# Ancient Greek vs. Latin



## yk2

I wish to learn one of the two classical languages of Western civiliziation. Could someone tell me which is easier? Also, which is more useful? I tried to learn Sanskrit, the language of my religion, but gave up pretty quickly because of the sheer difficulty.


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## djmc

In some respects both are quite similar in that they are inflected languages. The Greek script is not that difficult to learn but that may be a problem. One needs to know quite a lot of the grammar before one can really get off the ground as it were. Both have very rich literary traditions. Latin is complex but fairly regular. Greek is complex but much less regular. I would say that Latin is easier. Both are in some respects quite similar to Sanskrit in that they are ancient indo-european at a similar stage of development and were used as literary or liturgical languages long after they were spoken.


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## metaphrastes

In old times, when Latin was part of education in every school, Greek language and grammar would be taught on grounds of already learned Latin elements, that are closer to Greek than most modern languages - such as declinations, for example.

Now, the great philosophical or theological issues, historically, were formulated first in Greek and much later, in Latin. Greek is said to be a more precise language regarding metaphysical or theological concepts, being Latin a poorer language, in this aspect. It is common sense that the Greek civilization was more concerned with speculative thought, while the Latin civilization nurtured a more practical character, having created Roman Law, &c.

In this sense, in Greek you will find the matrix of our thought and the original terminology of many universal metaphysical issues, while in Latin you will have so to speak "second-hand" thought, not without originality, but meditating on issues already considered by the Greeks.

On other hand, Latin is the root of many modern languages and is strongly present in English language, though not being its basic substratum. Thus, it would allow you to better understand modern languages, and later, it would be useful if you decide to learn Greek, acting so to speak as a bridge between your knowledge on English and a more remote language as Greek.


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## yk2

I'll definitely start with Greek then. Thanks to both of you


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## Dib

yk2 said:


> I wish to learn one of the two classical languages of Western civiliziation. Could someone tell me which is easier? Also, which is more useful? I tried to learn Sanskrit, the language of my religion, but gave up pretty quickly because of the sheer difficulty.



Latin, Greek and Sanskrit - all three have very similar grammar. But, Latin is probably grammatically somewhat simpler than the other two, though still pretty complex. A lot of the Latin vocabulary would be semi-familiar, if you have a good grip of formal English, which also contains loanwords from Greek, but to a much lesser degree than from Latin. Sanskrit grammar in its fullest (so-called "Vedic Sanskrit"), as used in the oldest texts is likely the most complex of the three, but for the classical works, epics, etc. (so-called "Classical Sanskrit") I think it is no more complicated than Classical Greek (though, I don't really know a lot of Greek - so, it's somewhat of a second hand idea), maybe even simpler. Depending on the frequency of loanwords from Sanskrit into your native language (which, I see is Sindhi), it _may_ also be the easiest in terms of vocabulary - it certainly is for me as a Bengali speaker.


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## yk2

Bengali, like Hindi, is a highly Sanskritizied language (though I can't imagine why that would be the case in East Bengal or Bangladesh, where the vast majority is Muslim). My native language is certainly Sanskrit-derived, but then again so is Urdu, and believe me Urdu hardly helps in learning Sanskrit. I speak Urdu just as well as Sindhi and can tell you that neither has much _recognizable_ Sanskrit vocabulary. Knowing Urdu and Sindhi do help immensely in learning Arabic though.


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## Dib

yk2 said:


> I speak Urdu just as well as Sindhi and can tell you that neither has much _recognizable_ Sanskrit vocabulary.



Well, in that case, given my understanding of your linguistic background, I'd say Latin would be easier to learn for you than Classical Greek. However, I don't want to discourage you from learning Greek. It has its own advantages, like metaphrastes has pointed out, but simplicity is certainly not its selling point.


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## Copperknickers

yk2 said:


> I wish to learn one of the two classical languages of Western civiliziation. Could someone tell me which is easier? Also, which is more useful? I tried to learn Sanskrit, the language of my religion, but gave up pretty quickly because of the sheer difficulty.



One would expect that Sanskrit would be much easier for a speaker of an Indian language than Latin or Greek. Personally I found Greek easier than Latin, although there is more to learn in terms of morphology (tense endings, moods, number endings etc) and it's a less regular language than Latin in some ways with a large number of irregular verbs. Personally the hardest thing I find about Latin is that it has a very limited vocabulary of verbs and and is often written in a very free word order. Reading Julius Caesar is not that difficult, but trying to read certain passages of Cicero or Ovid is hellish. Then again, trying to read Greek philosophy by Plato or Aristotle is not much better. 

Perhaps Dib will disagree with me, but I found Classical Greek reminded me of Bengali in some ways and sounded better than Latin (probably because I am a native English speaker and I like consonant clusters).


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## Cagey

Nihil Obstat:

You can use the edit button to add your comment below the quotation, or you can post your comment by itself, and I'll add the comment. 
I am sorry you are having such difficulty. 

Cagey, moderator.


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## Ben Jamin

Dib said:


> Well, in that case, given my understanding of your linguistic background, I'd say Latin would be easier to learn for you than Classical Greek. However, I don't want to discourage you from learning Greek. It has its own advantages, like metaphrastes has pointed out, but simplicity is certainly not its selling point.


I think that neither Greek or Latin will be considerably easier than Sanskrit for you. Latin would be easier for a native speaker of a Romance language, especially Italian and Spanish, and Ancient Greek easier for a Modern Greek speaker.


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## fkaphoenix

yk2 said:


> Bengali, like Hindi, is a highly Sanskritizied language (though I can't imagine why that would be the case in East Bengal or Bangladesh, where the vast majority is Muslim).


 Religion doesn't _necessarily_ dictate language. But to answer your question, the majority of the Sanskritization of Bengali (Eastern and Western) took place before the arrival of Islam, when Bengal was primarily Hindu and heavily Indo-Aryan. However, you could say East Bengal was never as "religious" per se as modern-day Pakistan, hence the reason why an Indo-Aryan script is used in Bengali and why it has more Sanskrit words. Also unlike many Pakistanis, who generally seek to be more Perso-Arabic in an effort to be more "Islamic", Bangladeshis feel proud about both their religion AND their East Indian culture/heritage.


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