|
|
Posted by PeterMcC on 06/22/06 10:23
dorayme wrote in
<doraymeRidThis-D1CD78.19474622062006@news-vip.optusnet.com.au>
> In article <449a5959$0$974$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader01.plus.net>,
> "PeterMcC" <peter@mccourt.org.uk> wrote:
>
>>> Not many people can speak Latin outside Italy.
>>
>> I think that may be a hasty assumption.
>>
>> I occasionally have cause to refer to Latin inflections when working
>> with groups of people in the UK. When I ask how many of them studied
>> Latin at school, I'd guess that around 20% say that they did. And
>> that doesn't include all those did but who won't admit it in case
>> there's a question about Latin declensions on its way.
>>
>> My clients are certainly not representative - I wouldn't suggest for
>> a minute that 20% of the UK population ha
>
> before you go on and on... he said speak Latin.
I know - I assumed that Luigi (There is a Luigi, isn't there? It's not just
you up to mischief?) meant "had an understanding of" rather than actually
spoke.
I suspect that, outside of academia and the church (I hope I don't set that
John Fowles chap off with a reference to religion), there's no one actually
speaking Latin nowadays.
To be pedantic, he said "_can_ speak Latin", which suggests a capability for
speaking it rather than actually doing so. Whilst those who have studied
Latin may well be able to speak it, in all probability, they don't do so on
a regular basis.
And now I look more closely, Luigi said "Not many people can speak Latin
outside Italy" - it is perfectly possible to speak Latin outside Italy and
there is no difference between the numbers of people capable of speaking
Latin inside Italy and those capable of speaking it outside Italy. Are you
suggesting that a Latin-capable Italians suddenly cannot speak Latin once
they've crossed into Switzerland?
Anyway, I thought you'd gone to sleep round that side.
--
PeterMcC
If you feel that any of the above is incorrect,
inappropriate or offensive in any way,
please ignore it and accept my apologies.
[Back to original message]
|