How different is classical latin compared to medieval latin ?
Hi all !
My question is how different are the classical version of the latin language and the medieval one ? I know that medieval latin varies from country to country so I will specify that I'm talking about medieval latin in England ( Britain ).
I'm asking becouse I'm currently studying the english medieaval latin and I have never studied classical latin before. I know that medieval latin was derived from vulgar latin but I don't know much about it else from it was spread to the foreign provinces by the soldiers. I don't know how related is it to the true latin. Therefore with the knowledge of medieval latin will I be able to understand the language of the late Roman republic and empire or not ?
I'm looking for both dictionary and grammar and further explanations would help.
Tags: classical latin, classical version, dictionary, empire, england britain, explanations, grammar, Latin Language, medieaval, medieval latin, roman republic, vulgar latin
November 12th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Depends on which period in Medieval England you’re studying. Britain’s case, when it comes to Latin, is unique when compared to that of continental Europe. In places like Gaul and Spain, Latin became a native language, or at least influenced native tongues sufficiently enough that they be identified as vulgar Latin. But the transition of Latin into the provinces is a topic unto itself. The point isthat this lexical conquest never seemed to happen in Britain. You only see a few words in modern English that linguists believe come from the Roman occupation (like place names, e.g. "chester" for "castra"). The vast majority of Latin influence on English comes in through other avenues. Latin and the Britons just never clicked, as it were.
Long digression – sorry, it’s late and I’ve been reading about Poliziano too long. Anyway, short answer to your question, I think that it wouldn’t be a very hard jump from the Medieval Latin of Britain to Cicero and the like. I’d think long and hard before trying to tackle someone like Tacitus, though, without first learning at least the basic differences between later forms of Latin and the classical type. There are quite a few rules of form that change (the dipthong ae in early Latin tends to turn into e in later forms, etc.), but there’s also a huge lexical shift. Words tend to take on different meanings after a few hundred years. Hence, a lot of words that you may have learned in your studies may need to be relearned as something different for the purposes of reading classical literature (e.g., familia is one word in later Latin for family; however, in classical Latin, it usually refers only to the slaves of the household). Not so bad, but it can be somewhat annoying.
In some ways, not having gone through the gauntlet of Ciceronian Latin may help a bit. You might be able to pick up Plautus more easily because you haven’t had these grammatical rules nailed into your skull.
And like I said in my digression, Latin was never really a native thing in Britain, so Latin in England tends to be a bit more stylized and formal than on the Continent. If you’re proficient at it, I’d say you could make the translation well. Just have a good commentary with you and dig into some Cicero (he seems stodgy at first, but trust me – the old man has a great sense of humor).
November 12th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Ancient Romanic Latin and Medieval Latin, have similar grammatical rules however due to the different dialects used during medival times the words and phrases themselves are different. You would be able to understand most Latin phrases, but remember, do not use thier literal meanings!
November 12th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Well, they are the same language insofar as a Roman of the late empire would understand medieval Latin, though he might sneer at it. Classical Latin is much more convoluted, often for notions of style, but no one every really spoke it. The language of the late republic is a different matter. You will have a much easier time with The Confessions of Augustine than you will with Cicero.
Since the Romans abandoned Britain long before the Saxon invasion, British Latin doesn’t much differ from the continental version, except perhaps in accent, and we have no proof of that. The language of settled soldiers undoubtedly had an effect on romance languages, but not on English. In England it was a learned language, useful for clerics and scholars attempting to communicate with their like in Western Europe.