On 27/12/2007, Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net wrote:
Also if you look at what is available facing the title page of the Harry Potter books, somebody is intent on translating them into Latin.
They're quite good translations, I am assured! Winnie the Pooh, too...
Latin is a unique case.
If we were talking a hundred or more years ago, we would also have to consider a sizable ediucated population which was in effect bilingual in a dialect of Latin; consistently a second language by the strict definition, but not uncommonly used as a first in some situations. Nowadays, whilst it clearly has no "born" speakers, or only a statistically irrelevant amount, it does get taught to a sizable population in secondary and tertiary education, as well as its widespread use as a liturgical language, and there is heavy lobbying to ensure it keeps being taught.
In effect, it perfectly fits the definition of a dying minority lanugage :-)