Latin

Are there any native Latin speakers?

Latin is a classical language that was used in the Roman Empire. Latin is now a dead language that isn’t spoken natively anywhere.

Is Latin still spoken?

Very few people can speak Latin nowadays, but many more are able to read Latin, in schools that teach Classics. Latin is most often used officially by the Catholic Church, with part of mass and of the scriptures recited in Latin.

Origins of Latin

Latin is an Indo-European language of the Italic branch. It derives from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets. The spoken language that developed in the Roman Empire, Vulgar Latin, eventually developed into numerous dialects that helped influence a number of languages, including Italian, French and even English. A great deal of the vocabulary of Romance languages is constructed of Latin words.