Latin in English

The Invictus Games, in which wounded, injured or sick armed services personnel compete in a variety of sports, are happening in Toronto this week.  A friend, who knew I had studied Latin in high school, asked what “invictus” meant and wondered why Prince Harry had chosen a Latin word when he founded the games.  (I was pleased to be able to answer that the word meant “undefeated” or “unconquered,” though I don’t know why the Latin word was used.)

That conversation began a discussion about the utility of Latin.  I studied it in high school many years ago; I still have my textbook:  Latin for Canadian Schools by David Breslove and Arthur G. Hooper.  By the time I became a high school teacher (in a school whose motto is Sapientia omni vincit), Latin was no longer taught, though a colleague and I used to have lunch-time seminars for interested students; the focus was on Latin’s English vocabulary-building potential.  Certainly, there are a lot of Latin phrases which have become part of everyday usage:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_phrases_(full).

I don’t know how many secondary schools offer courses in the language.  A nephew who is studying to be a priest has been learning Latin because it remains the official language of the Catholic Church.  When he has asked questions about Latin, I’ve enjoyed revisiting the language. 

As a result, I was intrigued by an article in The Paris Review. In “’Human Life Is Punishment,’ and Other Pleasures of Studying Latin,” Frankie Thomas muses about the joys and pains of studying Latin:  https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/09/21/human-life-is-punishment-on-the-pleasures-of-studying-latin/. 

Latin is not dead; it is alive and well and living in English.