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1500 questions
86
votes
6 answers
What is Google Translate good for?
Google Translate is notoriously unreliable for Latin.
However, the translations do make some amount of sense.
Is there some kind of translation task involving Latin that Google Translate is relatively reliable for?
I tried it for simple phrases to…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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59
votes
5 answers
Are "-que" and "et" equivalent?
I was taught that one can use the '-que' suffix to string together multiple words, in a similar way to putting 'et' between them.
Are these two equivalent? Did one have a connotation in classical (Caesar-era) Latin that the other didn't?
user11
58
votes
21 answers
Which online Latin dictionaries should I use and why?
What good online Latin dictionaries do you know?
What are their benefits and drawbacks?
Please give only one dictionary per answer.
If you have many dictionaries to suggest, give multiple answers — but read the other answers to avoid duplicating…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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52
votes
6 answers
Why is the Roman acronym SPQR and not SPR?
SPQR stands for "Senātus Populusque Rōmānus". It would be logical (at least in English or Spanish) to expect the initialism or acronym to be SPR. However, the first letter of the conjunction "-que" is also added to the acronym, forming the…
luchonacho
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51
votes
3 answers
Why is the language of ancient Rome called "Latin" instead of "Roman"?
Nearly every human language is named after the people who spoke it, from ancient Egyptian, Hebrew and Greek, to modern tongues such as English, German and Chinese. And then we have the language of the ancient Romans: Latin. Why do we call it that,…
Mason Wheeler
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44
votes
2 answers
Why is "ille" used in Winnie ille Pu and Hobbitus Ille?
I learned early on that Latin has no articles. So why is it, then, that Winnie the Pooh and The Hobbit are translated Winnie ille Pu and Hobbitus Ille?
Wouldn't it be more correct to not translate the article? What is the justification for…
Nathaniel is protesting
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43
votes
4 answers
What punctuation was used in Classical Latin?
Many Classical Latin textbooks typeset their texts with (small and capital letters and) a broad selection of punctuation, like period ., comma ,, colon :, semicolon ;, exclamation mark !, question mark ? and possibly more (e.g. en dash –,…
Earthliŋ
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39
votes
18 answers
How can I study Latin on my own?
What good widely available courses (e.g. textbooks, online classes) are there for people who wish to learn (or continue to learn) Latin on their own?
What are their benefits and drawbacks?
Please give only one course per answer.
If you have many…
Joel Derfner
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38
votes
3 answers
Could all soldiers in the Roman army actually speak Latin?
I am under the impression that men for the legions of the Roman Empire were conscripted across the empire, and so Latin could not have possibly been the first language to every soldier.
But could all soldiers speak and understand Latin to some…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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37
votes
1 answer
Did the Romans use any swear words?
I was reading the book Lingua Latina, Per Se Illustrata by Hans H. Ørberg, and I often saw scenes in which persons were angry. In the book, the writer doesn't use any swear words or anything to that effect. Did the ancient Romans use any swear words…
L. Peters
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37
votes
5 answers
Accusative equals nominative for neuter words – how universal is this and why?
The first mnemonic for Latin case ending I learnt was that for neuter words, the accusative form is always identical to the nominative form. This applies even to exotic word endings like animal or id, and so far I am not aware of any counterexample…
Wrzlprmft
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34
votes
2 answers
How do we know how the Romans pronounced Latin?
A quick Google Search says plenty of things about Roman Latin pronunciation, and since it's an edu domain I'm inclined to believe it. However, the closest to citing a source it gets is saying "we know from grammarians"; it doesn't say anything…
anon
33
votes
3 answers
Are there exceptions to the Latin stress rules?
Do the Latin stress rules (antepenultimate if penultimate is light, penultimate if heavy) have any known exceptions?
If so, what are the exceptions, and what evidence is there in the grammatical canon or in literature or poetry for them?
(Following…
jogloran
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33
votes
2 answers
Why did the letters in the alphabet shift position?
When presented with the Greek alphabet, it is like this:
Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ Η Θ Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν Ξ Ο Π Ρ Σ Τ Υ Φ Χ Ψ Ω
Or the Etruscan alphabet:
A B G D E V Z H Θ I K L M N Ξ O P Ś Q R S T Y X Φ Ψ
But if we are presented with the Latin alphabet, it looks like…
Yadeses
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33
votes
2 answers
What's the difference between vel, aut, -ve, et cetera?
So I see "vel", "aut", and "-ve" being used (mostly) interchangeably in the Latin I read. Is there any idiomatic difference, or can they be used interchangeably?
For example, is it valid Latin (and does it have the right meaning) if I use "-ve" for…
anon