New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin)
is the
revival of
Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical
nomenclature
Nomenclature (, ) is a system of names or terms, or the rules for forming these terms in a particular field of arts or sciences. The principles of naming vary from the relatively informal naming conventions, conventions of everyday speech to the i ...
, such as in zoological and botanical
taxonomy
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
and
international scientific vocabulary
International scientific vocabulary (ISV) comprises scientific and specialized words whose language of origin may or may not be certain, but which are in current use in several modern languages (that is, translingually, whether in naturalized, loa ...
, draws extensively from New Latin vocabulary, often in the form of
classical or neoclassical compounds. New Latin includes extensive
new word formation. As a language for full expression in
prose
Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...
or
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
, however, it is often distinguished from its successor,
Contemporary Latin
Contemporary Latin is the form of the Literary Latin used since the end of the 19th century. Various kinds of contemporary Latin can be distinguished, including the use of New Latin words in taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and in science generally ...
.
Extent
Classicists
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
use the term "Neo-Latin" to describe the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
that developed in
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
Italy as a result of renewed interest in classical civilization in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Neo-Latin also describes the use of the Latin language for any purpose, scientific or literary, during and after the Renaissance. The beginning of the period cannot be precisely identified; however, the spread of secular education, the acceptance of
humanistic
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
literary norms, and the wide availability of Latin texts following the invention of
printing
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...
, mark the transition to a new era of scholarship at the end of the 15th century. The end of the New Latin period is likewise indeterminate, but Latin as a regular vehicle of communicating ideas became rare following the dissolution of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
as well as the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
where French replaced Latin as the language of diplomacy. By 1900, Latin survived primarily in
international scientific vocabulary
International scientific vocabulary (ISV) comprises scientific and specialized words whose language of origin may or may not be certain, but which are in current use in several modern languages (that is, translingually, whether in naturalized, loa ...
and
taxonomy
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
. The term "New Latin" came into widespread use towards the end of the 1890s among
linguists
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
and
scientist
A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences.
In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...
s.
New Latin was, at least in its early days, an international language used throughout Catholic and Protestant Europe, as well as in the colonies of the major European powers. This area consisted of most of Europe, including
Central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...
and
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
; its southern border was the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
Sea, with the division more or less corresponding to the modern eastern borders of
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, the
Baltic state
The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
s,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
,
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
and
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
.
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
's acquisition of
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
in the later 17th century introduced the study of Latin to Russia. Nevertheless, the use of Latin in Orthodox eastern Europe did not reach high levels due to their strong cultural links to the cultural heritage of
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
and
Byzantium
Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
, as well as
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language.
Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...
languages.
Though Latin and New Latin are considered dead (having no native speakers), large parts of their vocabulary have seeped into
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and several Germanic languages. In the case of English, about 60% of the lexicon can trace its origin to Latin, thus many English speakers can recognize New Latin terms with relative ease as cognates are quite common.
History
Beginnings
New Latin was inaugurated as
Renaissance Latin
Renaissance Latin is a name given to the distinctive form of Literary Latin style developed during the European Renaissance of the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries, particularly by the Renaissance humanism movement.
Ad fontes
''Ad fontes' ...
by the triumph of the
humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
reform of Latin education, led by such writers as
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...
,
More
More or Mores may refer to:
Computing
* MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS
* more (command), a shell command
* MORE protocol, a routing protocol
* Missouri Research and Education Network
Music Albums
* ''More!'' (album), by Booka S ...
, and
Colet.
Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...
had been the practical working language of the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, taught throughout Europe to aspiring clerics and refined in the medieval universities. It was a flexible language, full of neologisms and often composed without reference to the grammar or style of classical (usually pre-Christian) authors. The humanist reformers sought both to purify Latin grammar and style, and to make Latin applicable to concerns beyond the ecclesiastical, creating a body of Latin literature outside the bounds of the Church. Attempts at reforming Latin use occurred sporadically throughout the period, becoming most successful in the mid-to-late 19th century.
Height
![Europe map 1648](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Europe_map_1648.png)
The Protestant Reformation (1520–1580), though it removed Latin from the liturgies of the churches of Northern Europe, may have advanced the cause of the new secular Latin. The period during and after the Reformation, coinciding with the growth of printed literature, saw the growth of an immense body of New Latin literature, on all kinds of secular as well as religious subjects.
The heyday of New Latin was its first two centuries (1500–1700), when in the continuation of the Medieval Latin tradition, it served as the
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
of science, education, and to some degree diplomacy in Europe. Classic works such as
Thomas More
Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...
's ''
Utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...
'' and
Newton
Newton most commonly refers to:
* Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist
* Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton
Newton may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film
* Newton ( ...
's ''
Principia Mathematica
The ''Principia Mathematica'' (often abbreviated ''PM'') is a three-volume work on the foundations of mathematics written by mathematician–philosophers Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell and published in 1910, 1912, and 1913. ...
'' (1687) were written in the language. Throughout this period, Latin was a universal school subject, and indeed, the pre-eminent subject for
elementary education
Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or firs ...
in most of Europe and other places of the world that shared its culture. All
universities
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
required Latin proficiency (obtained in local grammar schools) to obtain admittance as a student. Latin was an official language of Poland—recognised and widely used between the 9th and 18th centuries, commonly used in foreign relations and popular as a second language among some of the nobility.
[Karin Friedrich et al., ''The Other Prussia: Royal Prussia, Poland and Liberty, 1569–1772'', Cambridge University Press, 2000, ]
Google Print, p. 88
/ref>
Through most of the 17th century, Latin was also supreme as an international language of diplomatic correspondence, used in negotiations between nations and the writing of treaties, e.g. the peace treaties of Osnabrück and Münster (1648). As an auxiliary language to the local vernaculars, New Latin appeared in a wide variety of documents, ecclesiastical, legal, diplomatic, academic, and scientific. While a text written in English, French, or Spanish at this time might be understood by a significant cross section of the learned, only a Latin text could be certain of finding someone to interpret it anywhere between Lisbon and Helsinki.
As late as the 1720s, Latin was still used conversationally, and was serviceable as an international auxiliary language between people of different countries who had no other language in common. For instance, the Hanoverian king George I of Great Britain
George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the first ...
(reigned 1714–1727), who had no command of spoken English, communicated in Latin with his Prime Minister Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...
, who knew neither German nor French.
Decline
By about 1700, the growing movement for the use of national languages (already found earlier in literature and the Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
religious movement) had reached academia, and an example of the transition is Newton's writing career, which began in New Latin and ended in English (e.g. ''Opticks
''Opticks: or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light'' is a book by English natural philosopher Isaac Newton that was published in English in 1704 (a scholarly Latin translation appeared in 1706). (''Optick ...
'', 1704). A much earlier example is Galileo c. 1600, some of whose scientific writings were in Latin, some in Italian, the latter to reach a wider audience. By contrast, while German philosopher Christian Wolff (1679–1754) popularized German as a language of scholarly instruction and research, and wrote some works in German, he continued to write primarily in Latin, so that his works could more easily reach an international audience (e.g., ''Philosophia moralis,'' 1750–53).
Likewise, in the early 18th century, French replaced Latin as a diplomatic language, due to the commanding presence in Europe of the France of Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Vers ...
. At the same time, some (like King Frederick William I of Prussia
Frederick William I (german: Friedrich Wilhelm I.; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the "Soldier King" (german: Soldatenkönig), was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuch ...
) were dismissing Latin as a useless accomplishment, unfit for a man of practical affairs. The last international treaty to be written in Latin was the Treaty of Vienna in 1738; after the War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's W ...
(1740–48) international diplomacy was conducted predominantly in French.
A diminishing audience combined with diminishing production of Latin texts pushed Latin into a declining spiral from which it has not recovered. As it was gradually abandoned by various fields, and as less written material appeared in it, there was less of a practical reason for anyone to bother to learn Latin; as fewer people knew Latin, there was less reason for material to be written in the language. Latin came to be viewed as esoteric, irrelevant, and too difficult. As languages like French, Italian, German, and English became more widely known, use of a 'difficult' auxiliary language seemed unnecessary—while the argument that Latin could expand readership beyond a single nation was fatally weakened if, in fact, Latin readers did not compose a majority of the intended audience.
As the 18th century progressed, the extensive literature in Latin being produced at the beginning slowly contracted. By 1800 Latin publications were far outnumbered, and often outclassed, by writings in the modern languages as impact of Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
. Latin literature lasted longest in very specific fields (e.g. botany and zoology) where it had acquired a technical character, and where a literature available only to a small number of learned individuals could remain viable. By the end of the 19th century, Latin in some instances functioned less as a language than as a code capable of concise and exact expression, as for instance in physicians' prescriptions, or in a botanist's description of a specimen. In other fields (e.g. anatomy or law) where Latin had been widely used, it survived in technical phrases and terminology. The perpetuation of Ecclesiastical Latin
Latin, also called Church Latin or Liturgical Latin, is a form of Latin developed to discuss Christian thought in Late Antiquity and used in Christian liturgy, theology, and church administration down to the present day, especially in the Cathol ...
in the Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
through the 20th century can be considered a special case of the technicalizing of Latin, and the narrowing of its use to an elite class of readers.
By 1900, creative Latin composition, for purely artistic purposes, had become rare. Authors such as Arthur Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he starte ...
and Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the '' Saturday ...
wrote Latin verse, but these texts were either school exercises or occasional pieces. The last survivals of New Latin to convey non-technical information appear in the use of Latin to cloak passages and expressions deemed too indecent (in the 19th century) to be read by children, the lower classes, or (most) women. Such passages appear in translations of foreign texts and in works on folklore, anthropology, and psychology, e.g. Krafft-Ebing
Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing (full name Richard Fridolin Joseph Freiherr Krafft von Festenberg auf Frohnberg, genannt von Ebing; 14 August 1840 – 22 December 1902) was a German psychiatrist and author of the foundational work ''Psychopathi ...
's ''Psychopathia Sexualis
''Psychopathia Sexualis: eine Klinisch-Forensische Studie'' (''Sexual Psychopathy: A Clinical-Forensic Study'', also known as ''Psychopathia Sexualis, with Especial Reference to the Antipathetic Sexual Instinct: A Medico-forensic Study'') is an ...
'' (1886).
Crisis and transformation
Latin as a language held a place of educational pre-eminence until the second half of the 19th century. At that point its value was increasingly questioned; in the 20th century, educational philosophies
The philosophy of education is the branch of applied philosophy that investigates the nature of education as well as its aims and problems. It includes the examination of educational theories, the presuppositions present in them, and the arguments ...
such as that of John Dewey
John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the f ...
dismissed its relevance. At the same time, the philological
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as t ...
study of Latin appeared to show that the traditional methods and materials for teaching Latin were dangerously out of date and ineffective.
In secular academic use, however, New Latin declined sharply and then continuously after about 1700. Although Latin texts continued to be written throughout the 18th and into the 19th century, their number and their scope diminished over time. By 1900, very few new texts were being created in Latin for practical purposes, and the production of Latin texts had become little more than a hobby for Latin enthusiasts.
Around the beginning of the 19th century came a renewed emphasis on the study of Classical Latin
Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used from 75 BC to the 3rd century AD, when it developed into Late Latin. In some later periods ...
as the spoken language of the Romans of the 1st centuries BC and AD. This new emphasis, similar to that of the Humanists but based on broader linguistic, historical, and critical studies of Latin literature, led to the exclusion of Neo-Latin literature from academic studies in schools and universities (except for advanced historical language studies); to the abandonment of New Latin neologisms; and to an increasing interest in the reconstructed Classical pronunciation, which displaced the several regional pronunciations in Europe in the early 20th century.
Coincident with these changes in Latin instruction, and to some degree motivating them, came a concern about lack of Latin proficiency among students. Latin had already lost its privileged role as the core subject of elementary instruction; and as education spread to the middle and lower classes, it tended to be dropped altogether. By the mid-20th century, even the trivial acquaintance with Latin typical of the 19th-century student was a thing of the past.
Relics
Ecclesiastical Latin
Latin, also called Church Latin or Liturgical Latin, is a form of Latin developed to discuss Christian thought in Late Antiquity and used in Christian liturgy, theology, and church administration down to the present day, especially in the Cathol ...
, the form of New Latin used in the Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, remained in use throughout the period and after. Until the Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...
of 1962–65 all priests were expected to have competency in it, and it was studied in Catholic schools. It is today still the official language of the Church, and all Catholic priests of the Latin liturgical rites
Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...
are required by canon law to have competency in the language.
New Latin is also the source of the biological
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...
system of binomial nomenclature
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
and classification of living organisms devised by Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
, although the rules of the ICZN
The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the I ...
allow the construction of names that deviate considerably from historical norms. (See also classical compound
Neoclassical compounds are compound words composed from combining forms (which act as affixes or stems) derived from classical Latin or ancient Greek roots. New Latin comprises many such words and is a substantial component of the technical and ...
s.) Another continuation is the use of Latin names for the surface features of planets and planetary satellites (planetary nomenclature
Planetary nomenclature, like terrestrial nomenclature, is a system of uniquely identifying features on the surface of a planet or natural satellite so that the features can be easily located, described, and discussed. Since the invention of the tel ...
), originated in the mid-17th century for selenographic toponyms. New Latin has also contributed a vocabulary for specialized fields such as anatomy
Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...
and law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
; some of these words have become part of the normal, non-technical vocabulary of various European languages.
Pronunciation
New Latin had no single pronunciation, but a host of local variants or dialects, all distinct both from each other and from the historical pronunciation of Latin at the time of the Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...
and Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
. As a rule, the local pronunciation of Latin used sounds identical to those of the dominant local language; the result of a concurrently evolving pronunciation in the living languages and the corresponding spoken dialects of Latin. Despite this variation, there are some common characteristics to nearly all of the dialects of New Latin, for instance:
* The use of a sibilant
Sibilants are fricative consonants of higher amplitude and pitch, made by directing a stream of air with the tongue towards the teeth. Examples of sibilants are the consonants at the beginning of the English words ''sip'', ''zip'', ''ship'', and ...
fricative
A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in t ...
or affricate
An affricate is a consonant that begins as a stop and releases as a fricative, generally with the same place of articulation (most often coronal). It is often difficult to decide if a stop and fricative form a single phoneme or a consonant pair. ...
in place of a stop for the letters ''c'' and sometimes ''g'', when preceding a front vowel.
* The use of a sibilant fricative or affricate for the letter ''t'' when not at the beginning of the first syllable and preceding an unstressed ''i'' followed by a vowel.
* The use of a labiodental fricative for most instances of the letter ''v'' (or consonantal ''u''), instead of the classical labiovelar approximant .
* A tendency for medial ''s'' to be voiced to , especially between vowels.
* The merger of ''æ'' and ''œ'' with ''e'', and of ''y'' with ''i''.
* The loss of the distinction between short and long vowels, with such vowel distinctions as remain being dependent upon word-stress.
The regional dialects of New Latin can be grouped into families, according to the extent to which they share common traits of pronunciation. The major division is between Western and Eastern family of New Latin. The Western family includes most Romance-speaking regions (France, Spain, Portugal, Italy) and the British Isles; the Eastern family includes Central Europe (Germany and Poland), Eastern Europe (Russia and Ukraine) and Scandinavia (Denmark, Sweden).
The Western family is characterized, ''inter alia'', by having a front variant of the letter ''g'' before the vowels ''æ, e, i, œ, y'' and also pronouncing ''j'' in the same way (except in Italy). In the Eastern Latin family, ''j'' is always pronounced , and ''g'' had the same sound (usually ) in front of both front and back vowels; exceptions developed later in some Scandinavian countries.
The following table illustrates some of the variation of New Latin consonants found in various countries of Europe, compared to the Classical Latin pronunciation of the 1st centuries BC to AD. In Eastern Europe, the pronunciation of Latin was generally similar to that shown in the table below for German, but usually with for ''z'' instead of .
Orthography
New Latin texts are primarily found in early printed editions, which present certain features of spelling and the use of diacritics distinct from the Latin of antiquity, medieval Latin manuscript conventions, and representations of Latin in modern printed editions.
Characters
In spelling, New Latin, in all but the earliest texts, distinguishes the letter '' u'' from '' v'' and '' i'' from '' j''. In older texts printed down to c. 1630, ''v'' was used in initial position (even when it represented a vowel, e.g. in ''vt'', later printed ''ut'') and ''u'' was used elsewhere, e.g. in ''nouus'', later printed ''novus''. By the mid-17th century, the letter ''v'' was commonly used for the consonantal sound of Roman V, which in most pronunciations of Latin in the New Latin period was (and not ), as in ''vulnus'' "wound", ''corvus'' "crow". Where the pronunciation remained , as after ''g'', ''q'' and ''s'', the spelling ''u'' continued to be used for the consonant, e.g. in ''lingua'', ''qualis'', and ''suadeo''.
The letter ''j'' generally represented a consonantal sound (pronounced in various ways in different European countries, e.g. , , , ). It appeared, for instance, in ''jam'' "already" or ''jubet'' "he/she orders" (earlier spelled ''iam'' and ''iubet'').
It was also found between vowels in the words ''ejus'', ''hujus'', ''cujus'' (earlier spelled ''eius, huius, cuius''), and pronounced as a consonant; likewise in such forms as ''major'' and ''pejor''. ''J'' was also used when the last in a sequence of two or more ''is, e.g. ''radij'' (now spelled ''radii'') "rays", ''alijs'' "to others", ''iij'', the Roman numeral 3; however, ''ij'' was for the most part replaced by ''ii'' by 1700.
In common with texts in other languages using the Roman alphabet, Latin texts down to c. 1800 used the letter-form ''ſ'' (the ''long s
The long s , also known as the medial s or initial s, is an archaism, archaic form of the lowercase letter . It replaced the single ''s'', or one or both of the letters ''s'' in a 'double ''s sequence (e.g., "ſinfulneſs" for "sinfulness" ...
'') for ''s'' in positions other than at the end of a word; e.g. ''ipſiſſimus''.
The digraphs ''ae'' and ''oe'' were rarely so written (except when part of a word in all capitals, e.g. in titles, chapter headings, or captions); instead the ligatures ''æ'' and ''œ'' were used, e.g. ''Cæsar'', ''pœna''. More rarely (and usually in 16th- to early 17th-century texts) the e caudata is found substituting for either.
Diacritics
Three kinds of diacritic were in common use: the acute accent ´, the grave accent `, and the circumflex accent ˆ. These were normally only marked on vowels (e.g. í, è, â); but see below regarding ''que''.
The acute accent marked a stressed syllable, but was usually confined to those where the stress was not in its normal position, as determined by vowel length and syllabic weight. In practice, it was typically found on the vowel in the syllable immediately preceding a final clitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic (, backformed from Greek "leaning" or "enclitic"Crystal, David. ''A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics''. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1980. Print.) is a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a w ...
, particularly ''que'' "and", ''ve'' "or" and ''ne'', a question marker; e.g. ''idémque'' "and the same (thing)". Some printers, however, put this acute accent over the ''q'' in the enclitic ''que'', e.g. ''eorumq́ue'' "and their". The acute accent fell out of favor by the 19th century.
The grave accent had various uses, none related to pronunciation or stress. It was always found on the preposition ''à'' (variant of ''ab'' "by" or "from") and likewise on the preposition ''è'' (variant of ''ex'' "from" or "out of"). It might also be found on the interjection ''ò'' "O". Most frequently, it was found on the last (or only) syllable of various adverbs and conjunctions, particularly those that might be confused with prepositions or with inflected forms of nouns, verbs, or adjectives. Examples include ''certè'' "certainly", ''verò'' "but", ''primùm'' "at first", ''pòst'' "afterwards", ''cùm'' "when", ''adeò'' "so far, so much", ''unà'' "together", ''quàm'' "than". In some texts the grave was found over the clitics such as ''que'', in which case the acute accent did not appear before them.
The circumflex accent represented metrical length (generally not distinctively pronounced in the New Latin period) and was chiefly found over an ''a'' representing an ablative singular case, e.g. ''eâdem formâ'' "with the same shape". It might also be used to distinguish two words otherwise spelled identically, but distinct in vowel length; e.g. ''hîc'' "here" differentiated from ''hic'' "this", ''fugêre'' "they have fled" (=''fūgērunt'') distinguished from ''fugere'' "to flee", or ''senatûs'' "of the senate" distinct from ''senatus'' "the senate". It might also be used for vowels arising from contraction, e.g. ''nôsti'' for ''novisti'' "you know", ''imperâsse'' for ''imperavisse'' "to have commanded", or ''dî'' for ''dei'' or ''dii''.
Notable works (1500–1900)
Literature and biography
* 1511. '' Stultitiæ Laus'', essay by Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...
.
* 1516. ''Utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...
by Thomas More
Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...
* 1525 and 1538. ''Hispaniola'' and ''Emerita'', two comedies by Juan Maldonado (jesuit), Juan Maldonado.
* 1546. ''Sintra'', a poem by Luisa Sigea de Velasco
Luisa Sigea de Velasco (1522 in Tarancón – October 13, 1560 in Burgos), also known as Luisa Sigeia, Luisa Sigea Toledana and in the Latinized form Aloysia Sygaea Toletana, was a poet and intellectual, one of the major figures of Spanish hu ...
.
* 1602.
Cenodoxus
', a play by Jacob Bidermann
Jacob Bidermann (1578 – 20 August 1639) was born in the Austrian (at that time) village of Ehingen, about 30 miles southwest of Ulm. He was a Jesuit priest and professor of theology, but is remembered mostly for his plays.
He had a talent fo ...
.
* 1608.
Parthenica
', two books of poetry by Elizabeth Jane Weston
Elizabeth Jane Weston ( la, Elisabetha Ioanna Westonia; cs, Alžběta Johana Vestonie) (1581 or 1582, in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire – 23 November 1612, in Prague) was an English-Czech poet, known for her Neo-Latin poetry. She had the unusual ...
.
* 1621.
Argenis
', a novel by John Barclay.
* 1626–1652.
Poems
' by John Milton
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...
.
* 1634. ''Somnium'', a scientific fantasy by Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws ...
.
* 1741. ''Nicolai Klimii Iter Subterraneum
a satire by Ludvig Holberg
Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian dual monarchy. He was influenced by Humanism, ...
.
* 1761. ''Slawkenbergii Fabella'', short parodic piece in Laurence Sterne
Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 – 18 March 1768), was an Anglo-Irish novelist and Anglican cleric who wrote the novels ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' and ''A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy'', published ...
's ''Tristram Shandy Tristram may refer to:
Literature
* the title character of ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'', a novel by Laurence Sterne
* the title character of ''Tristram of Lyonesse'', an epic poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne
*"Tristra ...
''.
* 1767.
Apollo et Hyacinthus
', intermezzo
In music, an intermezzo (, , plural form: intermezzi), in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work. In music history, the term ha ...
by Rufinus Widl
Father Rufinus Widl (26 September 1731 – 12 March 1798) was a Bavarian Benedictine monk and a lecturer at Salzburg University from 1767 until his death.
Widl was born in Frauenwörth, Frauenchiemsee, Bavaria.[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...]
).
* 1835.
Georgii Washingtonii, Americæ Septentrionalis Civitatum Fœderatarum Præsidis Primi, Vita
', biography of George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
by Francis Glass.
Scientific works
* 1543. ''De Revolutionibus Orbium Cœlestium
''De revolutionibus orbium coelestium'' (English translation: ''On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres'') is the seminal work on the heliocentric theory of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) of the Polish Renaissance. The book, ...
'' by Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic Church, Catholic cano ...
* 1545. '' Ars Magna'' by Hieronymus Cardanus
* 1551–58 and 1587. ''Historia animalium
''History of Animals'' ( grc-gre, Τῶν περὶ τὰ ζῷα ἱστοριῶν, ''Ton peri ta zoia historion'', "Inquiries on Animals"; la, Historia Animalium, "History of Animals") is one of the major texts on biology by the ancient Gr ...
'' by Conrad Gessner
Conrad Gessner (; la, Conradus Gesnerus 26 March 1516 – 13 December 1565) was a Swiss physician, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist. Born into a poor family in Zürich, Switzerland, his father and teachers quickly realised his tale ...
.
* 1600. '' De Magnete, Magneticisque Corporibus et de Magno Magnete Tellure'' by William Gilbert.
* 1609. ''Astronomia nova
''Astronomia nova'' (English: ''New Astronomy'', full title in original Latin: ) is a book, published in 1609, that contains the results of the astronomer Johannes Kepler's ten-year-long investigation of the motion of Mars.
One of the most si ...
'' by Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws ...
.
* 1610. ''Sidereus Nuncius
''Sidereus Nuncius'' (usually ''Sidereal Messenger'', also ''Starry Messenger'' or ''Sidereal Message'') is a short astronomical treatise (or ''pamphlet'') published in New Latin by Galileo Galilei on March 13, 1610. It was the first published ...
'' by Galileo Galilei
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...
.
* 1620. ''Novum Organum
The ''Novum Organum'', fully ''Novum Organum, sive Indicia Vera de Interpretatione Naturae'' ("New organon, or true directions concerning the interpretation of nature") or ''Instaurationis Magnae, Pars II'' ("Part II of The Great Instauration ...
'' by Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
br>
* 1628. '''' by William Harvey
William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions in anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, the systemic circulation and proper ...
* 1659.
Systema Saturnium
' by Christiaan Huygens
Christiaan Huygens, Lord of Zeelhem, ( , , ; also spelled Huyghens; la, Hugenius; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor, who is regarded as one of the greatest scientists of ...
.
* 1673.
Horologium Oscillatorium
' by Christiaan Huygens
Christiaan Huygens, Lord of Zeelhem, ( , , ; also spelled Huyghens; la, Hugenius; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor, who is regarded as one of the greatest scientists of ...
. Also a
Gallica
* 1687. ''Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica
(English: ''Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy'') often referred to as simply the (), is a book by Isaac Newton that expounds Newton's laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation. The ''Principia'' is written in Latin and ...
'' by Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...
* 1703. ''Hortus Malabaricus
''Hortus Malabaricus'' (meaning "Garden of Malabar") is a 17th-century botanical treatise on the medicinal properties of flora of the Malabar coast (the Western Ghats district, a region principally covering the areas which are presently in th ...
'' by Hendrik van Rheedebr>
* 1735. ''Systema Naturae
' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...
'' by Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
* 1737.
Mechanica sive motus scientia analytice exposita
' by Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...
.
* 1738.
Hydrodynamica, sive de viribus et motibus fluidorum commentarii
' by Daniel Bernoulli
Daniel Bernoulli FRS (; – 27 March 1782) was a Swiss mathematician and physicist and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family from Basel. He is particularly remembered for his applications of mathematics to mechan ...
.
*1747. '' Antilucretius'' by Cardinal de Polignac
* 1748.
Introductio in analysin infinitorum
' by Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...
.
* 1753. ''Species Plantarum
' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial names and was the ...
'' by Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
.
* 1758. ''Systema Naturae
' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...
'' (10th ed.) by Carolus Linnaeus.
* 1791.
De viribus electricitatis in motu musculari
' by Aloysius Galvani.
* 1801. ''Disquisitiones Arithmeticae
The (Latin for "Arithmetical Investigations") is a textbook of number theory written in Latin by Carl Friedrich Gauss in 1798 when Gauss was 21 and first published in 1801 when he was 24. It is notable for having had a revolutionary impact on th ...
'' by Carl Gauss
Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (; german: Gauß ; la, Carolus Fridericus Gauss; 30 April 177723 February 1855) was a German mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to many fields in mathematics and science. Sometimes refer ...
.
* 1810. ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen
''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'' (Prodromus of the Flora of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land) is a flora of Australia written by botanist Robert Brown and published in 1810. Often referred to as ''Prodromus Flora Novae ...
'' by Robert Brownbr>
* 1830. '' Fundamenta nova theoriae functionum ellipticarum'' by Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi
Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi (; ; 10 December 1804 – 18 February 1851) was a German mathematician who made fundamental contributions to elliptic functions, dynamics, differential equations, determinants, and number theory. His name is occasiona ...
.
* 1840. ''Flora Brasiliensis
''Flora Brasiliensis'' is a book published between 1840 and 1906 by the editors Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, August Wilhelm Eichler, Ignatz Urban and many others. It contains taxonomic treatments of 22,767 species, mostly Brazilian angiosp ...
'' by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius
Carl Friedrich Philipp (Karl Friedrich Philipp) von Martius (17 April 1794 – 13 December 1868) was a German botanist and explorer.
Life
Martius was born at Erlangen, the son of Prof Ernst Wilhelm Martius, court apothecary.
He graduated PhD f ...
br>
* 1864.
Philosophia zoologica
' by Jan van der Hoeven
Jan van der Hoeven (9 February 1801 – 10 March 1868) was a Dutch zoologist. His most famous book is ''Handboek der Dierkunde'' (1827–1833), translated into German and English (by prof. Clark). He wrote as readily about crocodiles as about b ...
.
* 1889. ''Arithmetices principia, nova methodo exposita
The 1889 treatise ''Arithmetices principia, nova methodo exposita'' (''The principles of arithmetic, presented by a new method''; 1889) by Giuseppe Peano is a seminal document in mathematical logic and set theory, introducing what is now the s ...
'' by Giuseppe Peano
Giuseppe Peano (; ; 27 August 1858 – 20 April 1932) was an Italian mathematician and glottologist. The author of over 200 books and papers, he was a founder of mathematical logic and set theory, to which he contributed much notation. The stand ...
Other technical subjects
* 1511–1516. ''De Orbe Novo Decades'' by Peter Martyr d'Anghiera
Peter Martyr d'Anghiera ( la, Petrus Martyr Anglerius or ''ab Angleria''; it, Pietro Martire d'Anghiera; es, Pedro Mártir de Anglería; 2 February 1457 – October 1526), formerly known in English as Peter Martyr of Angleria,D'Anghier ...
.
* 1514. ''De Asse et Partibus'' by Guillaume Budé
Guillaume Budé (; Latinized as Guilielmus Budaeus; 1468 – 1540) was a French scholar and humanist. He was involved in the founding of Collegium Trilingue, which later became the Collège de France.
Budé was also the first keeper of the ...
.
* 1524. ''De motu Hispaniæ'' by Juan Maldonado (jesuit), Juan Maldonado.
* 1525. ''De subventione pauperum sive de humanis necessitatibus libri duo'' by Juan Luis Vives
Juan Luis Vives March ( la, Joannes Lodovicus Vives, lit=Juan Luis Vives; ca, Joan Lluís Vives i March; nl, Jan Ludovicus Vives; 6 March 6 May 1540) was a Spanish (Valencian) scholar and Renaissance humanist who ...
.
* 1530. ''Syphilis, sive, De Morbo Gallico'' by Girolamo Fracastoro
Girolamo Fracastoro ( la, Hieronymus Fracastorius; c. 1476/86 August 1553) was an Italian physician, poet, and scholar in mathematics, geography and astronomy. Fracastoro subscribed to the philosophy of atomism, and rejected appeals to hidden c ...
br>transcription
* 1531. ''De disciplinis libri XX'' by Juan Luis Vives
Juan Luis Vives March ( la, Joannes Lodovicus Vives, lit=Juan Luis Vives; ca, Joan Lluís Vives i March; nl, Jan Ludovicus Vives; 6 March 6 May 1540) was a Spanish (Valencian) scholar and Renaissance humanist who ...
.
* 1552. ''Colloquium de aulica et privata vivendi ratione'' by Luisa Sigea de Velasco
Luisa Sigea de Velasco (1522 in Tarancón – October 13, 1560 in Burgos), also known as Luisa Sigeia, Luisa Sigea Toledana and in the Latinized form Aloysia Sygaea Toletana, was a poet and intellectual, one of the major figures of Spanish hu ...
.
* 1553. ''Christianismi Restitutio'' by Michael Servetus
Michael Servetus (; es, Miguel Serveto as real name; french: Michel Servet; also known as ''Miguel Servet'', ''Miguel de Villanueva'', ''Revés'', or ''Michel de Villeneuve''; 29 September 1509 or 1511 – 27 October 1553) was a Spanish th ...
. A mainly theological treatise, where the function of pulmonary circulation
The pulmonary circulation is a division of the circulatory system in all vertebrates. The circuit begins with deoxygenated blood returned from the body to the right atrium of the heart where it is pumped out from the right ventricle to the lungs. ...
was first described by a European, more than half a century before Harvey. For the non-trinitarian
Nontrinitarianism is a form of Christianity that rejects the mainstream Christian doctrine of the Trinity—the belief that God is three distinct hypostases or persons who are coeternal, coequal, and indivisibly united in one being, or essence ...
message of this book Servetus was denounced by Calvin and his followers, condemned by the French Inquisition, and burnt alive just outside Geneva. Only three copies survived.
* 1554. ''De naturæ philosophia seu de Platonis et Aristotelis consensione libri quinque'' by Sebastián Fox Morcillo.
* 1582. ''Rerum Scoticarum Historia'' by George Buchanan
George Buchanan ( gd, Seòras Bochanan; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth century Scotland produced." ...
transcription
* 1587. ''Minerva sive de causis linguæ Latinæ'' by Francisco Sánchez de las Brozas
Francisco Sánchez de las Brozas (1523–1600), also known as El Brocense, and in Latin as Franciscus Sanctius Brocensis, was a Spanish philologist and humanist.
Biography
Sanctius was born in Brozas, province of Cáceres. His parents, Fr ...
.
* 1589. ''De natura Novi Orbis libri duo et de promulgatione euangelii apud barbaros sive de procuranda Indorum salute'' by José de Acosta
José de Acosta (1539 or 1540 in Medina del Campo, Spain – February 15, 1600 in Salamanca, Spain) was a sixteenth-century Spanish Jesuit missionary and naturalist in Latin America. His deductions regarding the ill effects of crossing over the ...
.
* 1597. ''Disputationes metaphysicæ'' by Francisco Suárez.
* 1599. ''De rege et regis institutione'' by Juan de Mariana
Juan de Mariana, , also known as Father Mariana (25 September 1536 – 17 February 1624), was a Spanish Jesuit priest, Scholastic, historian, and member of the Monarchomachs.
Life
Juan de Mariana was born in Talavera, Kingdom of Toledo. He st ...
.
* 1604–1608. ''Historia sui temporis'' by Jacobus Augustus Thuanus
* 1612. ''De legibus'' by Francisco Suárez.
* 1615. ''De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas
''De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas suscepta ab Societate Jesu ... '' (Latin for "On the Christian Mission among the Chinese by the Society of Jesus...") is a book based on an Italian manuscript written by the most important founding figure ...
'' by Matteo Ricci
Matteo Ricci, SJ (; la, Mattheus Riccius; 6 October 1552 – 11 May 1610), was an Italians, Italian Society of Jesus, Jesuit Priesthood in the Catholic Church, priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He create ...
and Nicolas Trigault
Nicolas Trigault (1577–1628) was a Jesuit, and a missionary in China. He was also known by his latinised name Nicolaus Trigautius or Trigaultius, and his Chinese name Jin Nige ().
Life and work
Born in Douai (then part of the County of Flanders ...
.
* 1625. ''De jure belli ac pacis
''De iure belli ac pacis'' (English: ''On the Law of War and Peace'') is a 1625 book in Latin, written by Hugo Grotius and published in Paris, on the legal status of war. It is now regarded as a foundational work in international law. The work t ...
'' by Hugo Grotius
Hugo Grotius (; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Huig de Groot () and Hugo de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, poet and playwright.
A teenage intellectual prodigy, he was born in Delft ...
.
Posner Collection facsimile
Gallica facsimile
* 1641. '' Meditationes de prima philosophia'' by René Descartes
René Descartes ( or ; ; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Mathem ...
.
The Latin, French and English by John Veitch.
* 1642–1658. ''Elementa Philosophica'' by Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influent ...
.
* 1652–1654. '' Œdipus Ægyptiacus'' by Athanasius Kircher
Athanasius Kircher (2 May 1602 – 27 November 1680) was a German Jesuit scholar and polymath
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans ...
.
* 1655. '' Novus Atlas Sinensis'' by Martino Martini
Martino Martini () (20 September 1614 – 6 June 1661), born and raised in Trento (Prince-Bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire), was a Jesuit missionary. As cartographer and historian, he mainly worked on ancient Imperial China.
Early years
Mart ...
.
* 1656. ''Flora Sinensis
''Flora Sinensis'' is one of the first European natural history books about China, published in Vienna in 1656. Its author, Michael Boym, was a Jesuit missionary from Poland (then Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth).
The book was the first descr ...
'' by Michael Boym
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...
.
* 1657. ''Orbis Sensualium Pictus
''Orbis Pictus'', or ''Orbis Sensualium Pictus'' (''Visible World in Pictures''), is a textbook for children written by Czech educator John Amos Comenius and published in 1658. It was the first widely used children's textbook with pictures, ...
'' by John Amos Comenius
John Amos Comenius (; cs, Jan Amos Komenský; pl, Jan Amos Komeński; german: Johann Amos Comenius; Latinized: ''Ioannes Amos Comenius''; 28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) was a Czech philosopher, pedagogue and theologian who is considere ...
.
Hoole parallel Latin/English translation, 1777
* 1670. ''Tractatus Theologico-Politicus
Written by the Dutch philosopher Benedictus Spinoza, the ''Tractatus Theologico-Politicus'' (''TTP'') or ''Theologico-Political Treatise'' was one of the most controversial texts of the early modern period. In it, Spinoza expounds his view ...
'' by Baruch Spinoza
Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...
.
* 1677. '' Ethica, ordine geometrico demonstrata'' by Baruch Spinoza
Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...
.
* 1725. ''Gradus ad Parnassum'' by Johann Joseph Fux
Johann Joseph Fux (; – 13 February 1741) was an Austrian composer, music theory, music theorist and pedagogy, pedagogue of the late Baroque music, Baroque era. His most enduring work is not a musical composition but his treatise on counterpoin ...
. An influential treatise on musical counterpoint.
* 1780. ''De rebus gestis Caroli V Imperatoris et Regis Hispaniæ'' and ''De rebus Hispanorum gestis ad Novum Orbem Mexicumque'' by Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda
Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda (11 June 1494 – 17 November 1573) was a Spanish Renaissance humanist, philosopher, and theologian.
Biography
In 1533 and 1534 Sepúlveda wrote to Desiderius Erasmus from Rome concerning differences between Eras ...
.
* 1891. ''De primis socialismi germanici lineamentis apud Lutherum, Kant, Fichte et Hegel'' by Jean Jaurès
Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; oc, Joan Jaurés ), was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social demo ...
''
See also
* Binomial nomenclature
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
* Botanical Latin
* Classical compound
Neoclassical compounds are compound words composed from combining forms (which act as affixes or stems) derived from classical Latin or ancient Greek roots. New Latin comprises many such words and is a substantial component of the technical and ...
* Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Neo-Latin Studies
* Romance languages
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fam ...
, sometimes called Neo-Latin languages
Notes
Further reading
* Black, Robert. 2007. ''Humanism and Education in Medieval and Renaissance Italy''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
* Bloemendal, Jan, and Howard B. Norland, eds. 2013. ''Neo-Latin Drama and Theatre in Early Modern Europe''. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
* Burnett, Charles, and Nicholas Mann, eds. 2005. ''Britannia Latina: Latin in the Culture of Great Britain from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century''. Warburg Institute Colloquia 8. London: Warburg Institute.
* Butterfield, David. 2011. "Neo-Latin". In ''A Blackwell Companion to the Latin Language''. Edited by James Clackson, 303–18. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
* Churchill, Laurie J., Phyllis R. Brown, and Jane E. Jeffrey, eds. 2002. ''Women Writing in Latin: From Roman Antiquity to Early Modern Europe''. Vol. 3, Early Modern Women Writing Latin. New York: Routledge.
* Coroleu, Alejandro. 2010. "Printing and Reading Italian Neo-Latin Bucolic Poetry in Early Modern Europe". ''Grazer Beitrage'' 27: 53–69.
* de Beer, Susanna, K. A. E. Enenkel, and David Rijser. 2009. ''The Neo-Latin Epigram: A Learned and Witty Genre''. Supplementa Lovaniensia 25. Leuven, Belgium: Leuven Univ. Press.
* De Smet, Ingrid A. R. 1999. "Not for Classicists? The State of Neo-Latin Studies". ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 89: 205–9.
* Ford, Philip. 2000. "Twenty-Five Years of Neo-Latin Studies". ''Neulateinisches Jahrbuch'' 2: 293–301.
* Ford, Philip, Jan Bloemendal, and Charles Fantazzi, eds. 2014. ''Brill’s Encyclopaedia of the Neo-Latin World''. Two vols. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
* Godman, Peter, and Oswyn Murray, eds. 1990. ''Latin Poetry and the Classical Tradition: Essays in Medieval and Renaissance Literature''. Oxford: Clarendon.
* Haskell, Yasmin, and Juanita Feros Ruys, eds. 2010. ''Latin and Alterity in the Early Modern Period''. Arizona Studies in the Middle Ages and Renaissance 30. Tempe: Arizona Univ. Press
* Helander, Hans. 2001. "Neo-Latin Studies: Significance and Prospects". ''Symbolae Osloenses'' 76.1: 5–102.
* IJsewijn, Jozef with Dirk Sacré. ''Companion to Neo-Latin Studies''. Two vols. Leuven University Press, 1990–1998.
* Knight, Sarah, and Stefan Tilg, eds. 2015. ''The Oxford Handbook of Neo-Latin''. New York: Oxford University Press.
* Miller, John F. 2003. "Ovid's Fasti and the Neo-Latin Christian Calendar Poem". ''International Journal of Classical Tradition'' 10.2:173–186.
* Moul, Victoria. 2017. ''A Guide to Neo-Latin Literature''. New York: Cambridge University Press.
* Tournoy, Gilbert, and Terence O. Tunberg. 1996. "On the Margins of Latinity? Neo-Latin and the Vernacular Languages". ''Humanistica Lovaniensia'' 45:134–175.
* van Hal, Toon. 2007. "Towards Meta-neo-Latin Studies? Impetus to Debate on the Field of Neo-Latin Studies and its Methodology". ''Humanistica Lovaniensia'' 56:349–365.
* Waquet, Françoise, ''Latin, or the Empire of a Sign: From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Centuries'' (Verso, 2003) ; translated from the French by John Howe.
External links
An Analytic Bibliography of On-line Neo-Latin Titles
— Bibliography of Renaissance Latin and Neo-Latin literature on the web.
— An essay on Neo-Latin literature by James Hankins from the I Tatti Renaissance Library website.
CAMENA
– Latin Texts of Early Modern Europe
Database of Nordic Neo-Latin Literature
at Bibliotheca Augustana
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{{Latin periods
Latin language
6 New
Latin-language literature
History of literature
Languages attested from the 16th century
16th-century establishments in Europe