MODERN HUMANITARIAN UNIVERSITY

ESSAY

on the English course

on the topic: "Latin borrowings in English"

Completed: student I course

groups 1038

Filippov A.V.

Ulyanovsk

1998

I . Introduction

If we consider the vocabulary of the English language, then all the words included in it should be considered English, with the exception of those words that, by their form, betray their foreign origin. For example:

Padishah - padishah from Persian:

Khaliff - caliph (caliph) from Arabic, etc.

But there are relatively few such words in English. The vast majority of words are perceived in the modern language as English words, whatever their actual origin. In fact, native English words are those known from the Old English period. They make up less than half of the English vocabulary. The rest of the vocabulary is words of foreign origin, which came from Latin, Greek, French, Scandinavian other languages.

Words of foreign origin are called borrowing .

The borrowing of lexical elements from one language to another is a very ancient phenomenon and is already known to the languages ​​of the ancient world.

In the process of its development, the English language encountered many languages, from which it borrowed a variety of words. They are not the same both in number and proportion in the vocabulary of the English language.

II . Latin borrowings.

Latin elements occupy a significant place in the dictionary of the English language. The most ancient of them are the earliest borrowings in the English language. Among the words of Latin origin in English, three layers are usually distinguished. They differ in the nature of the semantics (meaning, meaning) of words and the time of their borrowing.

1. First layer.

The ancient tribes, the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons, who inhabited the northern part of Central Europe, traded with the Roman Empire, fought with it, clashed with Roman merchants and borrowed from the Romans a number of words related to the concept of trade, or the type of goods and objects new to these tribes.

For example:

latin word Modern English word

vinum - wine wine [‘wain] - wine

pondo - unit of weight pound - pound

uncia - ounce ounce [‘auns] - ounce

moneta - pieces of metal mint - to mint coins

for exchange

cista - box (receptacle chest [ʧest] - chest

for storage)

discum - dish, disk dish [‘diò] - dish

As you can see, these words are simple in form, of ordinary content, entered the English language orally, with direct live communication. This includes the names of food products, plants.

For example:

latin word Modern English word

pipere - pepper pepper [‘pepə]

persicum - peach peach [‘pi:ʧ]

pirum - pear (pirea) pear [‘pɛə]

prunum - plum plum [‘plʌm]

butyrum - butter [‘bʌtə]

plante - plant plant - plant,

plant a plant

caseus - cheese [ʧi:z]

To measure long distances, the Romans used a unit of length equal to a thousand steps (»1.5 km). This measure was adopted by the ancient English along with its name.

latin word Modern English word

millia passuum mile [‘mɑɪl] – mile

Roman merchants and warriors crossed rivers and seas in flat-bottomed ships. This type of ship was borrowed by the ancient English and the name entered the language:

latin word Modern English word

ponto - punt punt [‘pʌnt] - punt boat

Those places where it was possible to moor received Latin names:

latin word Modern English word

portus - harbor port [‘pɔ: t] - pier, port, city

The first layer also includes words borrowed by the Anglo-Saxons later, already in the British Isles. These words are mainly associated with the construction techniques of the ancient Romans, traces of which the Anglo-Saxons found in Britain.

For example:

latin word Modern English word

strata via - paved road street - street

campus - camp camp [‘kæmp] - camp

colonia - settlement colony [‘kɔlənɪ] - colony,

castra - fortress chester [‘ʧestə] - is included in

Colchester, Lincoln city names Manchester,

Chester, Winchester, etc.

vallum - shaft, type of fortification wall - wall

2. Second layer.

The second layer of Latin borrowings is associated with Christianity, which was brought by Roman preachers who converted the pagan Anglo-Saxons to a new faith. The language of the church service was Latin, so many Latin words of religious content penetrated into the ancient Roman language. Most of these words were not originally Latin, but came into the Latin language from Greek, since Christianity developed in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. Christian books were translated into Latin.

Here are some words related to this period:

latin word Modern English word

episcopus - bishop bishop [‘bɪʃəp]

presbyter - priest priest [‘prɪ:st]

monachus - monk monk

scrinium - sacred tomb, shrine [‘ʃrɑɪn]

candela - candle candle [‘kændl]

monasterium - monastery mynster (minster) [‘mɪnstə]

Westminster - Western Priory

Eastmynster - East monastery

The adoption of Christianity and the activities of preachers had a strong influence on the entire culture of the Anglo-Saxons. The Latin alphabet was introduced. Monastic schools, literary works in Latin, etc. appeared. Many words were borrowed, indicating the expansion of the horizons of the Anglo-Saxons.

For example:

latin word Modern English word

schola - school school [‘sku:l]

magister - teacher schoolmaster [‘sku: lmʌstə]

rosa - rose rose [‘rouz]

palma - palm tree palma [‘pɑ:m]

phoenix - phoenix phoenix

leo - lion lion [‘lɑɪən]

pardus - leopard leopard [‘lepəd]

The group of words is borrowed from the field of education, science, literature, study, art.

For example:

latin word Modern English word

canon - canon rule [‘kænən]

chronica - chronicle [k]chronical

versus - poems verse [‘və:s]

grammatika nota - grammar score [‘græmə]

notarius - scribe note [‘nout]

notary [‘noutərɪ] - notary

papirus - paper paper [‘peɪpə]

chorus - choir [k] chorus [‘kɔrəs]

theatrum - theater theater [‘ɵɪətə]

3. Third layer.

The Middle Ages were replaced by the Renaissance, which is characterized by the rapid development of science and technology, the unprecedented flourishing of literature and art, the invention of printing, great geographical discoveries, the success of materialistic philosophy in the fight against church dogmas and the dominance of the church.

During this period, the English language borrowed many words from the classical languages. They differed sharply from the previous ones in their character: these are words, as a rule, scientific ones. They penetrated into the language in writing, through literature, scholarly writings, which contributed to the maximum preservation of the Latin form of the word.

For example:

animal - in English [ ‘ænɪməl] - animal

formula - in English - a formula

inertia - in English [ɪn'ə:ʃʝə] - inertia

maximum - in English - maximum

minimum - in English - minimum

memorandum - in English [,memə'rændum] - memorandum

veto - in English [‘vɪ:tou] - veto

alibi - in English [‘ælɪbɑɪ] - alibi

autograph - in English [‘ɔ: təgrəf] - autograph

atmosphere - in English [ ‘ætmɔsfɪə] - atmosphere

excursion - in English [ɪks'kə:ʃn] - excursion

jurisprudence - in English [‘ʤuərɪs, pru: dəns] - jurisprudence

Latin borrowings of the Renaissance are divided into direct, that is, taken directly from the Latin language and indirect, penetrated through the French language. Establishing the direct source of borrowing of individual words is not of fundamental importance, since, ultimately, all these words are of Latin origin:

For example:

lat. factum - eng. fact (fact) - fr. fait - borrowed into English in the form feat (feat)

lat. radius (radius) - from fr. ray (beam)

defect (deficiency) - defeat (defeat)

turris (tower) - fr. tour - eng. tower [‘tɑuə].

Many of the Latin borrowings belong to the so-called international vocabulary, i.e. are repeated in the languages ​​of many peoples, united by common features of cultural and social development.

Back in the 17th century, scientific treatises were in most cases written in Latin. English translations of these treatises abounded in Latinisms in order to preserve the scientific style of presentation (associated with the Latin tradition).

Latin borrowings of the Middle English and Early Modern English period are mainly abstract nouns and scientific words. Many of them are not currently used, but the number of Latinisms of the 13th-18th centuries preserved in the vocabulary of the English language is still very large.

For example:

locution - turnover, idiom of speech

magnanimity [,mægnə'nɪmɪtɪ] - generosity

medium [‘mɪ: dɪəm] - environment, condition

memory [‘memərɪ] - memory, recollection

vortex [‘vɔ:teks] - whirlpool, whirlwind

to abhor [əb'hɔ:] - to be disgusted

to absolve [əb'zɔlv] - forgive, let go (sins)

to add [‘æd] - add, add

to collide - collide

to discriminate - distinguish, distinguish

accurate [‘ækʝurɪt] - accurate

efficient [ɪ'fɪʃənt] - efficient, skillful

finite [‘fɑɪnɑɪt] - having a limit

igneous [‘ɪgnɪəs] - fiery, fiery

latent [‘leɪtənt] - hidden

With regard to these words, it is almost certain that they came into English directly from Latin, bypassing French. Some of these words do not and did not exist in French, while others were borrowed into French later than into English.

The world-famous fact is that borrowings in different languages ​​affect the enrichment of the vocabulary of the languages ​​themselves in different ways. Borrowings make up a special part of the vocabulary, both in terms of naming and in terms of the validity of their use. It is universal for any language that as a result of language contacts and the expansion of the experience of a given language community, under the influence of the languages ​​of other societies, as well as with the development of economic and cultural ties, borrowings become one of the means to satisfy the need for names of new directions for the development of this society. Borrowings are a kind of economy of language efforts to fill in the nominative gaps that have arisen in a given language.

The influence of Latin on the vocabulary of the German language is undeniable. The German language can boast of such an outstanding researcher of vocabulary as Jakob Grimm, who in his History of the German Language, back in 1848, noted the importance of studying historical relations with other peoples in order to study the history of the language, which, in turn, will help to interpret the history of the people. Therefore, the purpose of this article is an attempt to reveal some aspects of Latin borrowings in close connection with historical events.

The presence of centuries-old trade, military and cultural ties between the Germans and the Romans contributed to a huge number of borrowings into the German language from Latin. More than 600 borrowing words are known from the ancient period. Since the Romans were at a higher stage of development, the Germans mastered new concepts along with their names. As a result, we have the following borrowings:

lat. caupo- marketer food and drink merchant> modern. kaufen- trade, buy

lat. moneta>modern Mü nze- coin,

lat. saccus>modern Sack- bag,

lat. asinus>modern Esel- donkey,

lat. piper>modern Pfeffer- pepper.

There are especially many borrowings in the agricultural sector (field cultivation, viticulture):

lat. vinum>modern We in- wine,

lat. Caulis>modern Kohl- cabbage,

lat. cucurbita>modern Kurbis- pumpkin,

lat. s inapis>modern Senf- mustard,

lat. menta>modern Minze- mint.

Along with the development of trade relations, another obvious reason for the widespread penetration of Latin words into the German vocabulary was a clear process of ethnic mixing. Interethnic ties contributed to the transfer of new concepts from the economic activities of the Romans, and with them new words. Mostly, these are the names of agricultural tools, cultivated plants, defense structures, housing property, as well as some concepts in the field of trade and construction.

The Germans got acquainted with stone structures that were unknown to them:

lat. mṻrus>modern Mauer- stone wall

lat. tẽgula>modern Ziegel- brick, tile,

lat. picem>modern. Pech- resin.

We adopted the structural features of buildings and their names:

lat. cella>modern Keller- basement,

lat. coquina>modern Kü Che- kitchen,

lat. fenestra>modern Fenster– window (install Windauge).

Household and household items:

lat. cysta>modern Kisteh - box,

lat. tap(p)etum>modern Teppich - carpet,

lat. patina>modern Pfanne-pan,

lat. charte>modern Kerze- candle.

Culinary borrowings:

lat. piscis>modern Fisch-fish,

lat. caseus>modern Kä se- hard cheese

lat. butyrum>modern Butter- butter.

From the military:

lat. withampus>modern Kampf- fight, fight

lat. pilum>modern Pfeil-arrow,

lat. title> modern Title-rank.

The emergence of the word is also associated with military roads.

lat. viastrā ta> modern Straß e- paved street

lat. milia(thousand steps)>modern. meile mile

lat. distantia>modern Distanz distance

All the above borrowings of the first wave fall under the phonetic laws of German and a number of Germanic languages. The reason for this is oral borrowing, directly from ordinary, colloquial Latin, which gives more opportunities for deviations from the primary meaning or form - the phenomenon of assimilation. This pattern is noted in the work of Jacob Grimm "History of the German language"

And now the second wave of borrowings took place in writing, indirectly. This was also influenced by the spread of Christianity in the VIII-XI centuries. This includes the borrowing of some religious concepts:

lat. claustrum>modern Kloster- monastery,

lat. monachus>modern Mö nch- monk,

lat. cap(p) ella>modern Kapelle- chapel,

lat. crux>modern kreuz-cross.

Also the verbs:

lat. operari>modern opfern- donate

lat. signare>modern segnen- bless, baptize.

Frankish and Anglo-Saxon missionaries introduced some concepts related to government:

lat. census>modern Zins- interest,

lat. scribere>modern schreiben – write ,

lat. par(a)veredus>modern Pferd- a horse, originally had the meaning of a postal horse.

With the spread of writing in monasteries and schools, the following concepts appeared:

lat. school>modern Schule-school ,

lat. tinctum>modern tinte- ink,

lat. tabula>modern Tafel-board ,

lat. Breve>modern brief- letter.

The development of horticulture, horticulture and floriculture at the monasteries enriched the language with these words:

lat. lilia>modern Lilie- lily,

lat. rosa>modern Rose - the Rose,

lat. petrosilium>modern Petersilie- parsley,

lat. mimus>modern Mimose- mimosa.

We also note that in the second wave of borrowings there are verbs and adjectives:

lat. sobrius>modern sauber- clean,

lat. spendere>modern spenden- donate

lat. tractare>modern trachten- seek,

lat. praedicare>modern predictive- preach, teach

lat. lavare>modern labelen- refresh.

In comparison with it, the first wave is exclusively nouns for naming new objects and phenomena of the surrounding reality.

The era of the Renaissance and humanism reoriented the worldview and was marked by the flourishing of science, art, literature, education, music and painting. Therefore, the number of borrowings from Latin into German and in other spheres of human activity has increased. To name just a few words:

Text-text, logic-logics , philosophy- philosophy, Astronomy-astronomy, Comet-comet, Mixture- potion, Medizin-the medicine, Academy- academy, Auditorium-audience, Aula-auditorium, Exam- exam, Facultä t- faculty, Gymnasium-gymnasium, Doctor- doctor, rector- Rector, Professor- Professor, student-student, Harmonie-harmony, Melodie-melody, note-record, Pause-pause.

Some of the Latin borrowings listed above were so assimilated into the German language that they began to be perceived as primordially German:

der Tisch, das Fenster, die Mühle, der Wein, schreiben.

Thus, the lexical richness and diversity of the German language is associated with numerous borrowings from Latin. The use of Latin borrowings in German everyday life can be traced back to the Middle Ages. Today, these words function in almost all spheres of human activity, and are often found in everyday life. Sometimes, it's even hard to believe that some words are of Latin origin. During complete assimilation, these lexical units lost their original features, obeyed the norms of the German language and are now perceived as primordially German. For linguists, the etymological study of Latin borrowings is important for understanding the internal form of the word and the primary meaning of Latin words.

Even before the settlement of the Germanic tribes, Angles, Saxons and Jutes in the British Isles, trade relations existed between these tribes and the Romans, which left some traces in the languages ​​of these tribes. Borrowings of this period, which is usually called the first period of Latin borrowings, reflect the nature of the cultural, economic and military relations of the Roman and Germanic tribes. New words usually express new concepts that arose in connection with the introduction to the higher culture of the Roman people of this period. Such borrowings include the following words: port (Lat. portus), cycene (kitcen) from Lat. coquina, piper (pepper) from Lat. Piper and others.

The assumption that these words were borrowed by the Anglo-Saxons before they moved to the British Isles is based on comparative historical analysis. Comparing the lexical composition of various Germanic languages ​​and dialects, comparative historical linguistics has established the commonality of many words of Latin origin in these languages. Naturally, there was an assumption that the Anglo-Saxons brought these words with them. However, the presence of many of these words in the language of the Celts, with whom the Anglo-Saxons came into contact on the islands, does not make it possible to accurately establish, in view of the lack of monuments, whether these words came into Old English directly from the Latin language or were borrowed from the Celtic language already in the territory Britain.

The bulk of Latin borrowings is associated with the introduction of Christianity in 597. Most of these borrowings express church-religious concepts. The general upsurge of culture associated with the introduction of Christianity led to the emergence of new concepts that needed an appropriate language design. New words appeared from the Latin language, denoting concepts from the sphere of culture and everyday life.

Here are some examples of Latin words that found their way into Old English and have survived in modern English.

Household items, tools, implements: ancor (anchor) from Lat. ancora; box (box) from Lat. buxus; cealc (chalk) from Lat. calcem; paper (paper) from Lat. paryrus; pyle (pillow) from Lat. pulvinus; post (post) from Lat. postis; purs (purse) from Lat.bursa; sicol (sikle) from Lat. secula;

Clothing items: cappe (cap) from Lat. cappa; socc (sock) from Lat. soccus.

Measures of weight for their length: circul (circle) from Lat. circumlus; pund (pound) from Lat. pondo; ynce (inch) from Lat. incia.

Names of animals, birds and fish: assa (ass) from Lat. asinus; camel (camel) from Lat. camelus; turtle (turtle) from Lat. turtur; truht (trout) from Lat. tructa.

Plant names: palm (palm) from Lat. palma; pere (pear) from Lat. pyrum; rose (rose) from Lat. rosa; lilie (lily) from Lat. lilium; plante (plant) from Lat. planta.

Words related to the concepts of religion:

engel (angel) from Lat. angelus; biscop (bishop) from Lat. episcopus; cyrice (church) from Lat. cyriaca; munuc (monk) from Lat. monachus; nunne (nun) from Lat. nonna; papa (pope) from Lat. papa.

In total, according to the estimates of the English linguist Bo, by the end of the Old English period, there were about 450 Latin borrowings, not counting derivative words and proper names.

A significant number of Latin words entered the English language during the period of the 11th-13th centuries, during the period of the Normans. However, these words, in their majority, have already undergone, to a greater or lesser extent, phonetic, grammatical and semantic changes in the Norman dialect of French, which borrowed these words from Latin.

The largest number of words borrowed by English from Latin are the so-called book borrowings. These are words that have entered the language not as a result of direct, live communication between peoples, but through written documents, books, and so on. Book borrowings are qualitatively different from other types of borrowings. First of all, they are less subject to any kind of changes, especially semantic ones. It is logical to explain this by the fact that book borrowings, for a long period of time, are limited by the scope of their use - the literary form of a given language. Further, these borrowings are usually abstract, abstract or terminological in nature.

Most of the Latin book borrowings in English fall on the period of the 16th, as well as the 15th-16th centuries, that is, the Renaissance in England. There are over a thousand Latin words in the works of Wycliffe, Langland, and Chaucer that have not been previously attested in English. In the Renaissance, words from the field of medicine, literature, theology, technical terms and so on appear. A list of these words cannot be given within a short chapter. To do this, you need to create a special dictionary.

Most of these borrowings can be distinguished by morphological features, for example, verbs that have the suffix -ate- in the infinitive, formed from the past participle of Latin verbs of I conjugation, as separate, translate, meditate, exaggerate, congratulate; verbs with the suffix -ute- in the infinitive, derived from the basis of the past participle of the group of Latin verbs of III conjugation, like prosecute, execute; adjectives formed from Latin present participles with stems in -ant- and -ent-, e.g. evident, transparent, patient, triumphant, apparent, obedient.

The following centuries - XVII, XVIII - witnessed book borrowings from the Latin language. In most cases, these are the so-called "learned words", often retaining the morphological features of Latin words, such as inertia, sanatorium, genus, radius, curriculum, datum, vacuum.

Finally, in modern English there are also such borrowings that have completely preserved their Latin appearance, that is, they have not undergone and are not currently undergoing any linguistic assimilation. These words and expressions are used in the language as a kind of quotation from the Latin language. The scope of their use is very limited: they are usually used in the styles of scientific prose, in business documents, in an elevated oratorical style of speech. These borrowings include such expressions as: alma mater, bona fide, ex officio, conditio sine quanon, and so on.

As noted in the previous chapter, in the process of borrowing words from one language to another, there are cases when the same word is borrowed twice. This is possible only in cases of long-term historical and cultural ties between peoples whose languages ​​come into contact. Such is the history of the influence of Latin on English. Many Latin words appeared in English twice: once from French, another time from Latin itself. The second borrowing is usually removed from the first by a significant period of time necessary for the newly borrowed word to be considered as a new one. Etymological Franco-Latin doublets are obtained.

Among the Latin borrowings of a bookish nature, one should also include some word-forming elements - prefixes and suffixes. These derivational morphemes were not borrowed from Latin as independent lexical units; they were borrowed as part of whole words and only later comprehended as word-forming morphemes. However, in the linguistic literature they are called borrowed affixes.

Thus, the Latin language had a significant impact on the enrichment of the English language with new words. This is largely due to the fact that the Norman conquest of England, which brought with it a huge number of French words, set the stage for a relatively free influx of Latin words due to etymological relationship. In historical lexicology, it is sometimes difficult to determine whether a word came into English from French or Latin.

Among borrowed Latin words, a certain group of words stands out, which in one or another sound form, grammatical design and semantic content can be found in a number of languages ​​- international words. It was the Latin language that gave the most significant number of such words. This is explained by the fact that the Latin language in the era of feudalism was for many countries of Western Europe the international language of science, and in some countries in general the literary language. The Latin language retained its significance as the language of science until the 17th-18th centuries. Modern medicine, chemistry, botany, zoology, philosophy, politics, art still widely use the Latin bases to designate newly emerging concepts. Of the Latin words borrowed into English and being international words, the following words can be mentioned: obligation, constitution, alibi, agriculture, microscope, modern, laboratory, program, system, socialism, communism, capitalism, climate, radius, tradition and so on.

Course 1 semester

Option 4

Example: Leges Romanorum severae sunt(erant).

centum dare promises?- Promitto. Do you promise to give a hundred? - I promise.

Promitto, misi, missum 3 - to promise; Promittis is a verb in the 2nd person, singular, present tense (2 p., sing., Praesens indicativi activi).

Causa iusta est. Legal basis.

Ius, iuris n - right; Iusta is a noun of the 2nd declension, neuter, in the dative case, plural (Dat., Pl.).

Est - esse, sum, es - to be, to exist; verb, in 3rd person, singular (3p., sing.)

Patria in periculis a viris defendi debet. Men must defend the country in times of danger.

Defendo, defendi, defensum 3 - defend. Defendi - infinitive of the 3rd conjugation, present tense, passive voice (3 p., Infinitivus praesentis passivi.).

Determine the Latin stem of the words. (What Latin words did they come from?)

Read, match and memorize.

CONTROL WORK IN THE LATIN LANGUAGE

CORRESPONDENCE DIVISION OF THE FACULTY OF LAW

Course 1 semester

Option 5

Read the words, write their dictionary forms, determine the declension, gender, case and number of nouns, translate into Russian.

Example: fabulam - Acc., sing., fable

Fabula, fabulae, f (1 line) - fable

Determine the tense, voice, person and number of the following verbs, translate into Russian, having previously written out their dictionary forms from the dictionary; next to the conjugation number, write the full form of the infinitive (Infinitivus praesentis activi).

Example: auditur - ch. 3 l., unit Praesens indicativi passivi. He/she is being listened to.

(audio, audivi, auditum, audire 4 - listen).

Read and translate the sentences. Make a morphological analysis of the underlined words, writing out their full dictionary forms from the dictionary.

Example: Leges Romanorum severae sunt(erant).

Lex, legis f - law; leges - 3rd declension noun, feminine, nominative, plural (Nom. Pl.)

Romanus, a, um - Roman, aya, oe: Romanus, i m - Roman; Romanorum - noun 2 declension, masculine, genitive, plural (Gen.Pl.)

Severus, severa, severum - severe, strict; severae - adjective of the 1st group, agreed with the noun leges in gender (feminine - 1 cl. adj.), case (noun), number (plural)

Sum, fui, -, esse - to be, to exist; sunt - verb, in the 3rd person plural of the present tense (3 p., pl., Praesens indicativi activi) ; erant - 3 p., pl., Imperfectum indicativi activi - imperfect (past tense of the imperfect form in Russian).

The laws of the Romans are harsh. The laws of the Romans were strict (harsh).

Lingua Latina and lingua Graeca sunt linguae antiqua. Latin and Greek are ancient languages.

Lingua, linguae f - language. linguae - 1st declension noun, feminine, nominative, plural (Nom.Pl.)

papinianus libro quinto responsorum ita script. Papinian wrote this in the fifth book of judgments.

Quintus, quinta, quintum - the fifth. Quinto - ordinal number, 2nd declension, masculine, in the dative case, singular (Dat.sing.)

Scribo, scripsi, scriptum3 - to write. Scribit - Ch. in the 3rd person, singular, past tense (3p., sing,. Praesens indicativi activi.)

Vox populi– vox veritatis. (Vox populi - vox Dei.). The voice of the people is the voice of truth. (The voice of the people is the voice of God.)

Populus, populi m - people. Populi - noun 2 declension, masculine, in the genitive case, singular (Get.sing.).

What words in Russian originated from Latin words.

Latin words in Russian.

The Latin language played a significant role in the enrichment of Russian vocabulary (including terminology), associated mainly with the sphere of scientific, technical and socio-political life. The words ascend to the Latin source: author, administrator, audience, student, exam, external, minister, justice, operation, censorship, dictatorship, republic, deputy, delegate, rector, excursion, expedition, revolution, constitution, etc. These Latinisms came to our language, as well as to other European languages, not only through direct contact of the Latin language with some other (which, of course, was not excluded, especially through various educational institutions), but also through other languages. Latin in many European states was the language of literature, science, official papers and religion (Catholicism). Scientific writings up to the XVIII century. often written in Latin; medicine still uses Latin. All this contributed to the creation of an international fund of scientific terminology, which was mastered by many European languages, including Russian.

The compilers of an anthology of medieval Latin literature write: “Latin was not a dead language, and Latin literature was not dead literature. Latin was not only written, but also spoken: it was a spoken language that united a few educated people of that time: when a Swabian boy and a Saxon boy met at a monastery school, and a Spaniard boy and a Pole boy met at the University of Paris, then, to understand each other, they had to speak Latin. And not only treatises and lives were written in Latin, but also accusatory sermons, and meaningful historical writings, and inspired poems.

Most of the Latin words came into the Russian language in the period from the 16th to the 18th centuries, especially through the Polish and Ukrainian languages, for example: school, auditorium, dean, office, holidays, director, dictation, exam, etc. (The role of special educational institutions.) All the current names of the months from the Latin language are borrowed through Greek.

In addition to borrowing foreign vocabulary, the Russian language actively borrowed some foreign word-building elements to create proper Russian words. Among such borrowings, a group of international terms is worth mentioning, for example: dictatorship, constitution, corporation, laboratory, meridian, maximum, minimum, proletariat, process, public, revolution, republic, erudition, etc.

Let us give examples of the use of the Latin language as a single language of science, which helps to avoid confusion and achieve understanding by people of different nationalities.

In astronomy, the most famous constellation in the northern hemisphere is Ursa Major (lat. Ursa Major) - this asterism has been known since ancient times among many peoples under different names: Plow, Elk, Wagon, Seven Wise Men Hearse and Wailers.

In the system of chemical elements, a uniform naming of all elements is applicable. For example, gold has the symbol Au and the scientific name (lat.) Aurum. Proto-Slavic *zolto (Russian gold, Ukrainian gold, Old Slavic gold, Polish złoto), Lithuanian geltonas "yellow", Latvian zelts "gold, golden"; Gothic gulþ, German Gold, English Gold.

“Golden grass is the head of all herbs” - this is a folk saying about one of the most poisonous medicinal plants in Russia. Popular names: chistoplot, chistec, podtynnik, warthog, prozornik, gladishnik, glechkopar, zhovtilo, yellow euphorbia, nutcracker, zhovtilo, dog soap, swallow grass. It is unlikely that we recognized the well-known celandine. To understand what kind of plant we are talking about, scientists use Latin names (Chelidónium május).

Whereas the Greeks took upon themselves the "duty" of naming poetic and theatrical terms, the Romans took up prose in earnest. Latin connoisseurs will tell us that this short word can be translated into Russian with the phrase "purposeful speech." The Romans generally liked precise and short definitions. It is not for nothing that the word lapidary came to us from the Latin language, i.e. "carved in stone" (short, concise). The word text means “connection”, “connection”, and the illustration means “explanation” (to the text). A legend is “what should be read”, a memorandum is “what should be remembered”, and an opus is “work”, “work”. The word fabula in Latin means "story", "tale", but in Russian it came from German with the meaning "plot". A manuscript is a document “written by hand”, but an editor is a person who must “put everything in order”. Madrigal is also a Latin word, it comes from the root "mother" and means a song in the native, "mother" language.

The Romans developed a unique set of laws for that time (Roman law) and enriched world culture with many legal terms. For example, justice (“justice”, “legality”), alibi (“in another place”), verdict (“truth is spoken”), lawyer (from the Latin “I call”), notary - (“scribe”), protocol (“ first page”), visa (“viewed”), etc. The words version ("turn") and intrigue ("to confuse") are also of Latin origin. The Romans, on the other hand, came up with the word blunder - “fall”, “mistake”, “wrong step”.

The following medical terms are Latin in origin: hospital (“hospitable”), immunity (“liberation from something”), invalid (“powerless”, “weak”), invasion (“attack”), muscle (“mouse”) , obstruction ("blockage"), obliteration ("destruction"), pulse ("push").

At present, Latin is the language of science and serves as a source for the formation of new words and terms that never existed. For example, allergy is “another action” (the term was coined by the Austrian pediatrician K. Pirke).

In our time, scientific terms are often created from Greek and Latin roots, denoting concepts unknown in the era of antiquity: astronaut [gr. cosmos - Universe + gr. nautes - (sea) - swimmer]; futurology (lat. futurum - future + gr. logos - word, doctrine); scuba gear (Latin aqua - water + English lung - light). This is due to the exceptional productivity of Latin and Greek roots included in various scientific terms, as well as their international character, which facilitates the understanding of such foundations in different languages.