Ecclesiastical Latin
Ecclesiastical Latin | |
---|---|
Church Latin, Liturgical Latin | |
Native to | Never spoken as a native language; other uses vary widely by period and location |
Extinct | Still used for many purposes, mostly as a liturgical language of the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church, and (rarely) in Anglicanism and Lutheranism.[1] Also used in the Western Rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church.[2] |
Indo-European
| |
Early form | |
Latin | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
Glottolog | None |
IETF | la-VA |
Ecclesiastical Latin, also called Church Latin or Liturgical Latin, is a form of Latin developed to discuss Christian thought in Late antiquity and used in Christian liturgy, theology, and church administration to the present day, especially in the Catholic Church. It includes words from Vulgar Latin and Classical Latin (as well as Greek and Hebrew) re-purposed with Christian meaning.[3] It is less stylized and rigid in form than Classical Latin, sharing vocabulary, forms, and syntax, while at the same time incorporating informal elements which had always been with the language but which were excluded by the literary authors of Classical Latin.[4]
Its pronunciation was partly standardized in the late 8th century during the
Ecclesiastical Latin is the language of liturgical rites in the Latin Church, as well as the Western Rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church.[2] It is occasionally used in Anglican Church and Lutheran Church liturgies as well.[1] Today, ecclesiastical Latin is primarily used in official documents of the Catholic Church, in the Tridentine Mass, and it is still learned by clergy.[3][1]
The Ecclesiastical Latin that is used in theological works, liturgical rites and dogmatic proclamations varies in style: syntactically simple in the
Usage
Late antique usage
The use of Latin in the Church started in the late fourth century[6] with the split of the Roman Empire after Emperor Theodosius in 395. Before this split, Greek was the primary language of the Church (the New Testament was written in Greek and the Septuagint – a Greek translation of the Hebrew bible – was in widespread use among both Christians and Hellenized Jews) as well as the language of the eastern half of the Roman Empire. Following the split, early theologians like Jerome translated Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin, the dominant language of the Western Roman Empire. The loss of Greek in the Western half of the Roman Empire, and the loss of Latin in the Eastern half of the Roman Empire were not immediate, but changed the culture of language as well as the development of the Church.[7] What especially differentiates Ecclesiastical Latin from Classical Latin is the consequences of its use as a language for translating, since it has borrowed and assimilated constructions and vocabulary from the koine Greek, while adapting the meanings of some Latin words to those of the koine Greek originals, which are sometimes themselves translations of Hebrew originals.[6]
Medieval usage
At first there was no distinction between Latin and the actual Romance vernacular, the former being just the traditional written form of the latter. For instance, in ninth-century Spain ⟨saeculum⟩ was simply the correct way to spell [sjeɡlo], meaning 'century'. The writer would not have actually read it aloud as /sɛkulum/ any more than an English speaker today would pronounce ⟨knight⟩ as */knɪxt/.[8]
The spoken version of Ecclesiastical Latin was created later during the Carolingian Renaissance. The English scholar Alcuin, tasked by Charlemagne with improving the standards of Latin writing in France, prescribed a pronunciation based on a fairly literal interpretation of Latin spelling. For example, in a radical break from the traditional system, a word such as ⟨viridiarium⟩ 'orchard' now had to be read aloud precisely as it was spelled rather than */verdʒjær/ (later spelled as Old French vergier). The Carolingian reforms soon brought the new Church Latin from France to other lands where Romance was spoken.
Usage during the Reformation and in modern Protestant churches
The use of Latin in the Western Church continued into the
Modern Catholic usage
Ecclesiastical Latin continues to be the official language of the Catholic Church. The
The Holy See has for some centuries usually drafted documents in a modern language, but the authoritative text, published in the
Comparison with Classical Latin
There are not many differences between Classical Latin and Church Latin. One can understand Church Latin knowing the Latin of classical texts, as the main differences between the two are in pronunciation and spelling, as well as vocabulary.[clarify][citation needed]
In many countries, those who speak Latin for liturgical or other ecclesiastical purposes use the pronunciation that has become traditional in Rome by giving the letters the value they have in modern Italian but without distinguishing between open and close ⟨e⟩ and ⟨o⟩. ⟨ae⟩ and ⟨oe⟩ coalesce with ⟨e⟩. ⟨c⟩ and ⟨g⟩ before ⟨ae⟩, ⟨oe⟩, ⟨e⟩, ⟨y⟩ and ⟨i⟩ are pronounced /t͡ʃ/ (English ⟨ch⟩) and /d͡ʒ/ (English ⟨j⟩), respectively. ⟨ti⟩ before a vowel is generally pronounced /tsi/ (unless preceded by ⟨s⟩, ⟨d⟩ or ⟨t⟩). Such speakers pronounce consonantal ⟨v⟩ (not written as ⟨u⟩) as /v/ as in English, not as Classical /w/. Like in Classical Latin, double consonants are pronounced with gemination.[citation needed]
The distinction in Classical Latin between long and short vowels is ignored, and instead of the 'macron' or 'apex', lines to mark the long vowel, an acute accent is used for stress. The first syllable of two-syllable words is stressed; in longer words, an acute accent is placed over the stressed vowel: adorémus 'let us adore'; Dómini 'of the Lord'.[14]
Language materials
The complete text of the Bible in Latin, the revised Vulgate, appears at Nova Vulgata – Bibliorum Sacrorum Editio.[15] New Advent[16] gives the entire Bible, in the Douay version, verse by verse, accompanied by the Vulgate Latin of each verse.
In 1976, the
Current use
Latin remains an oft-used language of the
Although Latin is the traditional liturgical language of the
In historic Protestant churches, such as the
References
Citations
- ^ ISBN 9780192802903.
The Second Vatican Council declared that the use of Latin was to be maintained in the liturgy, though permission was granted for some use of the vernacular; in the outcome, the use of the vernacular has almost entirely triumphed, although the official books continue to be published in Latin. In the Church of England the Latin versions of the Book of Common Prayer have never been widely used, though, for instance, John Wesley used Latin text in doctrinal writings. The option of using traditional Latin texts in sung worship has been retained by choirs in both the Anglican and Lutheran Churches.
- ^ a b "On the Western Rite Liturgy | Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese". antiochian.org. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
- ^ a b c "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Church Latin". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
- ^ Collins, Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin, pg. vi
- ISBN 9780905205120.
- ^ a b Collins, Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin, pg. vi
- ISBN 978-0-674-05807-1.
- ISBN 0-905205-12-X.
- ISBN 978-0199214051.
- ^ ISBN 9781859844021.
- ^ "Second Vatican Council | Roman Catholic history [1962–1965]". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
- ^ See it at the Catholic News Service channel.
- ^ "Tra Le Sollecitudini Instruction on Sacred Music". Adoremus Bulletin. November 22, 1903. Archived from the original on February 9, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
- ^ Roman Missal
- ^ "Nova Vulgata – Bibliorum Sacrorum Editio". www.vatican.va.
- ^ "HOLY BIBLE: Genesis 1". www.newadvent.org.
- ^ "Latinitas, Opus Fundatum in Civitate Vaticana". www.vatican.va.
- ^ "Lexicon Recentis Latinitatis, parvum verborum novatorum Léxicum". www.vatican.va.
- ^ Official documents are frequently published in other languages. The Holy See's diplomatic languages are French and Latin (such as letters of credence from Vatican ambassadors to other countries are written in Latin Fr. Reginald Foster, on Vatican Radio, 4 June 2005]). Laws and official regulations of Vatican City, which is an entity that is distinct from the Holy See, are issued in Italian.
- 1983 CIC
- ISBN 9780192802903.
- 1983 CIC
- ^ ["Apostolic Letter: On the Use of the Roman Liturgy Prior to the 1970 Reform". Archived from the original on 2015-01-01. Retrieved 2015-03-27 – via vatican.va. Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, article 6
Sources
- Baumeister, Edmund J. The New Missal Latin. St. Mary's, KS: St. Mary's Publishing.
- Byrne, Carol (1999). "Simplicissimus". The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2011. (A course in ecclesiastical Latin.)
Further reading
- A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin by John F. Collins, (ISBN 0-8132-0667-7. A learner's first textbook, comparable in style, layout, and coverage to Wheelock's Latin, but featuring text selections from the liturgy and the Vulgate: unlike Wheelock, it also contains translation and composition exercises.
- Mohrmann, Christine (1957). Liturgical Latin, Its Origins and Character: Three Lectures. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press.
- Scarre, Annie Mary (1933). An Introduction to Liturgical Latin. Ditchling: Saint Dominic's Press.
- Nunn, H. P. G. (1922). Introduction to Ecclesiastical Latin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 186.
External links
Latin and the Catholic Church
- Pope John XXIII (1999) [1962]. "Veterum Sapientia: Apostolic Constitution on the Promotion of the Study of Latin". Adoremus: Society for the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy. (in Latin here)
- "What the Church Says on the Latin Language". Michael Martin.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church in Latin
- Fr. Nikolaus Gihr, The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "The Language Used in the Celebration of the Holy Mass Archived 2011-06-05 at the Wayback Machine"
Bibles
- The Latin Vulgate version of the Bible
- NewAdvent.org Side-by-side comparisons of the Ancient Greek, English, and Latin Vulgate Bibles.
- Ordo Missae of the 1970 Roman Missal, Latin and English texts, rubrics in English only
- Latin-English Study Bible Side-by-side of the Vulgate Latin and English
- Parallel Latin-English Psalter
Breviaries
Other documents
- "Documenta Latina". The Holy See. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
- "Documenta Catholica Omnia"—Multi-language Catholic eBook database of all the writings of Holy Popes, Councils, Church Fathers and Doctors, and Allied Auctors. Retrieved November 2018.
- "Thesaurus Precum Latinarum: Treasury of Latin Prayers". Michael Martin. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
- The Christian Latin Library—a collection of ecclesiastical Latin texts by Christian authors. Retrieved November 2018.
- Complete Latin works of St. Augustine
- Latin Logos Library—contains Classical, Medieval, and Ecclesiastical texts.
- The Logic Museum—a collection of ecclesiastical Latin. Retrieved November 18.
- Pope Benedict XVI's First Message with interlinear Latin-English translations
Course
- "First Experience Latin with Fr. Reginald Foster", an ecclesiastical Latin course. Retrieved November 2018.
- The Vatican's Lexicon Retrieved November 2018.
- Latin Dictionary and Grammar Aid Archived 2012-01-30 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 2018.