2012考研英语指导:高分秘笺之拉丁语入门
Latin is a classical language in Europe ,it is one internationally used language of learning in the 18th century. Latin has laid emphasis upon the languages of Europe, such as English,German,French,Italian,and Spain et. After some linguists’ investigation and statistics,we have known that there are almost 50%of vocabularies in English derived from Latin.
In the recent period the phrases and idioms of Latin are utilized in many papers and books. In order to research the English vocabularies , owning some knowledge of Latin is very useful. www.examw.com
Here are some major aspects in Latin , I think, when you grasp them, and transplant them in your English, you will find that there is a bridge to English kingdom.
1. General considerations
In the skeleton of Latin grammar,there are three main sections:gender,number and case.I am not ready to discuss them detailedly,but to indicate that when a noun is a derivative of Latin,its plural is often constructed as following:
Stem+a
Stem+i
(Furthermore,there are many declensions in plural formation,but ut supra are most universal.)
2. Latin roots
With the addition of prefixes and suffixes , Latin roots can combine immense words.Basically, according to the etymology,the meanings of a word are determinated by its root.As we now know that there are a great deal of derivatives in English and we can not learn them one by one,hence,we should deduce its meanings according to its root;on the other hand,root adding context can validly deduce the relevant expression of the aimed word.
Here are a concise list of key and powerful roots of Latin in English . You’d better memorize them clearly.
Infra- below
Pend- hung
Aqua- water
Quin- five
Aud- hear
Acr- sharp
Am- love,like
Ceed- go
Cide- kill
Duc- lead
Fed- group
Fess- declare
Grad- step
Folio- leaf
Jec- throw,place
Jus- law
Loc- location
Loq/loc- speak
Mand- order
Mon- warn
Melan- black
Pass/pat/path- suffer
Pound- put
Preci- value
Rend- give
Rect- guide;straight
San- health
Semble- appearance
Spec- examine
Tail- cut
Term- end
Tox- poison
Via- way
Voc-call
As we have known that the ut supra roots are most common found in English words,we can refer to many relevant books about roots or etymology to find detailed materials.
3. Pronunciation
The pronunciation of Latin is very simple comparing to English.It is valuable to understand the accent(or stress) of vocabulariy, for it is the original rule of English accent.
Generally,its accent lies in the second syllable from the end.On some occasions it may lay in the third from the end,or the first like German.
4. Latin phrase
Here are some frequent and effective Latin phrases which appear in the newspaper or books often.
Vice versa-on the other hand
Ut infra-as the following description
Ut supra-as stated previously
Status quo-keeping the present state
In toto-in all
All of them can add power to your speech and writing.
To sum up,there are many advantages in English learning if you apprehend some Latin.I think that everyone who wanna learn English successfully should learn some basic linguistic knowledge----and the Latin is the base of the base.