so called "Old Literature"

[prendrelemick]

deleted

[hannah_arendt]

Returning to the main topic of this thread....

Do you think that it is possible to write a poem in latin, greek or any dead language? How could we understand it?

[PeterL]

Returning to the main topic of this thread....

Do you think that it is possible to write a poem in latin, greek or any dead language? How could we understand it?

There are many people who read and write in Lation, Ancient Greek, and other ancient languages. There also are some among them who write poetry in those languages., I have seen recently written Latin poetry, and I assume that there arre poems around in Ancient Greek, Babylonian, Ancient Egyptian (which I would love to see), and in other dead or extremely obscure languages.

a poetess
http://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Elissa_Radke

contemporary Latin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_Latin

Seek and you will find.

[hannah_arendt]

Congratulations

However, don`t you think that writing nowadays, for example in Latin, doesn`t have much in common with Latin poetry?

I don`t doubt in your knowledge, language skills but haven`t you had any doubts that you look at Latin in a differente way from the people using it in ancient times?

I write in Polish, Spanish, very rarely in English. I have never tried Latin or Greek.

[PeterL]

Congratulations

However, don`t you think that writing nowadays, for example in Latin, doesn`t have much in common with Latin poetry?

I don`t doubt in your knowledge, language skills but haven`t you had any doubts that you look at Latin in a differente way from the people using it in ancient times?

I would think that I think of Latin as most non-native speakers of Latin would have. Native speakers sometimes have different ideas about a language.Unless you have some idea of what language is, then it , Latin, is just another language. I suppose that my greater knowledge of science would make me different from someone who lived in Rome under the kings, but they were humans, and I am a human, so we have a lot in common.

[hannah_arendt]

I would think that I think of Latin as most non-native speakers of Latin would have. Native speakers sometimes have different ideas about a language.Unless you have some idea of what language is, then it , Latin, is just another language. I suppose that my greater knowledge of science would make me different from someone who lived in Rome under the kings, but they were humans, and I am a human, so we have a lot in common.

What did make you to start writing in Latin? I had a similar idea with old-polish but I have never managed to do it.

[Cliffyboy]

How often do you come back to reading old literature? Do you have your favourite works? Do you think that contemporary reader can reach a full understanding of the main ideas?

Only just recently joined this most interesting of sites and what a fabulous and intriguing question to ask.

Just as an immediate gut reaction, I think so but I don't have the time and place of their then and now, yet feel the really great works deal with the themes and ideas and moral concerns common to us all. I need to think about it more.

I'll come back to you on this, if you don't mind, and I notice you've recently widened it to include languages. Greatly interesting.

[PeterL]

What did make you to start writing in Latin? I had a similar idea with old-polish but I have never managed to do it.

I, personally, do not use Latin except in small quantities. It is a perfectly good language, except that it is a bit out of date. Moderns languages are more streamlined with fewer verb forms and few, if any, noun forms. And the vocabulary is not as large as is necessary. English is much easier, and it has a huge vocabulary. But Latin is useful in ENglish; how else can one determin what the correct plural of "virus" is? The best plural is "viruses".

[kiki1982]

Modern languages are streamlined in a different way to old ones, which we find more normal. The idea (in my opinion) of old languages was that you could say a word which would include everything: the function in the sentence (case), number, gender, passive/active, aspect (past, present or future), where/when/etc. (with integrated prepositions), etc. Humans are lazy and have now got different words for everything. Mainly Germanic languages have this tendency. Romance languages such as French still have their different verb endings to determine aspect, while they do use auxiliary verbs to express certain of these aspects. The Russians still have two different verbs for active and passive.

All languages have their own merits of course, that's why poetry is so difficult to translate (it's either shape or contents, only very very rarely both), but you could probably express much much more in three Latin words than in three German ones.

[hannah_arendt]

I, personally, do not use Latin except in small quantities. It is a perfectly good language, except that it is a bit out of date. Moderns languages are more streamlined with fewer verb forms and few, if any, noun forms. And the vocabulary is not as large as is necessary. English is much easier, and it has a huge vocabulary. But Latin is useful in ENglish; how else can one determin what the correct plural of "virus" is? The best plural is "viruses".

I`ve learnt Latin at university for about 3 years. Then, when I was writing my M.A, I started to learn Greek but up to now I can read only. Maybe one day I`ll come back to it.
In comparison to Polish, English seems to be easier. However english vocabulary is much larger. According to Humboldt fo example, Polish doesn`t have future tenses (because of morphological point of view).

Latin gave many possibilities but seems to be too difficult to learn for many people. We all want to do everything quickle and without effort.

[hannah_arendt]

Modern languages are streamlined in a different way to old ones, which we find more normal. The idea (in my opinion) of old languages was that you could say a word which would include everything: the function in the sentence (case), number, gender, passive/active, aspect (past, present or future), where/when/etc. (with integrated prepositions), etc. Humans are lazy and have now got different words for everything. Mainly Germanic languages have this tendency. Romance languages such as French still have their different verb endings to determine aspect, while they do use auxiliary verbs to express certain of these aspects. The Russians still have two different verbs for active and passive.

All languages have their own merits of course, that's why poetry is so difficult to translate (it's either shape or contents, only very very rarely both), but you could probably express much much more in three Latin words than in three German ones.

Many contemporary language still have: aspect, cases etc. For example German has 4 cases and gives many possibilities of creating new words. In Polish, there is aspect whereas in English we use just the adequate tense.

Old languages (I don`t like the word 'dead') gave more opportunities to express yourself very briefly. Almost everything we have now, we have inherited. There is no doubt that our culture is creating new things all the time but we couldn`t do without Plato or Aristotle. Sometimes it seems to me that we are becoming more and more superficial and lazy.

[PeterL]

I`ve learnt Latin at university for about 3 years. Then, when I was writing my M.A, I started to learn Greek but up to now I can read only. Maybe one day I`ll come back to it.
In comparison to Polish, English seems to be easier. However english vocabulary is much larger. According to Humboldt fo example, Polish doesn`t have future tenses (because of morphological point of view).

Latin gave many possibilities but seems to be too difficult to learn for many people. We all want to do everything quickle and without effort.

I agree that Latin has lots of possibilities, but there are different forms for too many different things, while in English the same auxiliary word or ending would fit most places. I suspect that in ancient times few people even knew that some of the forms existed in the same way that some people now just speak in the present tense indicative.

One of the most convenient things about English is the ease with which one can add words. I have seen estimates that there are more than 650,000 words in English, but that number is debatable, and it is almost impossible to determine how many words there are in any language.

[hannah_arendt]

When it comes to Polish, many people uses cases with mistakes. It is more and more often now. English is easier. You can hear/ read it almost everywhere. I would say that it is a Latin of our times.

[PeterL]

When it comes to Polish, many people uses cases with mistakes. It is more and more often now. English is easier. You can hear/ read it almost everywhere. I would say that it is a Latin of our times.

And like Latin in Ancient times most people who use it do not know it well.

[hannah_arendt]

And like Latin in Ancient times most people who use it do not know it weell.

There is in Poland a year of the Polish with events promoting polish language. However, if people doesn`t read it won`t change anything in my opinion. The language is becoming more and more simple.