LATIN
This entry was posted on 8/29/2006 8:10 PM and is filed under Latin, language.
Several Italian newspapers have called for Latin to be made the official working language of the European Union, after attempts by the new Finnish presidency to promote its use in EU departments. "While Latin has been given up as a compulsory subject in schools over recent years, interest in the language is growing in Europe and other parts of the world," L'Osservatore Romano said in a commentary. "In these circumstances, it would constitute a suitable instrument for international communication."
The paper said that a Latin-language news program, Nuntii Latini, [The News in Latin] had been broadcast weekly for the past decade by YLE, Finland's equivalent to the BBC, making the ancient Roman language "potentially contemporary." It added that the flexible Latin language has vocabulary for modern words, a new dictionary having been issued as recently as 1992 by the Foundation Latinitas.
The Finnish government set up a weekly news summary in Latin when it first assumed the EU's rotating presidency in 1999 and has repeated the service since taking over the six-months presidency for its second term on July 1, 2006. Besides Finland, which has a tradition of classical scholarship, other countries have reported a growing interest in Latin, which Newvatican has done precious little in the past to promote.
"Using Latin is a way of paying tribute to European civilization, and it serves to remind people of European society's roots, stretching back to ancient times," explained Mia Lahti, editor of the Finnish presidency's web site. "Latin isn't dead -- it's still very much in use in different forms across the world today. After all, Italians, French and Spaniards all speak a new form of Latin."
