Latinisation (orLatinization)[1]of names, also known asonomastic Latinisation, is the practice of changing certain non-Latin names into a form that more closely fits thestyle, structure, and rules of Latin.[1] The practice is found with historicalproper names, includingpersonal names andtoponyms, and in the standardbinomial nomenclature of the life sciences. In present-day English, the practice of using Latinised names for certain prominent individuals began in themedieval period of Europe and peaked in theRenaissance. In some cases, the individuals themselves even used or created these Latinised names.
Latinisation is distinct fromromanisation, which is thetransliteration of a word to theLatin alphabet, more or less letter-for-letter or sound-for-sound, from another script (e.g. the writing systems ofCyrillic,Devanagari/Hindi,Arabic, etc.). For authors writing in Latin, this change allows the name to function grammatically in a sentence throughdeclension. Many other reasons for an author to apply this to their own name also existed, such as forming a more international identity or hiding the modest social background revealed by their origin name.
In a scientific context, the main purpose of Latinisation may be to produce a name which is internationally consistent.
Latinisation may be carried out by:
English, and sometimes other modern European languages, use Latinised names for certain historical figures from the medieval and particularly Renaissance periods, or in references that begin in the Renaissance to even older figures.
Renaissance humanists largely assumed Latinised names, though in some cases (e.g.Melanchthon) they invokedAncient Greek. For instance,Beatus Bild fromRhinau assumed the Latinised named Beatus Rhenanus. Latinisation in humanist names may consist of translation from vernacular European languages, sometimes involving a playful element ofpunning. Such names could also be a cover for humble social origins.[2]
The title of the "Wilhelmus",national anthem of theNetherlands, preserves a Latinised form of the name ofWilliam the Silent.[3]
Some English examples of Latinised names that are typical for certain historical figures include:
In English, place names often appear in Latinised form. This is a result of many early text books mentioning the places being written in Latin. Because of this, the English language often uses Latinised forms of foreign place names instead of anglicised forms or the original names.
Examples of Latinised names for countries or regions are:
Eboracum was the Latinised name for the modern English cityYork. It is a Latinised form of theBrittonic name*Eburākon which means 'place of (the) yew trees'. The Common Brittonic language was spoken by theindigenous people of Britainand evolved into modernWelsh,Cornish, andBreton (Brezhoneg).
Latinisation is a common practice forscientific names. For example,Livistona, the name of a genus of palm trees, is a Latinisation ofLivingstone.
During the age of theRoman Empire, translation of names intoLatin (in the West) orGreek (in the East) was common. Additionally, Latinised versions of Greeksubstantives, particularlyproper nouns, could easily bedeclined by Latin speakers with minimal modification of the original word.[4]
During themedieval period, after the Empire collapsed inWestern Europe, the main bastion of scholarship was theRoman Catholic Church, for which Latin was the primary written language. In the early medieval period, most European scholars were priests and most educated people spoke Latin, and as a result, Latin became firmly established as the scholarly language for the West.
By the early 19th century, Europe had largely abandoned Latin as a scholarly language (most scientific studies and scholarly publications are printed in English), but a variety of fields still use Latin terminology as the norm. By tradition, it is still common in some fields to name new discoveries in Latin. And because Western science became dominant during the 18th and 19th centuries, the use of Latin names in many scholarly fields has gained worldwide acceptance, at least when European languages are being used for communication.