Is Latin a dead language? Twitter suggests it is alive and well

Almost without fail, whenever I mention to someone that I am currently studying Latin - because they've asked what classes I am taking - they ask one straightforward question: "Isn't Latin a dead language?" Maybe you've asked the question yourself.

The simple answer is, "No, Latin is not a dead language and, just like any other language, will not be  until no one alive can read, write, or speak in Latin." That day is a long way off.

I mention this today because of something Greg Burke, Senior Adviser for Communications at the Secretary of State of the Holy See, tweeted this afternoon:

Lingua Mortua? Nondum. @Pontifex #Latin over 250k followers Beats #Germany #Poland; could catch #France
— Greg Burke (@GregBurkeRome) May 27, 2014

The Latin version of the Pope's Twitter handle (@Pontifex_ln) has some 251,000 followers. That hardly seems like a dead language. More people follow the Pope in Latin than follow him in Arabic, German, or Polish. A dead language, indeed.

By comparison, here are the numbers for the other language version (as of 2:30 p.m. Rome time):

• Arabic (@Pontifex_ar): 129,000
• English (@Pontifex): 4,090,000
• French (@Pontifex_fr): 272,000
• German (@Pontifex_de): 191,000
• Italian (@Pontifex_it): 1,720,000
• Polish (@Pontifex_pl): 227,000
• Portuguese (@Pontifex_pt): 1,050,000
• Spanish (@Pontifex_es): 5,770,000