Starting Latin

Welcome to Latin Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs!

The goal of this project is to present Latin grammar, step by step, using Latin proverbs to illustrate how the grammar works. 

Instead of the meaningless Latin sentences and mind-numbing Latin charts typically found in a Latin textbook, all the Latin you will be reading is meaningful... and hopefully worth committing to memory!

A few words about the Latin alphabet and pronunciation:

Latin alphabet. The Latin alphabet is basically the same as the English alphabet. The English alphabet is made up of Roman letters! So, here is the Latin alphabet:

A B C D E F G H I L M N O P Q R S T V X

The letters J and U are missing. That's because J is actually a form of Latin I, and U is a form of Latin V. Later Latin texts do use the J and the U, which is what I will be doing in this blog. 

The letter K is also missing; it is very rarely used in Latin. The letters Y and Z appear only in Greek words (although the Romans did use Greek words; many Romans were fluent Greek speakers).

Pronunciation. Unlike English, Latin is highly phonetic. Each vowel and each consonant is pronounced; there are no silent letters. And unlike English, each Latin vowel and consonant has the same pronunciation in every word. So, you will find Latin spelling and pronunciation much easier than English.

Vowels. There are 5 vowels: A E I O U. You can pronounce them like the corresponding English vowels in the words: A in "tan" ~ E in "ten" ~ I in "tip" ~ O in "top" ... and the U like the "u" in "duo." 

Vowel length. The vowels in Latin can be long or short, although that is a distinction that is difficult for English speakers because in English, vowels can have different "quality" but that is not the same as the difference in "quantity," i.e. a long vowel versus a short vowel. A long vowel is literally pronounced for a longer time than a short vowel. In some Latin texts, the long vowels have a long mark above them: ā is a long a, for example. But the Romans did not mark the long vowels when they wrote in Latin, and in this blog I will not be marking the long vowels except when it is helpful in explaining the grammar. 

Diphthongs. There are also diphthongs, or vowel combinations, in Latin. The most common Latin diphthongs are AE, pronounced like English "eye" ~ AU, pronounced like the "ow" in "now" ~ and EI, pronounced like the "ay" in "may."  You will also see some Greek diphthongs; for example, OE which is pronounced like the "oy" in "boy."

Consonants. Some notes about consonants:

The C is always hard like in "cat."

The G is also hard like in "go."
The H was more of a stop-breath, not really a true consonant, but you can go ahead and pronounce Latin H like English "h" in "hat."

The J is a semivowel, like the English "y" in "yell."  
The V is like the English "w" in English "wet" (later, in Catholic Latin, it is pronounced like English "v").
The X is a double consonant, just like in English: X = "ks" like in English "box."

Word stress. There are rules for Latin word stress, but I'm not going to teach you the stress rules right away. Instead, I will be marking the syllables for you, with the stressed syllable in all-caps. My hope is that by reading out loud, you will actually figure out the stress rules on your own. It will be fun to see how that experiment works! Meanwhile, the most important thing right now is just to read out loud with a heavy stress so that you will have an auditory memory of how each word is stressed.

So-called "correct" pronunciation. My main advice about pronunciation is NOT to worry about so-called "correct" pronunciation. Instead, the most important thing is to read out loud. In other words: to ALWAYS read out loud! The way you learn a language is with your ears, not your eyes. That's why reading out loud is essential.

Practice. Here are some Latin proverbs and sayings you can use to practice reading out loud. There's audio for you to listen to, and I repeat each proverb twice so you have a chance to listen and then repeat with me. I've provided English translations; the words in parentheses are words we use in English but which are not words that appear in the Latin. (You'll learn more about that when we start the grammar in the next post!)

l. Scientia potentia. 

1. Knowledge (is) power.

l. Sci-EN-ti-a po-TEN-ti-a. 

2. Fortuna caeca est. 

2. Fortune is blind.

2. For-TU-na CAE-ca EST. 

3. Historia magistra vitae. 

3. History (is the) teacher (of) life.

3. His-TO-ri-a ma-GIS-tra VI-tae. 

4. Nulla rosa sine spinis. 

4. (There is) no rose without thorns.

4. NUL-la RO-sa SI-ne SPI-nis. 

5. Optimus magister bonus liber. 

5. (The) best teacher (is a) good book.

5. OP-ti-mus ma-GIS-ter BO-nus LI-ber. 

6. Vinum animi speculum. 

6. Wine (is the) mirror (of the) soul.

6. VI-num A-ni-mi SPE-cu-lum. 

7. Factis, non verbis. 

7. (By means of) deeds, not words.

7. FAC-tis, NON VER-bis. 

8. Stultorum infinitus est numerus. 

8. (The) number (of) fools is infinite.

8. Stul-TO-rum in-fi-NI-tus EST NU-me-rus. 

9. Post nubila Phoebus. 

9. After clouds (comes) Phoebus (Apollo, that is: the sun).

9. Post NU-bi-la PHOE-bus. 

10. Dubium sapientiae initium. 

10. Doubt (is the) beginning (of) wisdom.

10. DU-bi-um sa-pi-EN-ti-ae i-NI-ti-um. 

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