Latin

The Latin language (lingua Latina) was originally the language of a small tribe of Latins, which inhabited the middle part of the Apennine peninsula. The town of Rome (Roma) was founded in 753 B.C. on the territory of this tribe; and, in time it became the center of the Roman state, which by the end of the first century B.C. evolved into the massive Roman Empire. Latin was the official language of all state institutions on the territory of this Empire, and was widely used in all areas of daily life, both in the parent state and in provinces.

In the second century B.C., the Romans conquered Ancient Greece, the high culture of which greatly influenced the intellectual development of ancient Rome and post-classical Europe. The philosophy of knowledge was first formed in Greece, both in the humanities and in the natural sciences; and they achieved a high level of growth in different types of artistic culture - in literature, theatre, painting, and sculpture. This is why the Romans adopted the achievements of Greek culture, translating Greek literary works into Latin. Many Greek words were latinized and entered the colloquial and scientific language. Two letters of the Greek alphabet (y and z) were added to the Latin alphabet. Many Greek words were borrowed specifically in various areas of scientific knowledge.

After the dissolution of the Roman Empire in the fifth century A.D., early feudal states were formed in Europe. By that time, the so-called Romance (from Romanus, which is related to Rome) languages (Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian) had formed on the territory of modern Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, and Romania. These languages and others such as Old German and Old English, however, were in a stage of development, and at this point no literature existed in these languages. At the same time, every state needed a developed and multifunctional language. For Western Europe, that language was, for centuries, Latin. It was the language of state institutions, diplomacy, the church, education, and science.

In the 12^th century, the first universities appeared in Europe, which is where scientific knowledge was concentrated and developed. All subjects were taught in Latin, and after the introduction of the printing press, numerous scientific works were published. Students from different countries spoke Latin at their universities and wrote songs and poems in it. One of these songs – Gaudeamus, later became a famous students’ hymn.

New momentum for the study and use of the Latin language in Western Europe came during the Renaissance, when many of the cultural values of the ancient world returned. This was a period of active development in the medical and biological sciences, which contributed to the formation of international scientific terminology in Latin. Descartes, Newton, Leibniz, Campanella, Leonardo da Vinci, Vesalius, Harvey and others all wrote in Latin.

In the 17^th-18^th centuries, education and science in European countries gradually came to use national languages, although every educated person knew Latin. Also, scientific works were traditionally written in Latin until the nineteenth century. The tradition to use Latin as the professional scientific language was preserved even longer in the medical and biological sciences. At present, lists of terms in these sciences exist in Latin, which are agreed upon by scientists from all countries, the so-called nomenclatures (terminology): anatomic, microbiological, botanic, zoological, pharmacological and others. Every such nomenclature comprises thousands of terms, the overwhelming majority of which were created on the basis of Latin and Greek words and word-formative elements.

A significant amount of vocabulary of Greek and Latin origin have entered the vocabulary of every European language by means of transliteration. This has been argued, in particular, in the familiarity of the most important biological nomenclatural terms in Russian and Byelorussian (Minsk, 1993). According to terminology specialists, each year no less than a thousand new terms formed on the basis of Latin and Greek words appear in biology and medicine. Thus, Latin and ancient Greek have become an inexhaustible source of material for the creation of terms in all spheres of scientific knowledge, including in medicine and biology. The comprehension of the composition principles of these terms and the ability to use Latin terms is an important part of the professional education of every biologist.

Besides the professional aspects of training, the study of Latin has an important cultural meaning. Elements of ancient Greek and Roman history, culture, and phraseology have always been an integral part of the humanities in all European countries and, serves as the basis of modern European culture. Thousands of words of Latin and Greek origin have entered day-to-day vocabulary, and have penetrated into all spheres of life – from ideology to politics, science to personal names, and items in our everyday life. Those who have become acquainted with the mysteries of ancient Greek and Latin words can substantially widen their mental outlook and their understanding of nature and the meaning of many modern words and concepts.