I do miss Latin. I don't miss hours of homework thrice a week, but I do miss the lovely sounds, the way it illuminates grammar--Latin is just full of grammar--and the occasional joy-spot when you see a word, a phrase, a thought, and say oh! That was what so and so meant by saying that! or so that's why the who's-its thought this! And the poetry is like music without a tune. It's so metrical. Even if you can't make heads nor tails of what Virgil is saying, it's such fun to read aloud. Yet Latin is not over-sweet or fluffy; it has plenty of sturdy consonants and even their metaphors are reassuringly literal. Charming joys, and I miss them.
I may like Greek, but I don't know, not having taken it. Dr. Smith much prefers Greek to Latin (and both to English). However, I cannot countenance his insulting Latin and said so today in Topics in Philosophy. This led to the following exchange.
"Latin is just redneck Greek anyway." Dr. Smith
"I'm quoting you on that." me
"In Latin, please." Dr. Smith
"What's Latin for 'redneck'?" Jonathan
"Rubra cervix." Dr. Smith
To quote him in Latin: "Latina lingua Graeca cervica rubra quoquomodo." --Magister Faber
And there you have it, a brilliant person with an opinion and the linguistics to back it up.
Saturday, December 04, 2004
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