MV118Z Latin for Lawyers I - An Advanced Course

Faculty of Law
Autumn 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Kamila Novotná (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Kamila Novotná
Language Centre, Faculty of Law Division – Language Centre
Contact Person: Lenka Pavlíková
Supplier department: Language Centre, Faculty of Law Division – Language Centre
Timetable of Seminar Groups
MV118Z/01: Mon 29. 9. to Fri 19. 12. Wed 16:00–17:40 129, K. Novotná
Prerequisites
The students are supposed to have studied Latin at the secondary school for at least two years or graduation MV117Z a MV214Zk.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 15 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 13/15, only registered: 0/15, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/15
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
  • Law (programme PrF, PR_) (2)
  • Law (programme PrF, M-PPV)
Course objectives
Harmonization of students newly arrived from secondary schools (vocabulary for lawyers) and students continuing after two semesters of beginners at the law faculty (less grammar covered). Legal collocations/co-occurrences according to the covered grammar and translating legal definitions in sentences and continuous texts. Based on the mechanisms of vocabulary expansion, significant progress in professional expression.
Learning outcomes
Outcomes Students have a basic overview of semi-sentence constructions and sentence syntax. They translate entire hypotactic sentences of frequent types in law and interpret Latin continuous texts from the field of law. They understand selected differences in legal texts from different periods.
Syllabus
Syllabus 1. Vademecum by semester. Differences in noun patterns. Review of I.-III. declension of nouns and adjectives. Other abbreviations and platitudes in professional texts. 2. Suffixes of nouns. IV. and V. declension of nouns. Word maps with collocations. 3. Prepositions - other meanings and prefixes. Morphematic analysis of Latin words. Assimilation and weakening. Translations of sentences. 4. Latin verb system - review of the present stem. Substantivization. Translation of sentences from law. 5. Plurilingual expressions originating from Latin: adjectives from adverbs and prepositions, composites expressing quantity. Functions of the present participle of the active. 6. Subjunctive of the imperfect and present. Overview of hypotaxis. Subordinate clauses determining, final and their combinations. Content sentences requesting. 7. Formation of the Latin perfect stem. Indicative of the perfect active. Forms of conditional sentences. 8. Semantics of simple cases: ablative. Accusative construction with infinitive. Translation of a continuous text. 9. Semantics of simple cases: genitive. Latin throughout history: Archaic Leges XII tabularum – examples. Its influence on other Romance languages. 10. Inscriptions from Kutná Hora. Semantic shifts over the centuries. Semi-sentential construction of the nominative with infinitive. 11. Theoretical possibilities of text interpretation and practical experiments. 12. Ablative absolute.
Literature
  • ŠEDOVÁ, Marie a Marta SEVEROVÁ. Latina pro právníky. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2008, ISBN 978-80-210-3805-9 a další dotisky.
Teaching methods
Interactive language seminar with ongoing home preparation according to the scripts and the current Interactive curriculum (in IS MUNI). Quizzes, interpretation of legal definitions, active expansion of vocabulary even for plurilingualism, refining meanings – word maps. With ongoing homework.
Assessment methods
Assessment methods Credit for the semester is awarded upon meeting the following conditions: participation and work in seminars with ongoing completion of tasks (50%) and successful completion of the credit test (50%). Minimum for awarding credit: 60%.
Náhradní absolvování
In the case of a trip abroad, it is possible to complete the course in an alternative form. Details can be found in the Basic Interactive Course Syllabus.
Language of instruction
Czech
Follow-Up Courses
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 1999, Autumn 2000, Autumn 2001, Autumn 2002, Autumn 2003, Autumn 2004, Autumn 2005, Autumn 2006, Autumn 2007, Autumn 2008, Autumn 2009, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2011, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2015, Autumn 2016, Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2023, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/law/autumn2025/MV118Z