Looking for expert Latin translation services? Since 2003, Green Crescent has been delivering professional translation services between English and Latin to clients globally. We specialize in various fields, including academic, legal, religious, and historical texts. Our team ensures accurate, high-quality translations tailored to your specific needs. Get a fast, free Latin translation quote today!
Our Comprehensive Latin Translation Services
Green Crescent’s skilled team of Latin translators includes subject matter experts for academic, historical, and ecclesiastical needs. We provide precise translations tailored to various forms of Latin, including:
- Classical Latin
- Ecclesiastical Latin
- Medieval Latin
We specialize in both English to Latin and Latin to English translations, offering the following services:
Simple Translation
Our simple translations in the English/Latin language pair are designed for basic communication needs. These translations are completed by a single Latin translator without the involvement of an editor or proofreader, and therefore should not be considered final work for most professional or formal use cases. While they are typically of high quality, simple translations are essentially "rough drafts" that do not go through additional editing, proofreading, or other quality control processes. These translations are ideal for personal letters, informal communications, initial drafts that will later be revised, or for situations where you need to quickly understand the general meaning or "gist" of a Latin text.
Standard Translation (TEP)
Our Standard Latin Translation service is designed to provide high-quality translations for academic or personal use, including historical texts, classical literature, and other content. This service includes translation, editing, and proofreading (TEP) to ensure the highest level of accuracy and clarity in your Latin communications.
Organization Critical Translation (TEP+)
Our Organization Critical Latin Translation service is designed for situations where perfection is essential. This option is recommended for texts intended for academic publishing, religious documents, or historical research, where an error could be critical. Each translated line is reviewed by a minimum of three linguists, with multiple rounds of proofreading. Subject matter experts (SMEs) may be involved as needed throughout the Latin translation, editing, and proofreading (TEP) process.
Bilingual Editing
Bilingual Editing for Latin Translation is the process of editing a translated text by comparing both the source and target texts in the English/Latin language pair. The editor, fluent in the source language and a skilled Latin translator, ensures that the translation is accurate, consistent, and faithful to the source text while also maintaining clarity and fluency in Latin. This step occurs after the initial translation in our TEP (Translation, Editing, Proofreading) Organization Critical and Standard Translation services. We also offer this service as a standalone option for translations completed by individuals or organizations not affiliated with Green Crescent.
Proofreading
With each additional round of editing and proofreading, the error rate of a document approaches perfection. Our proofreading service for English to Latin and Latin to English translations involves reviewing a single-language text to identify and correct surface-level errors, such as spelling mistakes, grammar issues, punctuation errors, and formatting inconsistencies. This step is the final phase in our TEP (Translation, Editing, Proofreading) Organization Critical and Standard translation services. We also offer proofreading as a standalone service for translations completed by individuals or organizations not affiliated with Green Crescent.
Back-translation
Back-translation is relevant for academic and research purposes where original Latin texts have been translated into modern languages and need verification. An independent linguist translates a previously translated text back into Latin without reference to the original document, and the resulting text is then compared to the original translation to verify its accuracy and suitability.
Peer Review
Green Crescent offers peer review services for Latin translations, providing an unbiased assessment by linguists who were not involved in the original translation process. This is particularly useful for academic publishing and historical research, ensuring the accuracy, style, and relevance of the translation.
SME Review
Subject Matter Expert (SME) review is crucial for highly specialized Latin texts, such as ancient legal, religious, and philosophical works. This review ensures that the content is linguistically accurate and aligns with the specific knowledge areas required for the translation of historical documents.
Additional Language Services and Options for Latin
Certified Translation
Green Crescent provides certified translations of a wide range of historical and religious documents, including ancient legal texts, religious manuscripts, classical literature, and much more, in both Latin and English. Our certified translations are recognized for their accuracy and are suitable for academic and research purposes.
Rush Service
If you require expedited service, Green Crescent can usually accommodate such requests. However, please note that rushing translations often comes with trade-offs, which may affect both price and consistency. Please consult with a project manager for more details.
Discounts
Volume discounts are available for large projects, long-term clients, and for non-profits, academic institutions, NGOs, and government organizations.
Minimum Fee
There is a minimum project fee of $75.00 USD per language, which can be reduced or waived for regular clients.
Additional Language Services
In addition to translation, Green Crescent offers a range of other Latin language services, including transcription of ancient manuscripts, academic research support, and linguistic analysis.
About the Latin Language
Latin, known locally as "Lingua Latīna," is one of the most historically influential languages in the world. As the language of the Roman Empire, Latin laid the foundation for many modern languages, including Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian, known collectively as the Romance languages. Latin is still used today in academic, legal, and ecclesiastical contexts, particularly within the Catholic Church and in scientific nomenclature.
While no longer spoken as a native language, Latin has a deep cultural and historical significance. It is the key to understanding many classical texts and continues to be studied for its linguistic, literary, and philosophical value.
The Cultural Context, History, and Linguistic Features of Latin
Latin has a rich history dating back over two millennia. It was the language of Roman law, administration, and literature, and its influence has endured in Western civilization. The earliest known Latin inscriptions date from the 7th century BCE, and the language evolved through various stages, from Old Latin to Classical Latin, which is the form most widely studied today.
Classical Latin was used by writers like Cicero, Virgil, and Ovid and served as the literary language of the Roman Empire. After the fall of the empire, Latin remained in use throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance as the lingua franca of educated Europeans. It was the language of scholarship, science, religion, and diplomacy for centuries.
Linguistically, Latin is known for its highly inflected structure, meaning that words change form depending on their role in a sentence. This inflection affects nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs, which all have different endings based on case, number, and gender. This makes Latin quite different from English, which relies more on word order to convey meaning.
The Writing System: Latin Alphabet
The Latin language is written in the Latin alphabet, which is the basis for the alphabets of many modern languages, including English. The original Latin alphabet consisted of 23 letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X, and Z, and it was in use for centuries, from around the 7th century BCE until the medieval period. During this time, "I" and "V" served dual purposes, functioning as both vowels and consonants. For example, "I" could represent the vowel sound [i] or the consonantal sound [j] (as in "Julius"), and "V" could represent both the vowel [u] and the consonant [v].
The letter "Y" was also introduced during the 1st century BCE when Latin borrowed heavily from Greek. "Y" was adopted from the Greek letter upsilon (Υ) and was used to represent sounds in Greek loanwords, such as in the word "hymnus." Though initially pronounced as the Greek [y], over time, Latin speakers began using a sound closer to "i," further enriching the Latin alphabet's phonetic range.
Later, in medieval Latin, the letters "J," "U," and "W" were introduced to distinguish these vowel and consonant sounds more clearly. "J" emerged as a consonantal form of "I" in the 16th century, while "U" was separated from "V" to represent the vowel sound, and "V" remained for the consonantal sound. "W," a later addition, developed as a double "V" to represent sounds found in Germanic languages and was first used in Old English. These additions brought the alphabet to the 26 letters we use today in modern English, but for many centuries, the original 23 letters served as the core of the Latin script.
Latin Alphabet
The classical Latin alphabet used in ancient texts includes:
- Consonants: A, B, C, D, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X, Z
- Vowels: A, E, I, O, U
Latin is written from left to right, and unlike English, it has no distinction between upper and lowercase letters in its classical form. However, in modern texts, uppercase and lowercase letters are commonly used, particularly in printed works.
Key Linguistic Differences Between Latin and English for Translation
Several linguistic differences between Latin and English need to be carefully considered when translating between the two languages:
Inflection and Word Order: Latin is a highly inflected language, meaning that the endings of words change to indicate their function in a sentence. This contrasts with English, where word order (Subject-Verb-Object) is crucial to determining meaning. For example, the word "puella" (girl) in Latin can appear as "puellam," "puellae," or "puella" depending on its role in the sentence (subject, object, or possession), whereas English would rely on positioning and prepositions to convey this information.
Gendered Nouns: Latin assigns gender to all nouns, and adjectives and verbs must agree with the gender of the noun they modify. This can present challenges in translation, as English does not have grammatical gender for most nouns. For example, "amicus" (friend) is masculine, while "amica" (friend) is feminine, and this distinction must be preserved in translation.
Verb Conjugation: Latin verbs are highly conjugated, changing form based on tense, mood, voice, person, and number. For example, the verb "amare" (to love) can take many forms such as "amo" (I love), "amavi" (I loved), or "amatus" (loved, passive). In English, verb conjugation is simpler, and auxiliary verbs are often used to express tenses and moods, which requires careful consideration in translation to maintain accuracy.
Case System: Latin uses a system of five cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and ablative) to indicate the grammatical function of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in a sentence. This is very different from English, which uses prepositions and word order rather than cases. For example, "dominus" (the master) in the nominative case becomes "dominum" (the master, as the direct object) in the accusative case.
No Articles: Latin lacks definite and indefinite articles like "the" or "a" in English. Translators must infer whether a noun is definite or indefinite based on context, which can significantly affect the meaning of a sentence.
By understanding these key linguistic features, Green Crescent ensures that our Latin translation services are precise and faithful to the original texts, whether translating legal, historical, or religious documents.
An Insight into Latin Expression
This passage is from the famous speech "Pro Milone" by Cicero, delivered in 52 BCE. It is a powerful defense of self-defense and republican values, marking one of Cicero’s greatest orations during the late Roman Republic.
- Latin: "Silent enim leges inter arma."
- English Translation: "In times of war, the laws fall silent."