Latin is often referred to as a dead language. And while it’s true that no culture actually uses Latin on a daily basis as their primary means of communication, the fact remains that so many modern languages owe their very existence to the root words derived from classical Latin. Moreover, many of the systems that are important parts of modern life in any culture — medical science and the legal systems, for example — still derive the vocabulary that makes each system unique from that primary language that has given so much to the world. I studied Latin in high school, and I learned a great deal about my own language and about the history of the world in general through that language. So, in honor of a language that I still love — and in honor of love in general — seeing as how it’s Valentine’s Day — I offer this little bit of verse in defense of Latin.

Amo: I love.
Amas: You love.
Amat: He loves.
If Latin is a language dead, what gives?

Amamus: We love.
Amatis: You love.
Amant: They love.
With this much love, then surely Latin lives!

♥