# Latin is not dead; it has merely ceased to be mortal.



## DieuEtMonDroit

Volui solo vobis dictum quod in libro recenter legi monstrare;

_Latin is not dead; it has merely ceased to be mortal._


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## Flaminius

Hello,

Nice dictum.  My pre-morning-coffee attempt is this.

lingua Latina non mortua ; ea tantummodo cecidit mortalis esse.


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## XaLeX

I might have misunderstood, but I think DieuEtMonDroit wants to show us that sentence (and possibly talk about it), not its translation.


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## DieuEtMonDroit

XaLeX said:


> I might have misunderstood, but I think DieuEtMonDroit wants to show us that sentence (and possibly talk about it), not its translation.


 
That was my intent, but if you want to try and translate it please go ahead!


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## jeffc418

In terms of being a _breathing_ language, Latin is not, but in terms of a _beating_ language it certainly is!  With 41 daughter languages, Latin cannot be considered dead in the least!  With its waves still rippling off the shore of these Romance languages, Latin has simply ceased to be mortal.


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## Kevin Beach

I was struck by the sentence as soon as I saw it.

I then mused with "Latin is not dead. It has become immortal" ......or even "Latin is not dead. It has become a god" ... rather like the Roman emperors!

Anyway, Latin _is_ still mortal in the Vatican City.........


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## relativamente

Maybe is not off topic to quote the last lines of Ovide's Metamorphoses

Iamque opus exegi, quod nec Iovis ira nec ignis
nec poterit ferrum nec edax abolere vetustas.
cum volet, illa dies, quae nil nisi corporis huius
ius habet, incerti spatium mihi finiat aevi:
parte tamen meliore mei super alta perennis               
astra ferar, nomenque erit indelebile nostrum,
quaque patet domitis Romana potentia terris,
ore legar populi, perque omnia saecula fama,
siquid habent veri vatum praesagia, vivam. 

And now the work is done, that Jupiter’s anger, fire or sword cannot erase, nor the gnawing tooth of time. Let that day, that only has power over my body, end, when it will, my uncertain span of years: yet the best part of me will be borne, immortal, beyond the distant stars. Wherever Rome’s influence extends, over the lands it has civilized, I will be spoken, on people’s lips: and, famous through all the ages, if there is truth in poets’ prophecies, ­vivam - I shall live.


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