126 NW Canal Street Suite 100 Seattle WA 98107
Phone 206.325.4109 info@sealang.org
“The classes are a perfect combination of being both very educational and
absolutely delightful and entertaining. I leave each night with more energy than when I entered.”
— Katherine Koerner, student of French
Latin was in origin the dialect of Latium, the territory of the city of Rome. Like Ancient Greek, Sanskrit and Gothic, it is one of the oldest representatives of the Indo-European family of languages: despite many linguistic innovations, Latin preserves much of the inherited Indo-European vocabulary and structure, and knowledge of it is indispensable for the work of historical and comparative linguists. Although today Latin is used by no living speech-community, as the native language of the Romans it was spoken and understood for centuries over a vast territory extending from the Tigris to the Tyne. Because of its wide and prolonged distribution, Latin is the primary source of a number of modern languages: Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Rumanian, as well as numerous less widely spoken dialects.
Beyond its role as the parent of the Romance languages, Latin is the vehicle of a world-class literature that includes the poetry of Virgil and Horace, the historical writings of Livy and Tacitus and the philosophical essays of Cicero and Seneca; it is primarily in order to acquire first-hand knowledge of this literature that Latin continues to be studied. Even after the dissolution of the Roman Empire, Latin continued as the official language of religion and learning in Western Europe. As a consequence the vernacular literature of early modern Europe, which came to birth with Petrarch and Dante in the thirteenth century, is permeated by the influence of Latin. During the Renaissance, the study of Classical Latin literature enjoyed a new vogue; from that time until well into the nineteenth century, familiarity with the language and literature of ancient Rome was regarded as a fundamental component of liberal education.
Latin was in origin the dialect of Latium, the territory of the city of Rome. Like Ancient Greek, Sanskrit and Gothic, it is one of the oldest representatives of the Indo-European family of languages: despite many linguistic innovations, Latin preserves much of the inherited Indo-European vocabulary and structure, and knowledge of it is indispensable for the work of historical and comparative linguists. Although today Latin is used by no living speech-community, as the native language of the Romans it was spoken and understood for centuries over a vast territory extending from the Tigris to the Tyne. Because of its wide and prolonged distribution, Latin is the primary source of a number of modern languages: Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Rumanian, as well as numerous less widely spoken dialects.