerned about bringing
Latin to life in the English Of today
What is Latin for? 1t is for
"oral English" for talking English,
and not for talking Latin" as some
Latinst would make us believe
They have gone back FIVE hundred
years II is not ear Latin" that is
wanted today, but EYE Latin" for
spoken and written English
The schools are making much Of
"oral expression and there is
much rehearsing of trivial incidents
for IT, But telling Caesars story,
matching Cicero's invectives and feel.
ing the beauty Of Nirgil's lines in
translation is drill in making Eng
fish that no English cours" esr-,"
1t is to be granted that
Latin classes are not q i'aS bass
value in their 'crawlir a? rs, trea
English, piece-meal translations of
the Latin authors. But that is not
the ldull u lUt ldllUs II - liit
teaching Of Latin for its mental drill"
or "for the sake of the Latin that
is TO blame for the pupils great loss.
If the teacher of Latin is to meet
the twentieth century needs of his
boys and girls, he must know his
English, its ways, excellencies, its
defects, must be delighted" when the
young translator has made a pat
rendering of Latin word or phrase.
What is Latin for? The habit of
work that it's study gives, the habit
of steady, continuous application.
Latin does not come with the flash
of the cartoon, or Of the movies"
nor by running the eye rapidly over
the lines of page, as in history or
literature. II has not been because
Latin trained the mind for everything.
mental discipline" that classical stu
dents have more often been marked
men in all callings, but it has been
the mental habit of work, habit
that gives a far ahead start at any.
thing.
Latin has the coalitions for work
interest, success. Interest may begin
with the first day as the boy declines
porta and gets a new idea of what
case does in language and a new light
comes upon "portal." He may have
such discoveries every day of his pur-
suit of Latin. 1t is a real pursuit.
Then his daily success in finding the
sense of his Latin lines leads him on.
The instinct Of mastery, the great
impulse TO achievement, finds daily
free play. All successful Latin stu
dents, in spite Of poor, blind teach
ing, like it.
There might be added as reasons
for Latin and interest in il, a long
acquaintance thru their language