“Neo-Latin” refers to the form of the Latin language used roughly from the 14th century onward –especially during the Renaissance – and continuing through the 17th and 18th centuries, and in some scholarly, ecclesiastical, and scientific contexts even into the 19th to 21st centuries.
Specifically, it is used to coin new terms e.g. in
science, mathematics and medicine. When new discoveries were made, documents –
in order to maximise an educated European readership – were primarily written
in Latin.
Some words are completely new, for example:
oxygenium, -ī [2/n]: oxygen
tēlescopium, -ī [2/n]: telescope
Original Classical Latin words are also ‘reworked’ to refer,
for example, to objects that were similar to those found in Ancient Rome;
instances of that feature have been given in previous posts on this topic e.g.
types of crockery and kitchen utensils. When we look at the work of Comenius
concerning banqueting and cookery, we will see that process happening in the
Renaissance period.
Until now, all the posts have referred to, for example,
processes, spices and objects all of which existed in the Classical and / or
Late Latin period. The Apicius cookbook, dating from the 4th or 5th
century AD (possibly earlier) is a great source, but attestation is also found
in, among others, Pliny the Elder, Cato and Plautus.
While we have seen that Classical and Late Latin can provide
us with a huge range of vocabulary on this topic, there does come a point where
one wants to refer to objects that, in the Ancient World, simply did not exist,
nor is there any purpose in searching through Comenius, because they didn’t
have them in the Renaissance either! However, such vocabulary is not simply plucked
out of thin air; it still has its roots in Classical or Late Latin: orbis
volāns: flying “saucer” (disc-shaped object) i.e. both words existed in CL but
just not put together in that way.
But we’ll start with what they did have …
[1] Melting stones, turning people into biscuits and oven-like
adulterers, and Apicius:
inde assantur in (1) clībanō vel (2) crāticulā: they are then roasted in the (1) oven
or on (2) the gridiron
[i] CL has several words for an ‘oven’:
caminus, -ī [2/m]
clībanus, -ī [2/m]
fornāx, fornācis [3/f]
furnus, -ī [2/m]
Although Lewis & Short list them all as synonyms some of
them may refer to large ovens i.e. a furnace or a pottery kiln: “The furnus of
the ancients was a massive oven, similar to our pizza ovens; the clibanus was
in contrast a small, portable oven (most often, but not always, used for bread)”
(Neo-Latin Lexicon)
in furnum calidum conditō atque ibi torrētō mē prō pāne
rubidō (Plautus) │ shut me up in a hot furnace, and scorch me there for
a hard-baked biscuit; panis rubidus: literally "red bread"; probably
a kind of bread or biscuit, which received its name from its being highly
baked, till it was of a deep-brown colour
lapidēs quī in ārdentibus fornācibus facile liquēscunt
(Georgius Agricola: dē rē metallicā [1556])│ stones which easily melt in
blazing furnaces
From the Vulgate; adulterers and ovens:
omnēs adulterantēs quasi clībanus succēnsus ā coquente
│ They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by the baker
quia adplicuērunt quasi clībanum cor suum │ Because they have
applied their heart like an oven
omnēs calefactī sunt quasi clībanus │ They were
all heated like an oven
[ii] crāticula, -ae [1/f]: gridiron, an iron rack or grate
used for broiling meat and fish over coals; can be used to refer to a grill
Et omne sacrificium similæ, quod coquitur in (1) clībanō,
et quidquid in crāticulā, vel in (3) sartāgine præparātur, ejus
erit sacerdōtīs ā quō offertur (Vulgate) │ And every sacrificial offering of
flour that is baked in (1) the oven, and whatsoever is prepared on (2) the
gridiron / in the grate, or in (3) the pan, shall belong
to the priest who offers it.”
[iii] A general term for a ‘cooker’ has various equivalents in
Neo-Latin, few of which are convincing. However, Traupman (in Conversational Latin
for Oral Proficiency) does list:
foculus, -ī [2/m]: in Classical Latin, this can refer to a
‘brazier’ i.e. portable container to hold burning coals or charcoal, and used
for heating or cooking
ēlectricus, -a, -um: (Neo-Latin) electric
furnus undārum brevium: microwave oven (Traupman); in
the Latin Vicipaedia it is listed as “furnulus”, an example of
using a standard CL form -ul- to convey the idea of a small oven, which makes
sense in context
[2] In deciding which Neo-Latin terms I would personally use –
and there can be several alternatives – I opted for those which are either
created from original CL words or use grammatical structures in the same way.
Above all, I wanted those words very specifically to convey each item which I
had in mind. I rejected several, and was suspicious of some, but I do accept
that there may be alternatives.
[i] māchina, -ae [1/f]: machine i.e. “any artificial
contrivance for performing work” (Lewis & Short), and the English word also
requires some adjective to specify. It is logical, therefore, that Neo Latin
coins new words in the same way.
ca(f)fēa, -ae [1/f] (Neo-Latin): coffee; several alternative
spellings exist including coffeum, -ī [2/n]
caffeārius, -a, -um: (pertaining to) coffee,
i.e. the use of -ārius (-a, -um) to create adjectives from
nouns
māchina, -ae [1/f] caffeāria: coffee maker
māchina coquīnāria: food processor
[ii]
(1) armārium, -ī [2/n] (2) frīgidārium: refrigerator
i.e. a direct translation of, for example, the German Kühl¦schrank [lit: cool cupboard];
it is also interpreted as a freezer
(1) armārium, -ī [2/n]: closet; chest for clothing and food
(2) frīgidārius, -a, -um: (related to) cold water, cooling
The noun frīgidārium, -ī [2/n] refers to the
cold water area of the Roman baths.
[iii]
Traupman uses the term: (1) arca, -ae [1/f] (2) gelātōria:
deep freeze
(1) arca, -ae [1/f]: chest; box
(2) gelō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus [1]: (CL) freeze; from this verb,
the adjective gelatōrius, -a, -um (freezing) was coined in
the Renaissance period, the CL ending -tōrius (-a, -um)
being applied to form adjectives from verbs. Therefore, the phrase conveys the
idea of a chest freezer.
[iv] Still with Traupman:
(1) capsa, -ae [1/f] (2) frīgorifica: a ‘cooling box’ i.e. the
freezer compartment in a fridge
(1) capsa, -ae [1/f]: box (small)
(2) frīgorificus, -a, -um: (post-Classical, and listed in L
& S) cooling
There are Classicists who criticise Traupman, some of whom
will extol the virtues of speaking Latin, yet not provide the vocabulary needed
in order to make it a truly contemporary exercise. It seems that Traupman makes
every effort to use original Classical Latin vocabulary and later coinages
according to grammatical rules in order to provide us with differentiated
expressions.
[iv] That same ending (-tōrius) has also been used in
Neo-Latin to coin other adjectives from verbs:
agitō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus [1]: stir (used in the Apicius
cookbook) > agitātōrius, -a, -um: (pertaining to) stirring; the adjective is
not in Classical Latin but can be used convincingly to express:
māchina agitātōria: food mixer
An alternative is māchina mixtōria, the adjective
coined in the same way:
misceō, -ēre, -uī, mixtus [2]: mix > mixtōrius, -a, -um
(pertaining to mixing)
