Latin

Latin is the language originally spoken in Ancient Rome and is currently the only official language in Vatican City. It eventually evolved into numerous languages as the centuries passed, including French, Spanish, and Italian, but a small community still speaks Latin. Despite it being a minor language it is still widely taught, mainly at the university level and at grammar schools, and is the official language of the Roman Catholic Church. Many words in English can trace their origins to Latin as can all of the Romance languages such as pictura got changed into picture in English.
== Romance Languages ==
Latin spread to many Western Mediterranean regions conquered by the Roman Empire. Local dialects spoken in these areas, mixed to various degrees with the languages of the invading Germanic peoples and indigenous inhabitants. They then developed into the Romance language family. The Romance languages include many popular and widely spoken languages including: Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian. Aragonese, Catalan, Corsican, Galician, Romanian, Romansh, Sardinian and Sicilian are mainly minor languages spoken in small areas of Western Europe that still descend from Latin.
== Types of Latin ==
There are several kinds of Latin as it evolved over the years. The forms are listed:
* Archaic
* Classical
* Vulgar
* Medieval
* Renaissance
* Ecclesiastical
== Roman Demigods ==
Roman demigods are 'hardwired' for Latin, as opposed to the Greeks who are 'hardwired' for Ancient Greek. Greek demigods can speak a few words of Latin, but aren't as fluent in it as they are in Ancient Greek. Roman demigods have a harder time understanding Ancient Greek, compared to Greek demigods understanding Latin. In The Lost Hero, Jason Grace, the recently elected praetor of New Rome before his disappearance, is shown speaking in Latin several times.
== Tips ==
* The preposition ab (from, by) is only used before vowels or the letter h, and the alternate form ā is only used before consonants.
* The word atque (and) is only used before vowels or the letter h, and the alternate form ac is only used before consonants.
* Similar verbs have similar perfect infinitives/participles, e.g. iaciō, iacere, iēcisse, iactum (to throw) and faciō, facere, fēcisse, factum (to do, to make) or vehō, vehere, vēxisse, vectum (to carry) and trahō, trahere, trāxisse, tractum (to drag).
== Trivia ==
* Despite being a Greek demigod whose brain is hardwired for Ancient Greek, Percy Jackson has shown at least a limited affinity for Latin, even instinctively cursing out the Furies with it in The Lightning Thief, although Percy afterwards wasn't sure where the Latin had come from.
* In Fury of the Dragon Goddess, in an altered destiny, Sikander Aziz learned Latin from Ishtar and as a result, he would occasionally spout Latin phrases in conversation even when Sik himself couldn't understand where they were coming from due to Sik lacking his memories of his altered destiny. Despite Sik's original destiny eventually being restored, he apparently retained his knowledge of the language to at least some degree.
== See Also ==
* Ancient Greek
* Dyslexia