Nam cursus.
Spanish class was crowded.
I took a couple years of it in college after taking a year in high school. Thirty years later I still recognize a lot of Latin roots.
Took 3 years of Latin in public HS, then took 3 years of Greek at university (plus Russian, FWIW).
I would have recognized “igni” as having to do with fire, but I wouldn’t have been able to make some sort of definitive statement about where it came from or anything.
And I wouldn’t be at all surprised if someone else didn’t get it.
Never studied Latin and know only a handful of words and terms in common use such as “ad hoc.” They did offer Latin as a foreign-language elective in my high school in West Texas, but it was not required and most students who took languages (can’t remember if a foreign language was even required) opted for one of the others – German, French or Spanish.
In my public school, Latin was a requirement for sixth graders and one of the optional language classes for high-schoolers. I took Spanish in high school, instead, and I don’t remember any of the things we were taught in middle school.
I took Latin voluntarily, but studying for the SAT and GRE included learning Latin and Greek roots as well.
Never took a day of Latin and as far as I could tell nobody other than the seminary was teaching it any more (at least as a requirement as opposed to an elective) in K-12 schools around here c. 1970.
OTOH I would have quickly caught the igni-fire reference. From vocabulary and etymology study for both the languages I *was *required to take in K-12 as well as from standardized-test study guides, I was able to glean a large pile of Greek and Latin roots (especially since the “native” language is itself a Romance language) and phrases, and that would have been a reasonably basic one.
I took Latin in 8th and 9th grades. I do not recall much of it now. I might be able to stumble through some of Caesar. That was in a private school in the 60s. My wife had Latin in a public school in the 60s as well, so some public schools did offer it.
But my first reaction to the OP was the root of igneous (don’t know why rather than ignite). So if you told me it was a Latin word and to guess what it meant I’d have guessed something to do with fire.
Oh, oh, oh, — now I know what igneous means: out of the fire!
I already knew sedimentary and metamorphic, but frankly had no particular idea about igneous.
And I went to a “Grammer School” on the old (Rugby) model for a couple of years, so I have some Latin. Not in the USA though.
Took Latin all four years in public high school in the 1980s, as my mother insisted it would be more useful in the long run than French (and she was right!). Handy for the SATs, botany, and for visiting Italy without learning any Italian. Would definitely have gotten the ignis reference.
Vinyl Turnip, perhaps we could get together and discuss the geopolitical implications of Gaul having been divided into three parts.
I went to a Catholic college preparatory in the 80’s. Latin was always offered as a class you could take, but it never got enough interest to actually happen.
When talking about fire, the connection between “igni” and “ignite” seems pretty obvious, even if you never studied any Latin. That said, I missed things much more obvious like that re. word etymology.
It seemed obvious to me, but I’m a bit familiar with latin roots.
I also noticed that “Axii” sounded like “to hex”.
Even more so, I would not expect someone in Russia to know Latin. Foreign language education in Russia generally sucks, although upper classes usually can get along in English.
I even petitioned my high school to offer Latin. (what was I thinking)
The sum total of my Latin retention is puer and puella…latin for boy and girl. Not gonna get too far with that.
So, no, I think your friend is being a pretentious ass for laughing at you.
Well, he did say this was a Russian.
One year of Latin is required at the public magnet school I teach, and most go on to take three years. We are a STEM school, and the Latin is a surprisingly good match: it suits and reinforces the analytical bent our kids already have, it helps with science terms, and it helps with SAT scores. And since probably 60% of them come in bilingual (mostly Spanish), there is less need to add a living language, and they like seeing the connections and overlap between the three languages.
Three years high school Latin. I barely retain the grammar…vague recollection of"the ablative of means," but a modest amount of vocabulary still rattles around in there. I do recognize a lot of roots, especially, and generally pick up fantasy mumbo-jumbo. Including “ignis.”
I thought about taking a year of Latin in university, but the course was every morning Monday through Friday, as opposed to most other classes that ran Mon-Wed-Fri or Tue-Thu. So I took Biblical Hebrew instead.
I like reading about etymologies and word roots, though. When I encounter a passage in Latin in a book I’m reading, I can guess at perhaps 25% of the words.
You know more Latin than you think, as there’s tons of it sitting around in the DNA of English. You may not know the word “ignis” right off the bat, but you’ll probably recognize it as the root of “ignition”.
I don’t “know Latin,” as in I couldn’t carry on a conversation in Latin or read or write a text in Latin. But I know a handful of Latin words and phrases and I know a lot of Greek and Latin roots and pieces. All that just from knowing English and being aware.
I don’t “know” the word “ignis,” but yes I would expect an educated American to be able to make the connection between “ignite/ignition/igneous” and “igni.”