lipman@decwrl.UUCP (02/23/84)
Message-Id: <8402231206.AA27063@decwrl.ARPA>
Date: Thursday, 23 Feb 1984 04:10:17-PST
From: akov68::boyajian
To: net.flame, net.nlang
Subject: re: Re: Re: Latin?????????? Waaaugh!
[The original comment this is in response to was posted only to net.flame, but I
will post this to net.nlang also, since it may be of interest to that group as
well. Apologies to those who are reading this twice.]
********************************************************************************
"The only real use it has been has been [*sic* <snicker, snicker>] for
the roots of so many english words. I'd have gotten the same value from Spanish,
and I meet a lot more Mexicanos, Nicaraguenses, etc [<snicker, snicker>] than I
do Romans."
-- Dr. Memory
Regardless of whether one could get the same value from Spanish as from
Latin in this regard, I've always found it just as easy, if not easier, to just
learn the English words rather than the Latin ones. For instance, suppose one
comes across the word "invaginate", if one knows Latin, one might determine that
"in-" comes from *in*- ("in") and "vaginate" from *vagina* ("sheath") [no snick-
ering, please] and thus "invaginate" means "to enclose" or "to become enclosed".
As far as I'm concerned, it's just as much effort to learn the Latin words and
use them to determine what "invaginate" means than it is to simply learn what
"invaginate" means by looking it up in a dictionary.
Determing the meaning of words from Latin words can also get one into
trouble. Knowing Latin might cause one to determine that "decimate" means "to
destroy one tenth of", and this is indeed its original meaning. However, in
currant usage, it means "to destroy a large part of" which is almost the oppos-
ite meaning.
--- jayembee
(Jerry Boyajian, DEC Maynard)
UUCP: (decvax!decwrl!rhea!akov68!boyajian)
ARPA: (decwrl!rhea!akov68!boyajian@Shasta)