Language

The Sound of the Classical Latin Language (UDHR, Numbers, Greetings & Sample Text)



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SPECIAL THANKS TO ScorpioMartianus for helping me with the text & audio
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Note: In the Sample Text part the Classical Latin Letter V was changed to U.

Latin language (Lingua Latina)

In the 5th century BC, Latin was just one of many Italic languages spoken in central Italy. Latin was the language of the area known as Latium (modern Lazio), and Rome was one of the towns of Latium. The earliest known inscriptions in Latin date from the 6th century BC and were written using an alphabet adapted from the Etruscan alphabet.

Rome gradually expanded its influence over other parts of Italy and then over other parts of Europe. Eventually the Roman Empire stretched across a wide swathe of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Latin was used throughout the empire as the language of law, administration and increasingly as the language of everyday life. Literacy was common among Roman citizens and the works of great Latin authors were read by many.

Meanwhile in the eastern Mediterranean, Greek remained the lingua franca and well-educated Romans were familiar with both languages. In fact the earliest surviving examples of Latin literature are Latin translations of Greek plays, and Cato’s farming manual, which dates from 150 BC.

The language used in much early Latin literature, classical Latin, differed in many ways from colloquial spoken Latin, known as vulgar Latin, though some writers, including Cicero and Petronius, used vulgar Latin in their work. Over the centuries the spoken varieties of Latin continued to move away from the literary standard and eventually evolved into the modern Italic/Romance languages (Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, etc).

Even after the collapse of the western Roman Empire in 476 AD, Latin continued to be used as a literary language throughout western and central Europe. An enormous quantity of medieval Latin literature was produced in a variety of different styles ranging from the scholarly works of Irish and Anglo-Saxon writers to simple tales and sermons for a wider audience.

During the 15th century, Latin began to lose its dominant position as the main language of scholarship and religion throughout Europe. It was largely replaced by written versions of the vernacular languages of Europe, many of which are descendants of Latin or have been heavily influenced by it.

Modern Latin was used by the Roman Catholic Church until the mid 20th century and is still used to some extent, particularly in the Vatican City, where it is one of the official languages. Latin terminology is used extensively by biologists, palaeontologists and other scientists to name species and specimens, and also by doctors and lawyers.

Ancient Roman Music – Roman Republic

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20 thoughts on “The Sound of the Classical Latin Language (UDHR, Numbers, Greetings & Sample Text)
  1. This is my first time listening to spoken Latin. I’ve ever read the written language which looks hard. The accent here is so melodic and attractive. It has pitch. I love it!

    One question: I notice the sound “-m” at end of words is nasalized, not fully /m/, e.g. “vnvm” (unum), “septem” are pronounced [unũ] and [septę] respectively, just like modern Portuguese and French. Is this the real pronounciation of ending “-m” in Classical Latin?

  2. Like all your videos, this was incredibly well done and well presented! 😀 Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to collaborate with you. I shall post this video everywhere proudly announcing my association with this wonderful channel! 🙂

  3. I speak Romanian and this is extremely similar. I know it’s a Romance language and Romance languages evolved from Latin. but knowing that Italian and Romanian are the two languages that closely resemble Latin, I just didn’t realize that Romanian was this similar

  4. You can make a video of Kurdish and Redkurdish
    Because you have make videos about languages the not people ken this
    Therefor must you make a video about the kurdish languages

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