DID LATIN AMERICANS SPEAK LATIN? 

The history of Latin America is a rich one.  This country has long been known for their festive dancing, colorful clothes, delicious food, and warm-hearted people.  However, one interesting question has surfaced time and time again – “Did Latin Americans actually speak Latin?”

Interestingly, Latin was one of the many different Italic languages spoken in central Italy during the 5^th century.  The area known as Latium or Lazio and then again in Rome were specifically fluent in Latin.  Historians tell us that there were early inscriptions discovered in Latin that date back to the 6^th century.  These inscriptions were written in a various forms of the Greek alphabet and then brought over to Italy by the colonist from Greece.

Then, Rome expanded its influence and power over some parts of Italy and then into various areas of Europe.  Over time, the Roman Empire became massive, stretching across a large region of North Africa, Europe, and even the Middle East.  Throughout the Roman Empire, Latin was a common language used on an every day basis.  In fact, the Roman people were very literate, which is why we see many great Latin authors from Rome. 

In addition, the Greeks remained the lingua franca in eastern Mediterranean and the Romans, who were highly educated, became very fluent in both languages.  The earliest surviving examples of Latin literature were in fact the translations from Greek plays, along with a farming manual that is estimated back to around 150 BC. 

From there, we know that Latin was commonly used in early Latin literature, classical Latin, and various means from colloquial Latin, which was called Vulgar Latin.  However, there were some writers that included Petronius and Cicero that often spoke Vulgar Latin during work.  What we have seen is the Latin language changing over the centuries with it moving away from the standards of literacy into modern Romance/Italic languages, which would include French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, Spanish, and so on. 

When the Roman Empire collapsed in AD 476, the Latin language continued being used for literacy throughout central and Western Europe.  Then, Medieval Latin literature became popular in many different styles that included scholarly work of Anglo-Saxon and Irish writers to people giving sermons.  Then in the 15^th century, Latin started to lose its position as the standard language spoken and written throughout most of Europe, being replaced by versions of vernacular languages, which were actually descendants of Latin or with its influence. 

The Latin language of modern society was used significantly in the Roman Catholic Church.  However, by the 20^th century, we see a decline in the use of Latin, although there are some areas that still use it extensively to include Vatican City.  Another area where we commonly see Latin used is by biologists and various scientists.  Interesting, for the Romans to write Latin there were 23 letters used, similar to the English alphabet but minus the letters J, U, and W.