| Babel | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||
| Usores lingua digesti |
LA2 is the username of Lars Aronsson, Sweden.
Salve!
I once attended a beginners' evening class in Latin and this taught me "Feles summa in arbore sedet" (the cat sits at the top of the tree).
I see the Latin Wikipedia as a tool for training my own command of Latin, and although I cannot hope to contribute much, I hope that my presence isn't considered harmful. Below is a list of some words for which I need Latin translations in order to be able to write short and simple articles.
Latin was the primary written language in Sweden from the introduction of Christianity in the 11th century until the Lutheran reformation in the 16th century, when the first official Swedish translation of the entire Bible appeared (in 1541) and a "modern" governmental bureaucracy based on written records was established. The first Christian archbishopric in Scandinavia was established in Lund (Lunda in Scania) (conquered from Denmark by Sweden in the 1630s). From there, the first bishop in Sweden was installed in Linköping (Lincopia) in the province Östergötland (Ostrogothia). Sweden's most important medieval repository of written records were found in the monasteries in Alvastra (Cistercian) and Vadstena (founded by Sancta Birgitta, sanctioned by Pope Urbanus V in 1370). When the Catholic monasteries were shut down during the Lutheran reformation, these libraries were moved to Uppsala University (Universitas Upsaliensis) where they are still kept today. Sweden's only contribution to world literature during these middle ages is Sancta Birgitta's (1303-1373) Revelaciones celestes.
The medieval records were handwritten. The first book that was printed in Sweden was in Latin, titled Dyalogus creaturarum moralizatus (Holmia, 1483). A Swedish priest and diplomat Olaus Magnus (1490-1557) fled the Lutheran reformation, settled in Rome, and wrote an illustrated multi-volume work titled Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus (Roma, 1555) and drew a detailed map (170 x 125 cm) of Scandinavia titled Carta marina et descriptio septentrionalium terrarum ac mirabilium rerum eis contentarum diligentissime elaborata (Venezia, 1539). Latin was used in Sweden as a scholarly and scientific language until c. 1800, and taught in all secondary schools until c. 1900. Secondary schools that didn't teach Greek or Latin, but only "real" topics like math, science and modern languages (and thus called "real schools") were introduced by a law on November 1, 1878. Some Swedish scientists who wrote in Latin were Carolus Linnaeus, Anders Celsius, J J Berzelius. Sweden's most respected contemporary teacher of Latin is Birger Bergh (1935-), professor at Lund University (Universitas Lundensis).
archbishop archiepiscopus, archiepiscopi, m. bishop episcopus, episcopi, m. bishopric episcopatus, episcopati, m. capital urbs capitus, in urbe capite; caput city urbs, urbes, f. in urbe continent continens, continentis, f. country county pagus, pagi, m. king rex, regis, m. mountain mons, montis, m. north America America Septentrionalis, in America Septentrionali president praesidens, m. prime minister minister primus, ministri primi, m. province provincia, -ae, f. river flumen, fluminis, n. war bellum
There seems to be a difference in the plural form -is or -es between classic and modern Latin. My old dictionaries say urbis and mensis, but everybody on the web seems to use urbes and menses.
Dictionaries normally give the nominative singular and genitive singular form of a noun. For example "urbs", "urbis" meaning "city", "of the city". However the nominative plural of "urbs" is always "urbes", meaning "cities" in both classical and modern Latin. This is probably what you are seeing on the web. -- Derek Ross
I agree with what Derek Ross has said above. In addition, in classical Latin poetry, the -is ending (with a long -i-) is the accusative plural form which is otherwise -es for the 3rd declension. -- Californicus