Latin equivalents in other parts of the world?

Factual Questions
1

I was wondering if in other parts of the world which have had different language development from the romance languages and English (yes, I know they’re very different) they study some equivalent of Latin. In other words a language that is no longer around, but the modern languages around it owe a lot to it. I suppose there could be Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, and Hebrew, are those correct? and what else?

Is there any other part of the world where they do this? Or is this a uniquely western phenomenon due to tradition, prevalence, etc?

What of the Chinese and Indian families of language, and the infamous variety of language families around New Guinea? Furthermore, what percentage of the language families from New Guinea are even written languages? Because it would be very difficult for average school students to study en mass an ancient and unwritten language. I suppose etymologists could piece parts of it together, but thats not what I’m talking about.

2

Can you refine your question a little bit? All modern languages descend from phases of the language that are no longer around. Italians didn’t suddenly switch away from Latin like some linguistic analog TV signal, Latin gradually changed into Italian while other regions saw it change into French, Spanish, etc.

If you mean “where did the mother language continue to be used as a prestige language while its daughter languages continue in everyday life,” the answer is “everywhere, to a degree.” Even oral tradition preserves older forms of the language in some of its genres (e.g. myths, in some groups; poetic registers). Still, you’ll want somewhere with a writing system and institutionalized education to manage this to the degree that Latin did.

Sanskrit is a good analogy to Latin in that it continues to be used alongside it daughter languages. Classical Chinese is another, though the writing system obscures it. New Guinea is a poor one, as its languages are largely unwritten and there are many different language families unrelated to each other. Hebrew is a special case, as modern spoken Hebrew was revived comparatively recently. It’s been used as a literary language the whole time, but it has had a hiatus from evolution as an everyday spoken language (though now that it is once again, nothing stops it from changing). Classical Arabic might be a better example. Ancient Greek isn’t a great example if only because there’s more diversity in ancient dialects than in modern ones, but someone who knows better will be along to correct me.

3

Sorry, I didn’t mean for my question to come out that way. I understand that the evolution of language is a very gradual process. I just wanted to know if there are places in the world where it is common for school children to study a language that is no longer spoken, but they study it because it aids in the understanding of many modern languages around it.

I know I’m not exactly being clear here, but here is a foolish example of what I’m looking for, chosen to be foolish because I didn’t want to obscure the point with inaccuracies about real languages. :

In sodasylvania, it is common for the schools to teach the “coca cola” language, because although “coca cola” is no longer spoken, the root beer, sprite, and dr pepper languages that ARE spoken in the region are descendants of “coca cola,” and thus an understanding of “coca cola” will aid in the understanding of the “root beer,” “sprite,” and “dr pepper” languages.

Just as in Europe and North America, it is common for schools to teach Latin, because although Latin is no longer spoken, the French, Spanish, Italain, Catalan, languages that ARE spoken in the region are long descendants of Latin and thus an understanding of Latin will aid in the understanding of the French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, etc languages.

4

Also the key is that this hypothetical language is commonly taught because imparted a lot of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary to the modern languages around it. This language itself is no longer spoken natively by anyone. The study of such a language that is purely academic because it will facilitate learning practical languages still currently being spoken.

5

Ah. In that case, I’m not sure that any language meets your criteria, even Latin. Latin was taught because of its prestige, which has been slowly fading since the enlightenment but was still quite high in the early 20th century. The fact that it helps one understand English vocabulary and grammar was a fringe benefit, not a selling point. Now that Latin’s prestige has waned considerably, adherents of Latin cling to that fringe benefit, but the educational system at large isn’t really buying it. It’s harder and harder to find Latin classes, even at the college level.

6

Ah I see. Well thank you very much for your prompt reply.
Warning: I am extremely biased towards Latin because I taught it for two years. There has been somewhat of an uptick in Latin enrollment nationally in the US in the last decade

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/nyregion/07latin.html?pagewanted=all

but I agree that in the long run (either 100, 200, or 1500 years long) clearly it is in decline, far fewer students take it and it is usually no longer required.
Although in this city this year we had 150+ incoming freshmen sign up for Latin, and only 1 for German, a definite increase. Unfortunately for me and my job one data point in one year does not ensure a trend that will guarantee my employment for the next 45 years of my working life .

I have always tried to stress the practicality of the language and what it could teach students about English grammar in particular (if my grammar is off in a post: so sue me, i’m not at work). Most of these kids have to learn many things about English grammar through their study of Latin because sadly they do not have opportunity to learn it anywhere else. We live in a blue collar / middle class city / suburb with a perpetual financial crisis. There are many students in our public schools who are in gangs or otherwise clearly do not want to be in school. They do not exactly speak with perfect grammar and their range of vocabulary while interesting (and at times amusing) does not help the serious students. Our English classes stress literature instead of grammar, which I am not arguing with. The point is that it is only through the study of Latin that these kids have the opportunity to learn certain things about English grammar such as the proper use of the subjunctive, infinitives, gerunds, and the passive voice. They are freshmen when I get them, so I also have to teach them basic usage stuff like I vs me, who vs. whom, he/him, she/her etc. They also get a huge bump in their English vocabulary because I make them memorize English derivatives from each of their Latin vocab words. The end result is that they come out with a far larger range and understanding of English vocabulary, and a firmer grasp the grammar of the English language. Therefore I hope that this will give them any sort of boost in the world, however intangible or slight it may be.

That, at least, is the angle from which I taught Latin. I also did plenty of culture, mythology, and history stuff, but always with the angle of how it has influenced and shaped our modern world. I was just trying to give them a better understanding of the present by means of a better understanding of the past. Besides I only do the 1st and 2nd year kids, they have another guy for the juniors and Ancient Greek and someone else for the seniors and philosophy.

I just blindly assumed this was the way that everyone taught Latin I guess, without really thinking about it. Perhaps I was teaching it the wrong way, maybe it should have been about prestige. There are better ways for them to learn English, like through an English class, they just get an extra advantage on the others. Or maybe that’s just the myth I sell to justify my job and existence. In those two years, every parent who came in (if they had a kid who was failing) for parent teacher night would invariably tell me flat out how pointless they thought Latin was, and what a colossal waste of time it was for their kid.

Anyways, all this got me wondering if other cultures did the same thing with their dead languages (not just ancient cultures) to try to give kids a better grasp of their current language. That is if there were any sort of parallel to what I just just described, but apparently not and even the example I described may not hold up under intense scrutiny. Sorry for the long, ultimately pointless rant. I just wanted to give you some depth as to where I was coming from, why I asked the question, and what exactly it was I was trying to ask . Thank you again for your timely and concise reply.

7

No worries — I took Latin and loved it, and this is a very Latin-friendly board. I just think that your particular perspective, while essential in the current climate, is a more recent development. It used to be that Latin was essential to work in the scholarly community or to pass yourself off as an educated person, but no longer. It still adds an extra fillip, but it’s not essential.

8

Let me ask a variant of this question. Latin was used as the official international language in Europe for many a century up until the rise of French as the language of diplomacy and scholarship in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Technically it was dead (in that there were no native speakers) but it was in common use to facilitate communication between countries.

Were any other languages used in this manner in other regions of the world?

9

Languages like this are apparently always the language of some religious tradition. They have ceased to be the native language of anyone, but they continue to be used for ceremonial reasons within the religion. Examples are Latin, Biblical Hebrew, Sanskrit, Pali, Classical Chinese, Classical Arabic, Old Church Slavonic, and Koine Greek: