Why Greek is still a living language and Latin isn’t: a talk by Dr Rupert Thompson

On Monday 16th November at 4.30 pm, Dr Rupert Thompson will be speaking on:

‘Why Greek is still a living language and Latin isn’t’

Latin is universally held to be a ‘dead language’, but Greek has since antiquity been the language of the Hellenic people and remains the official language of Greece and Cyprus to the present day. What is meant by a ‘dead language’? How do languages ‘die’? And what accounts for the different fates of Latin and Greek?

Rupert Thompson is Lecturer in Classics (Philology and Linguistics) and Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge. He has a particular interest in historical and comparative linguistics.

The talk is hosted by the St Paul’s Girls’ School Classics Society. Tea and cake will be served from 4.00 in the Dining Hall and the talk will be held in the Old Library. The event will finish between 5.30 and 6.00. There is no charge.

The address of the school is St Paul’s Girls’ School, Brook Green, London, W6 7BS; main telephone 020 7603 2288. The nearest tube is Hammersmith.

All are welcome, but if you or your pupils would like to attend, please email Gregory Wilsdon at gregory.wilsdon@spgs.org with expected numbers as soon as possible and at the latest by Friday 13th November.