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| Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton, 1934 Many people don't know that the more difficult "classical pronunciation" of Latin is, historically, a fairly recent phenomenon. This passage, from Goodbye, Mr. Chips, an English literary classic, recounts that period around the turn of the century when schools were being transformed from centers of cultural literacy into what the author calls "factory" schools. It was at this time that the Christian pronunciation of Latin-which had been in use for a thousand years-was suddenly deemed inadequate, and teachers were forced to conform to this new product of scientific study from ivory tower scholars of the period. Teachers such as Mr. Chips were concerned about the students, not the latest ideas of ivory tower elitists, many of whom had never set foot in a classroom. |
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"Yes, look at the gown you're wearing. I happen to know that that gown of yours is a subject of continual amusement throughout the School." Chips knew it, too, but it had never seemed to him a very regrettable matter. He went on: "And -you also said-umph-something about-insubordination-?" "No, I didn't. I said that in a younger man I should have regarded it as that. In your case it's probably a mixture of slackness and obstinacy. This question of Latin pronunciation, for instance-I think I told you years ago that I wanted the new style used throughout the School. The other masters obeyed me; you prefer to stick to your old methods, and the result is simply chaos and inefficiency." At last Chips had something tangible that he could tackle. "Oh, that!" he answered scornfully. "Well, I-umph-I admit that I don't agree with the new pronunciation. I never did. Umph-a lot of nonsense, in my opinion. Making boys say 'Kickero'at school when-umph-for the rest of their lives they'll say 'Cicero'-if they ever-umph-say it at all. And instead of 'vicissim'-God bless my soul-you'd make them say, 'We kiss'im! Umph-umph!" And he chuckled momentarily, forgetting that he was in Ralston's study and not in his own friendly form room. "Well, there you are, Mr. Chipping-that's just an example of what I complain of. You hold one opinion and I hold another, and, since you decline to give way, there can't very well be an alternative. I am to make Brookfield a thoroughly up-to-date school. I'm a science man myself, but for all that I have no objection to the classics-provided that they are taught efficiently. Because they are dead languages is no reason why they should be dealt with in a dead educational technique. I understand, Mr. Chipping, that your Latin and Greek lessons are exactly the same as they were when I began here ten years ago?" Chips answered, slowly and with pride: "For that matter-umph-they are the same as when your predecessor-Mr. Meldrum-came here, and that-umph-was thirty-eight years ago. We began here, Mr. Meldrum and I'in-umph-in 1870. And it was-um-Mr. Meldrum's predecessor, Mr. Wetherby-who first approved my syllabus. 'You'll take the Cicero for the fourth,' he said to me. Cicero, too-not Kickeroo!" "Very interesting, Mr. Chipping, but once again it proves my point-you live too much in the past, and not enough in the present and future. Times are changing, whether you realize it or not. Modern parents are beginning to demand something more for their three years' school fees than a few scraps of languages that nobody speaks. Besides, you boys don't learn even what they're supposed to learn. None of them last year got through the Lower Certificate." And suddenly, in a torrent of thoughts too pressing to
be put into words, Chips made answer to himself. These examinations and
certificates and so on-what did they matter? And all this efficiency and
up-to-dateness-what did that matter either?
Ralston was trying to run Brookfield like a factory-a factory for
turning out a snob culture based on money and machines. The old gentlemanly
traditions of family and broad acres were changing, as doubtless they
were bound to; but instead of widening them to form a genuine inclusive
democracy of duke and dustman, Ralston was narrowing them upon a single
issue of a fat banking account. There never had been so many rich men's
sons at Brookfield. The Speech Day Garden Party was like Ascot. Ralston
met these wealthy fellows in London clubs and persuaded them that Brookfield
was the coming school, and, since they couldn't buy their way into
Eton or Harrow, they greedily swallowed the bait. Awful fellows, some
of them-though others were decent enough. Financiers, company promoters,
pill manufacturers. One of them gave his son five pounds a week pocket
money. Vulgar...ostentatious...all the hectic rotten-ripeness of the age...And
once Chips had got into trouble because of some joke he had
made about a boy's name. The boy wrote home about it, and his father
sent an angry letter to Ralston. Touchy, no sense of humor, no sense of
proportion-that was the matter with them, these new fellows...No sense
of proportion. And it was a sense of proportion, above all things, that
Brookfield ought to teach-not so much Latin or Greek or Chemistry or Mechanics.
And you couldn't expect to test that sense of proportion by setting papers
and granting certificates...
All this flashed through his mind in an instant of protest and indignation, but he did not say a word of it. He merely gathered his tattered gown together and with an "umph-umph" and walked a few paces away. He had had enough of the argument. At the door he turned and said: "I don't-umph-intend to resign-and you can-umph-do what you like about it!" |
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From Memoria Press's |
You have only really misspelled a word if you did it
by accident. That is the lesson you learn from the rhetorical figure
called metaplasmus. Metaplasmus is the intentional misspelling
of a word for rhetorical effect. This kind of figure is not often
found in the Bible, but is quite common in Shakespeare. And, like
the figures of rhetoric generally, the metaplasmus can be divided
into four different kinds: those of addition, those of omission, those of
substitution, and those of arrangement. Let's take a look at one of
each of these:
This is called a prosthesis, which is one kind of metaplasmus of addition. It is from Part I of Shakespeare's Henry IV.
This is called a apocope, a type of metaplasmus of omission. It is from The Merchant of Venice.
This is called an antisthecon, a metaplasmus of substitution. It is from Troilus and Cressida. Finally, we have a metatheses, a figure of arrangement:
This is from The Merry Wives of Windsor. Yore spell checker won't like 'em; but that doesn't mean wee shouldn't! |
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November 25 is the feast of Christ the King on the church calendar-a perfect time to study "Christus Vincit." |
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The last Sunday before
Advent is the feast of Christ the King. In Memoria Press's new Lingua Angelica
program, students study "Christus Vincit," a perfect way to celebrate this
feast day-and it's easy to learn! There are only
four words in "Christus Vincit," and all the verbs are in the present tense.
It goes as follows:
That's all! If we translate that into English, we get the following:
Your Latin student will learn that "Christus" is the nominative, singular form of "Christus" and is the subject of the sentence. He should recognize this if he knows his second declension nouns. The words "regnat" and "imperat" are both 3rd person singular forms of "regno" and "impero", which are first conjugation Latin verbs, and both are in the present tense, the first tense studied. The word "vincit" is also 3rd person singular, whose vocabulary form is "vinco," which is a third conjugation Latin verb. It is also in the present tense. Studying "Christus Vincit" is a great way to reinforce the knowledge of second declension nouns as well as simple verbs in the present tense. |
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| Memoria Press Contest: | |
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After
receiving all of the entries, we created 2 categories, 10-13 year old
and 14 and up. In these categories, we have
two winners. Laura
Tillotson (14
& up) and Ben
Reimold (10-14) submitted the best Latin essays
and English translations about why they love Latin. They have both won
a free book of their choice from Memoria Press (as well as a monastic
hooray). The winning essays are listed below as submitted. Laura Tillotson, age 15
Latin
short essay:
English
Translation:
Ben Reimold, Age 12
Latin
short essay:
English
Translation:
If
you would like to suggest a contest idea for next month, please submit
it to blowe@memoriapress.com. |
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