# Nuntii Latini



## Focalist

Brush up your classical listening skills by turning in to the *News in Latin* from Finnish Radio (when you get there click on _Recitatio_) and Radio Bremen (click on _Auscultandi facultas_).

Apart from anything else, it's fascinating to compare the sound of Finnish Latin with that of German Latin. 

F


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## Leopold

Wow, that's great. I reallly prefer the Finnish one.


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## Focalist

Leopold said:
			
		

> I reallly prefer the Finnish one.


I agree, Leo. Despite the obvious Finnish accent, the Latin is so much more fluently spoken in Helsinki than in Bremen, don't you think?

F


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## Leopold

Absolutely. But sometimes it seems a little like Esperanto... don't u think? i guess it's the rythm, the spaces between words and syllables.

sci-en-tia na-tu-ra-le


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## Focalist

Leopold said:
			
		

> Absolutely. But sometimes it seems a little like Esperanto... don't u think? i guess it's the rythm, the spaces between words and syllables.
> 
> sci-en-tia na-tu-ra-le


I think that's probably a carry over from the way Finnish is spoken: it has a rather level syllable stress and overall rhythm. Compare the news in Finnish here.

Personally, I always think of spoken Latin as sounding more like Italian than anything else -- that's probably just the after-effect of many years of Catholic churchgoing when the language of worship was still Latin. Even in the days of the Roman Empire, though, there must have been _many_ local accents!

One thing. I don't know if you agree with me, but when the YLE lady reads words like _curabatur_ as _curab*á*tur_ it sounds wrong to me: I want it to be _cur*á*batur_. Years and years (and years!) since I last studied Latin so I'm probably totally wrong!

F


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## Leopold

Yes, i think it's Finnish influence. It's so funny Finnish!  And so difficult!
 I've also thought about that "curábatur".But i think that's Spanish contamination. But in fact it's "curabátur".   It's also a lot of time i don't study Latin, but look: curo

 By the way, take a look at that www.verbix.com

 L.


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## Whodunit

Hey, that's funny. The German one sounds very similar to our teacher's Latin. And the Finnish like - hum, I don't know.

I'd like to see a Latin forum in here. So I can learn harder over and over again. Does anyone agree?


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## Focalist

whodunit said:
			
		

> I'd like to see a Latin forum in here. So I can learn harder over and over again. Does anyone agree?


It would be good to be able to discuss Latin here, I agree. But there's no reason why we can't do it here in "Other Languages", whodunit. It's a quiet street -- not too much traffic. If you see anything coming, just shout "car!"  

Mind you, my Latin is *terrible* -- still interested though!



			
				whodunit said:
			
		

> The German one sounds very similar to our teacher's Latin.


 Hansestadt Hamburg / HH / ha-ha! I thought he sounded just like an old teacher too! 

F (old teacher)


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## Whodunit

Focalist said:
			
		

> It would be good to be able to discuss Latin here, I agree. But there's no reason why we can't do it here in "Other Languages", whodunit. It's a quiet street -- not too much traffic. If you see anything coming, just shout "car!"
> 
> Mind you, my Latin is *terrible* -- still interested though!



My Latin is terrible as well, since we never translate from German into Latin. It's a real pity, but of course we can't - the word ordering is very different.



> Hansestadt Hamburg / HH / ha-ha! I thought he sounded just like an old teacher too!
> 
> F (old teacher)



My Latin teacher is very funny, and the man's voice of the website/tape you gave sounds very similar to my teacher's one.
Tomorrow, I'll have Latin two lessons - besides, what's "bitte" in Latin. My 60'000 word dictionary doesn't say it.


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## gatoviejo

hi Who -

Bitte! = Quaeso! with a "-" on the top of the "o" for the emphasis.

lg gato


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## Focalist

whodunit said:
			
		

> what's "bitte" in Latin. My 60'000 word dictionary doesn't say it.


I was tempted to say: the Romans never said "please", they just said "give" 

To be fair, though, I think it's just one of those cases where various periphrases were, in fact, used. I'd even venture so far as to say that simple, short ways of saying "please" are rare in the world's languages. German "bitte" and Italian "prego" (both meaning: I pray) are unusually terse. Even English "please" is a shortening of the French-based calque "if it please (you)". It's by no means easy to determine, for instance, how to say "please" in Swedish. Varsågod -- "be so good (as to) -- is only one possibility.

For more "everyday phrases", have a look at:
http://linguaeterna.com/la/conv.php

F


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## vachecow

Wow...ya know, its kind of funny.  I learned Latin in the US, but I had a Ukranian teacher......so I guess that I am used to the accent


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## Whodunit

gatoviejo said:
			
		

> hi Who -
> 
> Bitte! = Quaeso! with a "-" on the top of the "o" for the emphasis.
> 
> lg gato



Today, I asked my teacher and he said it, too.
You mean "Quaesō" and the dash above it is called "macron".
It really means "I ask for it/Ich bitte"

To Kater: You don't have to put the macrons over the letters, that's only for beginners - but I like to use them.


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## supercrom

whodunit said:
			
		

> Hey, that's funny. The German one sounds very similar to our teacher's Latin. And the Finnish like - hum, I don't know.
> 
> I'd like to see a Latin forum in here. So I can learn harder over and over again. Does anyone agree?



I agree with you,
Perhaps the (future) Latin forum hasn't got many participants, but at least it will be very useful.

*CROM*


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