Tuesday 23 October 2012

Scisne Latine?

I am still compiling a list of suggestions of things to do for my 30 days project. It is proving to be quite tricky as it needs to be something sustainable and that keeps my interest.  I know I want to do something around languages so I am proposing to write down and learn 10 Latin words, quotes or phrases a day for 30 days.  At school, I never had the opportunity to learn Latin so here is my chance!

The above photo is of firethorn (common name) that grows in abundance around my garden.  I know it by the botanical and Latin name of pyracantha.  I wonder how many other Latin names I already know and use?

* Scisne Latine = Do you know Latin?

13 comments:

  1. Only "Sicut arbor lucem petimus" which was my school motto and means: like a tree we seek the light and was quite appropriate for a school in the Forest of Dean!

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  2. Well done Simone! I was allowed to study Latin for just one term but I loved it all the same.

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  3. What a good idea Simone! Maybe you could in additionlearn the common name of each plant in, say, five languages? We can learn a lot about a country's culture from the names they give their plants.

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  4. I like very much your new project! And gardening sounds like a good way to learn some Latin, since it's one of your favourite hobbies!
    I have never studied Latin, I only know some sentences like "carpe diem", "errare humanum est", "errata corrige", "ex novo", "in vino veritas", "scripta manent, verba volant", "mens sana in corpore sano", "veni, vidi, vinci", "p.s."...well, Italian comes from Latin, LOL!
    x

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  5. What a good idea! We did Latin for the first year at school, I just remember forever decling verbs like 'Amo, Amas, Amat, Amamus, Amatis, Amant' etc. Our school mottos was 'Ab honesto virum bonum nihil deterret' which means, I think, 'Nothing deters an honest man from doing what is right'. Other than plant and animal names I've only ever come across latin on memorial inscriptions in churches:)

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  6. You would probably be amazed at much Latin you didn't know you knew!!
    I did three years of Latin at secondary school and remember at the time loving it as it made much more sense to me than either French or German which I also did at the time. Sadly now all these years later I remember very little of it!
    Vivienne x

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  7. Latin plant names sounds like a good way to start Simone xxx

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  8. I always thought that was its name - Pyracantha, I did not know it was called Firethorn!
    Think I might carpe diem and perhaps join you with this project...........
    Julie xxxxxxxx

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  9. The closest I come to Latin is Portuguese I'm afraid and apart from Carpe Diem I don't know anything else in Latin.

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  10. Once you get into learning Latin words and phrases, you will be amazed by how many Latin roots there are in English words! I studied Latin in High School and college, don't remember all that much of it, but at least recognize how much it contributes to our language! Enjoy!

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  11. You're right. I wonder, as a gardener, how much latin I know without realising it.

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  12. Great idea, Simone! It will be so useful to know some more Latin...especially plant names, and it's always interesting to study the development of language. I loved seeing the photo of the berries today...so richly coloured and gorgeous :)
    Helen x

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  13. I know: Recti cultus pectora roborant - The right education makes the heart as strong as oak. Another school motto, of course.
    My old school have also added a second motto:
    Ma te matauraka ke tu teitei te totara - Through education the totara tree will stand tall. Not Latin, but the same sentiment!

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