Lesson 3 - Categories, scientific and grammatical

lots of derivatives

We warmed up at the start of the lesson with one of my favourite games, Word Roots Challenge. As Latin words (and their English meanings) appeared on the board, we all tried to think of as many modern words (English or any other European language) that have descended from these Latin 'root words'. There was no shortage of excellent answers, as you can see from the picture on the left. And, thanks to the amazing linguistic talents of Classics Club students, I now know the word for 'pig' in both Spanish (puerco) and Portuguese (porco, so very similar to its Latin root, porcus).

Next, we considered last week's challenge, and recalled how

felis domesticus (aw, bless!)

sorting things into categories can be very complicated. We then looked at how the eighteenth-century scientist Charles Linnaeus came up with a seven-part system for categorising everything that can be found in nature. We also saw how that system is still in use today, and how these category names are in Latin (and sometimes ancient Greek) as this was the shared language of European scientists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Then, using our powers of deduction, we matched some Latin scientific names up with various pictures.

Latin x exercise = Laxercise ?!

We then turned our that very important type of word, the noun. We played 'If It's A Noun, Sit Down', a game that cunningly blends grammar learning and physical exercise. The game initiated some fantastic critical conversation amongst the students. Is maths really a thing? What part of speech is 'yesterday'? You can't touch bravery, so can it be a noun? Learning Latin will make you a grammar ninja, guaranteed! So once we had established that we could all spot a noun at twenty paces, we then looked at how Latin changes word endings to show whether a noun is doing the action in a sentence (the subject), or whether it is having the verb done to it (the object). 

Tum nobis cenandum erat! (And then it was lunchtime!)

Lesson 2 - everywhere you turn... Latin!

Latin in your pocket

Our mission in Classics Club today? To realise just how much Latin we already know. We're surrounded by Classical influence, from the coins in our pocket to the words that we speak. We emptied out our pockets in search of a particular kind of pound coin, one that read around its rim:

DECUS ET TUTAMEN

We found several! This inscription means 'beauty and security' (i.e. what money is supposed to be). And what language is this in? Latin! We weren't lucky enough to find:

NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT (nobody may provoke me and get away with it - motto of the kings of Scotland)... also Latin.

Language evolves...

We did, though, find the Welsh pound coin which Devon bravely read out loud:

PLEIDIOL WYF I'M GWLAD (I am faithful to my country)

We then moved on to an exploration of the English language, to show just how much Latin we already know in the form of modern words that have their roots in the ancient language. Students flew through the task of matching familiar English words to their etymological ancestors. 

We also explored the notion of language as an organic entity that is constantly changing, from the transition of Latin into French, and then the imposition by the Normans of their language on the English from 1066 A.D. onwards. And, of course, more l8ly, the impact of technology changing language 4eva.

Making a bold start in our Latin language work, learning the first and most important rule of Latin: it's not the word order that's important, but the word ending. Then, using this rule, and looking at two model Latin sentences, the class showed its amazing code-cracking skills to work out that 'a' shows that a noun is the subject of a sentence, and that 'am' shows that a noun is the object.

Mus musculus

Finally, we turned our attention to another way in which Latin lives on in modern times: scientific categorisation. We just about had time to have a go ourselves at sorting a diverse bunch of objects/creatures/plants into categories, just to prove to ourselves how hard a job it is (How do we group the objects? Size? Colour? Function? Intelligence?). Next week we'll have a look at how Carl Linnaeus tackled this problem, with the help of Latin and Ancient Greek, to create a scientific naming system that is still in use today.

Lesson 1 - Here we go again!

A new term and a new crop of budding Classicists at Greig City eager to learn about the influence of Ancient Greece and Rome in our modern world.

We spent the first lesson taking a trip back in time, past the Victorians, past the Elizabethans, way, way back to the point where A.D. becomes B.C. On the way, we registered the fact that A.D. stands not for 'after death' but for anno domini, which means 'in the year of our Lord' in... Latin! We discovered how language is a living, breathing tool that develops and changes over time, which spreads across countries with conquests and learning. Most importantly, we found out how English is a mixture of words from two sets of invaders: the Vikings and Nordic raiders, who gave us Anglo-Saxon, and the Normans who brought the French language, which in turn was descended from Latin.

We also had our first look at the Ancient Greek alphabet (this word actually comes from its first two letters, alpha and beta). Then the class made wonderful name badges in Greek, so well done to Αρνϖ, Σεθ, Μαρια, Δανιελ, Κεϕιν, Στεϕαν and Δαϕιδ!