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Does Latin make you clever? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| krog Diglot Senior Member Austria Joined 5849 days ago 146 posts - 152 votes  Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Latin | Message 41 of 42 23 February 2009 at 9:11am | IP Logged |
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Perhaps we could split 'cleverness' from 'intelligence'. Say we define 'intelligence' as the speed at which one can understand new concepts; and 'cleverness' as one's ability to use knowledge.
According to these terms, I'd say that Latin could have no greater effect on intelligence than any similar language, if at all (depending on whether you say intelligence is congenital and fixed, or can be increased). However, I would say that Latin does have a disproportionate effect on cleverness, that is the ability to apply knowledge you already have, because Latin gives you an insight into your own language's vocabulary (particularly in English and Romance languages, probably most western European languages and also Polish in particular (so far as I know)) more than any given foreign language would. (Alright, that might not go for all languages, but that's definitely true for English (I'm aware that many languages have given many other languages large amounts of vocabulary, but I believe Latin holds a special place here). I'm thinking here of specialist terminology in the sciences, law, etc etc, and also words that are common currency (or at least in circulation) eg exscind, which as an English word you probably would not use but read occasionally. Based on just my knowledge of English I have a vague idea that that means 'remove', but having learned it as a Latin word I know that that means literally 'to cut out'. I'm sure there must be hundreds of words like this (not that I can think of any right now), and if you knew the original meaning of all of them I think it would give you a better mastery of English. Another example: pellucid - based on my English vocabulary, that means 'bright' or 'clear', but knowing the original Latin root means I know that the literal meaning is 'something that light can go through'. You may be thinking, so what? but I'm sure if I keep on meeting these words as I learn Latin (and the grammmar that contributes to their meaning) then my knowledge of and ability to use English (and French and German) will increase. Also, if I were to study medicine or any other area that used Latin-based terminology, I think I would be able to comprehend it better if I knew some Latin (and hence the 'actual', root-meanings of words), rather than just trying to memorise random lists of words. To sum that up, I think that because of the historical position Latin has had, it is unavoidably intertwined with English at least and knowing it will help you understand and use English better, mainly from a vocabulary point of view, also because of the use of Latin as official/scientific/legal jargon. That is, not that Latin has any inherent ability to make anyone more intelligent, but that because of its historical position (ignoring its cultural legacy) it forms an important component of English that, if understood, would make an existing stock of knowledge more accessible to its possessor. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| krog Diglot Senior Member Austria Joined 5849 days ago 146 posts - 152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Latin | Message 42 of 42 23 February 2009 at 9:12am | IP Logged |
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That got kind of long-winded and complex, basically, I think: Latin is good because it helps you know stuff.
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