I don't understand why latin words are used for scientific terms? Not just in English , but in every European language !
Why is Latin the Universal language of science ?
Why is Latin the Universal language of science ?
Why latin words are used for scientific terms?
not just "legal" terms are from latin, all medical terms, biological, botanical, zoological, architectural, geographical,etc
Are this terms kept in latin , to create a scientific international language ?
Are this terms kept in latin , to create a scientific international language ?
Just a guess, but I think Latin was chosen because:
A) As a dead language, it's neutral ground, favoring no modern language or its speakers
B) It was a language commonly learned by scholars and educated people, so it made a good lingua franca throughout the European scientific and scholarly community
C) It was the language of the Church, so it gained a lot of prestige from that.
A) As a dead language, it's neutral ground, favoring no modern language or its speakers
B) It was a language commonly learned by scholars and educated people, so it made a good lingua franca throughout the European scientific and scholarly community
C) It was the language of the Church, so it gained a lot of prestige from that.
Here's an interesting blurb. http://www.billcasselman.com/opening_page_two/botany_names_two.htm
Latin, Greek and English words
For example, donate is a Latin-based verb meaning ‘to give,’ human is a Latin-based word referring to mankind, paternal is a Latin-based adjective referring to a father. Latin terms were borrowed earlier and are often more familiar than Greek terms borrowed later. For example, didonai is the Greek verb ‘to give,’ from which English gets antidote, something given against a toxin, to counteract its effects, from anti Greek, against + dotos Greek, given.
Why Latin? For almost two thousand years, up to the end of the seventeenth century, scientific textbooks were written in Latin. If you were a student at the Sorbonne, at Oxford, or at Bologna, you learned natural history, later called botany and zoology, from books written in Latin but based largely on the writings of early Greek scientists. The first American medical textbooks used at Harvard University were written in Latin.
But again, why use “dead” languages, Latin and Classical Greek, to form scientific and technical terms? First, it is traditional—as we saw above. Second, in a “dead” language, the meaning of a word does not change. It is frozen. Callus will always mean ‘hard skin’ in Latin. In a living language, words acquire new meanings. In 1930, acid meant a chemical like the acetic acid in vinegar. Nowadays “acid” is English slang for LSD, a dangerous hallucinogenic drug. Because precise meaning and precise use of words is crucial in all forms of scientific communication, it helps to be able to make new medical terms from Latin and Greek roots whose meanings do not alter over time.
As you read about the exotic origin of plant names, you will see that much Botanical Latin is derived from ancient Greek words. Why? First, the Greeks got around to studying and naming plants long before the Romans did. So there exists in ancient Greek texts a large vocabulary of plant names. Second, compared to the Latin language, ancient Greek simply had more words, had a larger and more sophisticated vocabulary. Latin is a terse tongue, a language that valued concise utterance. Thus Latin has few words with many meanings. Therefore in Latin, context is everything. This is not as true in Greek, a language with an inherent predilection for forming compound words with felicity, to produce pleasant-sounding and logical names. Unfortunately this aptness and euphony of nomenclature does not hold for all botanical names formed from Greek roots by modern botanists. Some of these new terms are frankly ugly and incapable of being pronounced easily. Yes, there are compound words in Latin, but not nearly as many as in ancient Greek. Stated plainly, it was easier to make new words in Greek than in Latin.
Latin, Greek and English words
For example, donate is a Latin-based verb meaning ‘to give,’ human is a Latin-based word referring to mankind, paternal is a Latin-based adjective referring to a father. Latin terms were borrowed earlier and are often more familiar than Greek terms borrowed later. For example, didonai is the Greek verb ‘to give,’ from which English gets antidote, something given against a toxin, to counteract its effects, from anti Greek, against + dotos Greek, given.
Why Latin? For almost two thousand years, up to the end of the seventeenth century, scientific textbooks were written in Latin. If you were a student at the Sorbonne, at Oxford, or at Bologna, you learned natural history, later called botany and zoology, from books written in Latin but based largely on the writings of early Greek scientists. The first American medical textbooks used at Harvard University were written in Latin.
But again, why use “dead” languages, Latin and Classical Greek, to form scientific and technical terms? First, it is traditional—as we saw above. Second, in a “dead” language, the meaning of a word does not change. It is frozen. Callus will always mean ‘hard skin’ in Latin. In a living language, words acquire new meanings. In 1930, acid meant a chemical like the acetic acid in vinegar. Nowadays “acid” is English slang for LSD, a dangerous hallucinogenic drug. Because precise meaning and precise use of words is crucial in all forms of scientific communication, it helps to be able to make new medical terms from Latin and Greek roots whose meanings do not alter over time.
As you read about the exotic origin of plant names, you will see that much Botanical Latin is derived from ancient Greek words. Why? First, the Greeks got around to studying and naming plants long before the Romans did. So there exists in ancient Greek texts a large vocabulary of plant names. Second, compared to the Latin language, ancient Greek simply had more words, had a larger and more sophisticated vocabulary. Latin is a terse tongue, a language that valued concise utterance. Thus Latin has few words with many meanings. Therefore in Latin, context is everything. This is not as true in Greek, a language with an inherent predilection for forming compound words with felicity, to produce pleasant-sounding and logical names. Unfortunately this aptness and euphony of nomenclature does not hold for all botanical names formed from Greek roots by modern botanists. Some of these new terms are frankly ugly and incapable of being pronounced easily. Yes, there are compound words in Latin, but not nearly as many as in ancient Greek. Stated plainly, it was easier to make new words in Greek than in Latin.
“I have given some more thought to this interesting question and to put the influence of Latin in the perspective of the "sciences" of
cartography/geography might be a good example. In this general field most of the original map makers of the ancient world ~300 BC to 1000 AD spoke either Greek or Latin and usually both. As time progressed and Latin was the language of the educated person in Europe up to 1000 AD these map makers/geographers needed names for the objects they were studying and creating...Consider the following words: Longitude, latitude, peninsula, isthmus, equator, pole, are all Latin words”
cartography/geography might be a good example. In this general field most of the original map makers of the ancient world ~300 BC to 1000 AD spoke either Greek or Latin and usually both. As time progressed and Latin was the language of the educated person in Europe up to 1000 AD these map makers/geographers needed names for the objects they were studying and creating...Consider the following words: Longitude, latitude, peninsula, isthmus, equator, pole, are all Latin words”
=> Why is Latin the Universal language of science ? <=
In Dutch at least, the presence of Latin in science is quite limited.
In Dutch at least, the presence of Latin in science is quite limited.
<In Dutch at least, the presence of Latin in science is quite limited. >
The science of Germanics is quite limited, by the way...
stop being jealous Sander !
The science of Germanics is quite limited, by the way...
stop being jealous Sander !
In computer science and programming, we can be thankful that most/all the technical words we use (in the US at least) are based on English. Maybe most programmers don't know Latin and Greek (I don't).
=>The science of Germanics is quite limited, by the way...
People who use 'Germanics' as a valid term, often live in the times before 400AC which wasn't very technologically advanced compared to now.
=>stop being jealous Sander ! <=
Of what I wonder...
People who use 'Germanics' as a valid term, often live in the times before 400AC which wasn't very technologically advanced compared to now.
=>stop being jealous Sander ! <=
Of what I wonder...
program (n.) "public notice," from Latin programma "proclamation"
compute from Latin "computare "
calculation Latin "calculationem"
Even in IT there are many hiden Latin words
compute from Latin "computare "
calculation Latin "calculationem"
Even in IT there are many hiden Latin words
<=The science of Germanics is quite limited, by the way... =>
Oh? There are a huge number of "Germanic" inventions, from rockets to computers & the internet. What have the Latins invented?
Oh? There are a huge number of "Germanic" inventions, from rockets to computers & the internet. What have the Latins invented?
On a less trollish note, I just had an interesting thought. Every so often someone says English will die when the US stops being a superpower. Yet, the Roman Empire has been dead and buried for centuries and Latin is still around. I think the world will still use English for computers and aviation, even if the Chinese (or someone else) become the next superpower.
>>On a less trollish note, I just had an interesting thought. Every so often someone says English will die when the US stops being a superpower. Yet, the Roman Empire has been dead and buried for centuries and Latin is still around. I think the world will still use English for computers and aviation, even if the Chinese (or someone else) become the next superpower.<<
Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if English eventually ended up in a position similar to that of Latin during the Middle Ages, being used as a literary language in a relatively frozen form long after the spoken language has moved on and potentially fragmented, even after the point is reached where classical literary English has to be practically taught as a foreign language.
Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if English eventually ended up in a position similar to that of Latin during the Middle Ages, being used as a literary language in a relatively frozen form long after the spoken language has moved on and potentially fragmented, even after the point is reached where classical literary English has to be practically taught as a foreign language.
<There are a huge number of "Germanic" inventions, from rockets to computers & the internet>
Rockets were invented in China by chinese, dude !!! dah !
Rockets were invented in China by chinese, dude !!! dah !