Latin: The Beginning…

1. Latin: The Beginning… Introduction to Rome’s History and Early Geography

2. A Brief History of Latin! • Rome: according to legend, was founded in 753 BC • Latium---an area of central Italy where Rome is located • “Latin”---the name of the language spoken there • 5 modern Romance languages come from Latin: Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Romanian • English: 60% of English words come from Latin!

4. Geography Geography • Rome was built on 7 rolling hills on the Tiber River • Near midpoint of Mediterranean Sea

6. Early Legends Origins of Rome • Legend says that twins Romulus and Remus were abandoned on the Tiber River and raised by a she-wolf • The twins were the sons of the war-god Mars • Romulus kills Remus & city of Romeis named after Romulus

7. Early History The First Romans Three groups settled on Italian Peninsula from 1000-500 B.C. I. The Latins • Built original settlement of wooden huts • Considered to be the first Romans • Helped spread Latin-derived languages to the area

8. Geography & Early Republic II. The Greeks • Settled in Southern Italy and Sicily • Brought all of Italy, including Rome, into contact with the Greek civilization 3. Brought architecture, democracy, and philosophy

9. Geography & Early Republic III. The Etruscans • Skilled metal workers native to northern Italy • Gave Romans the arch and gladiator battles

10. ALPS MTS. Gaul Etruria <--- Tiber River APENNINE MTS. Adriatic Sea Rome x Corsica Ostiax Latium Naples x x Brundisium Pompeii x Tyrrhennian Sea Sardinia Mediterranean Sea Sicily Carthage x Africa

12. Roman alphabet for Latin The Romans used just 23 letters to write Latin: A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X Y Z • K, Y, Z were used for Greek loan words • W is literally “double-u” (V) • Lower case letters weren’t invented until the middle ages. • Latin is the only ancient language you can learn without learning a new alphabet (cf. Greek, Hebrew, Sanskrit, etc.)

13. ROMANSWROTEINALLCAPS LIKETHISNOSPACES TOTALLYCOOLHUHANDNO REALPUNCTUATIONLIKEWE USETODAYPEOPLEASK HOW COULDTHEYREADLIKE THATWELLSCHOLARSTHINK MOSTROMANSREADALOUD NOTSILENTLYANDBESIDES YOUAREREADINGTHIS ABSOLUTELYFINESODONTGO KNOCKINGTHEIRSTYLEOK 

14. Pronunciation • Consonants • Most consonants in Latin are pronounced just like they are in English. • There are no “soft” consonants. C is always hard like “cat”, G is always hard like “go,” T is always hard like in “ten” (not “motion”). • I is used as a consonant at the beginning of a word or between vowels. It sounds like “y” in “year.” (Iulius) • The letter V is pronounced like “w”. There is no “w” in Latin. U and V were originally written the same: “V” as in AVGVSTVS . • Modern textbooks, however, will use “u” for a vowel sound and “v” for a consonant sound. • Think about it: W is “double-u”: VV 

15. Pronunciation • Vowels • Each vowel has only 2 pronunciations at most, a long and a short. LONG SHORT ā : as in father a: as in aha (first “a”) ē: as in they e: as in let ī: as in police i: as in sit ō: as in note o: as in for ū: as in rule u: as in full

16. Pronunciation • Diphthongs • Two vowels making one sound. ae: like “ai” in aisle au: like “ou” in out oe: like oi in oil ei: like ei in freight eu: like eh-hoo (pronounced quickly) ui: like oo-ee (pronounced quickly)---rare usage

17. Pronunciation Practice ā, a ē, e ī, iō,o ū, u Mārsmēhīcnōniūs pārpēsvīsprōcūr nārrat ex mīlitismōnslūx absed in rogōnunc dat per quid post currū

18. Felix natalis tibi, Felix natalis tibi! Felix natalis, care amice/ Felix natalis, cara amica Felix natalis tibi!