Describing the languages of the world, linguists use different classification principles. Languages are combined into groups according to the geographical (territorial) principle, according to the proximity of the grammatical structure, on the basis of linguistic relevance, use in everyday speech.
Using the last criterion, researchers divide all languages of the world into two large groups - living and dead languages of the world. The main feature of the former is their use in everyday colloquial speech, language practice by a relatively large community of people (people). Living language is constantly used in everyday communication, changing, becoming more complex or simplified over time.
The most noticeable changes occur in the vocabulary (vocabulary) of the language: some words become obsolete, acquire an archaic color, and, on the contrary, more and more new words (neologisms) appear to denote new concepts. Other language systems (morphological, phonetic, syntactic) are more inert, changing very slowly and hardly noticeable.
A dead language, unlike a living one, is not used in everydaylanguage practice. All its systems are immutable, they are conserved, unchanging elements. Dead language, captured in various written monuments.
All dead languages can be divided into two large groups: firstly, those that were once, in the distant past, used for live communication and subsequently, for various reasons, ceased to be used in live human communication (Latin, Greek, Coptic, Old Icelandic, Gothic). The second group of dead languages are those that no one has ever spoken; they were created specifically to perform certain functions (for example, the Old Church Slavonic language appeared - the language of Christian liturgical texts). A dead language is most often transformed into some living, actively used one (for example, ancient Greek gave way to modern languages and dialects of Greece).
Latin has a very special place among the rest. Without a doubt, Latin is a dead language: it has not been used in living colloquial practice since about the sixth century AD.
But, on the other hand, Latin has found the widest application in pharmaceuticals, medicine, scientific terminology, Catholic worship (Latin is the official "state" language of the Holy See and the State of the Vatican). As you can see, "dead" Latin is actively used in various spheres of life, science, and knowledge. All serious philological institutions of higher education must include Latin in the course of study,thus preserving the traditions of classical liberal arts education. In addition, this dead language is the source of short and capacious aphorisms that have passed through the centuries: if you want peace, prepare for war; memento Mori; doctor, heal yourself - all these winged expressions "come" from Latin. Latin is a very logical and harmonious language, cast, without frills and verbal husks; it is not only used for utilitarian purposes (writing recipes, forming a scientific thesaurus), but is also, to some extent, a model, a language standard.
