1.1 Motivation

Classical Latin was commonly used prior to the incarnation of Jesus Christ in the writings of Cicero, Vergil, Horace, and Ovid. At the crucifixation of Christ, an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. (Luke 23:38) The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was written in Greek. But Latin was not commonly used in the Roman Church until the end of the second century. Then it became known as Ecclesiastical Latin. It borrowed new words from the Greek language such is essentia, substantia, personalis, etc.

Approximately 1% of the Latin documents in existence come from Roman classical works. About 80% of the Latin writings originate from Christian authors. So, a great deal of the early church’s understanding of the Bible is recorded in Latin. In addition, Jerome completed a significant translation of the Old Testament Hebrew and the New Testament Greek into Latin in 405 AD. This became known as the Vulgate from the Latin word “vulgata” which means “make common or public, spread among the multitude.” This Latin translation of the Bible became the standard for the Roman Catholic Church and was used to conduct Latin masses. However, the Protestant Reformation brought about a change. The reformers believed that the word of God should be preached in the common language of the people. So the Protestant worship services were no longer conducted in Latin, but Latin continued to be the preferred language for theological treaties as a common bridge across the various languages up unto the 18th century.

1.2 Method

This Latin grammar began to be developed for the instruction of my grandchildren in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. They started to learn these languages along with some of their friends when they were 4 and 5 years old.

The method of this grammar is to learn the Latin language as we read the bible a little at a time. Each section is a small building block that begins with information and tables primarily for familiarity and reference. This is followed by short videos, flashcards, and quizzes designed for memorization. Some sections also include PDF downloads.

After learning the alphabet and vowels, we will begin to work our way through the Latin in the Gospel of John one syllable, one word, one verse at a time. Learn each block well before you proceed to the next.

There is also a Vocabulary section on the Latin home page. Use the lists, flashcards, and quizzes in that section to build your Latin vocabulary ss you progress through the chapters of this grammar.

1.3 Pronunciation

This grammar will use the Classical pronunciation. The major differences between Classical and Ecclesiastical pronunciation of consonants are displayed in the table below:

Letter	Classic	Ecclesiastic
c	c as in carol	c as in carol; before i, e, ae, oe, as ch in cheer
ch	ch as in Christ	y as in yes or ch as in Bach
g	g as in go	g as in go; before i, e, y, as j in jump
gn	ng as in hangnail	ny as in canyon
j	no j;	y as in yes; j is a consonantal i
ph	ph as in upheld	ph as in phone
sc	sk as in skill	sk as in skill; before i, e, as sh in ship
th	th as in thank; or th as in hotthouse	th as in thank
v	like w as in weep	v as in veto

The major differences between Classical and Ecclesiastical pronunciation of the diphthong vowels are displayed in the table below:

Vowels	Classic	Ecclesiastic
ae	y as in sky	ay as in say
oe	oi as in soil	ay as in say

1.4 Resources

• Gildersleeve, B. L., & Lodge, G. (1895). Gildersleeve’s Latin Grammar. Macmillan & Co.

• Allen, J. H., & Greenough, J. B. (1903). Allen and Greenough’s New Latin Grammar (J. B. Greenough, G. L. Kittredge, A. A. Howard, & B. L. D’Ooge, Eds.). Ginn & Co.

• Kennedy, Benjamin Hall. (1906). The Revised Latin Primer. Seventh Edition. Longmans, Green, and Co.

• Bennett, C. E. (1908). New Latin Grammar. Allyn and Bacon.

• Nunn, H. P. V. (1922). An Introduction to Ecclesiastical Latin. University Press.

• Wheelock, Frederic M. (2011). Wheelock’s Latin, 7th Edition. Harper Collins Publishers.

• Cooper, D. (2020). Basics of Latin: A Grammar with Readings and Exercises from the Christian Tradition. Zondervan Academic.