Latin in Modern Languages : An Interpreter's Guide

Throughout the Master of Arts in Conference Interpreting at the FTI, University of Geneva, Switzerland, which prepares students to work as conference interpreters, the topic of preparedness and what constitutes good preparation for a specific subject, conference or assignment is frequently discussed. Similarly, an interpreter's range of knowledge of the world, or culture générale, is pointed to as absolutely necessary and something that should be constantly improved. This paper examines one small portion of that general cultural knowledge that is Latin. A historical linguistic review of the language is provided as well as a corpus-based analysis of three areas of interest – medicine, law and general cultural references – to find where Latin phrases and expressions are still to be found in modern French and English speeches. The aim is to provide students and beginning interpreters with a tool to improve their knowledge in this area and deal more effectively with Latin when they are confronted with it while working.