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What do we know about Vulgar Latin pronunciation?
Nowadays, most Latinists learn the "reconstructed classical" pronunciation: an attempt at reconstructing the way Cicero, Caesar, or Vergil might have spoken in formal settings.
However, it seems fairly clear that this wasn't how an everyday Roman…
Draconis
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How many distinct forms does a typical Latin verb have?
I thought I read somewhere that Latin verbs usually have about 150 different endings, but when I looked over a paradigm table I only found around 90. How many distinct forms do you need to memorize, say, for a regular verb in -are, to know all the…
Ben Kovitz
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What augmentative options are there in Latin?
Augmentative, the opposite of diminutive, is a derived word that means greater size or extent.
Diminutives are common and productive in Latin, but how about the opposite?
Some Romance languages have augmentatives similarly to diminutives like the…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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Translating "Father knows beer best" into Latin
I'm making a label for my dad's homebrew as a Christmas gift and I'd love to include "Father knows beer best" in Latin as the motto of his company. Could anybody help translate that for me?
Julia
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Are Latin feminine academic titles used in formal occasions?
Many universities use Latin in some ceremonial occasions.
Many academic titles in Latin are masculine but have natural feminine counterparts:
doctor–doctrix,
lector–lectrix,
professor–profestrix.
Are these feminine versions used in today's formal…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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Is there a difference between septimana and hebdomas?
My dictionary gives two translations for "week": septimāna and hebdomas (gen. hebdomadis, feminine).
Is there a difference between these two words?
Are there contexts where only one of them is valid?
The word septimana is more common in my…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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Unde "-cundus"?
I have learned that there is a suffix -cundus, found in words like fecundus, jucundus/jocundus, and rubicundus, which means something like "full of" or "characterized by." It seems to often be mentioned along with participles ending in -ndus and…
Asteroides
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Why "dilatasti" instead of "dilatavisti" in Psalm 4:2?
(Psalm 4:2) cum invocarem exaudivit me Deus iustitiae meae in tribulatione dilatasti mihi miserere mei et exaudi orationem meam
When I called upon him, the God of my justice heard me: when I was in distress, thou hast enlarged me. Have mercy on me:…
Pascal's Wager
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Exactly what is a declension?
I was reading a Latin grammar book (Jenney's First Year Latin, for the curious) having recently resolved to learn a bit about the language and what I understood was as follows:
Latin is an inflected language, i.e., conjugations for verbs and…
auden
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Could we say "dies mirabilis" as we say "annus mirabilis"?
"Annus mirabilis" is an expression which refers to a wonderful year like 1905 for A. Einstein and modern physics.
What would be the equivalent for a single day? Is "dies mirabilis" the correct form?
Answers for weeks, months or seasons are also…
user3165
10
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4 answers
Which are the longest words in Latin?
Today I was reading 1 Samuel 5 in the Vulgata and in verse 9 these two words are found:
... circumducentibus ... computrescebant ...
which surprised me for their length (16 and 15 letters respectively). So, which are the longest, attested words in…
luchonacho
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What is "user account" in Latin?
I was thinking about expanding our help page in Latin, and I realized I don't know a good expression for "user account" in Latin.
A "user" can be reasonably translated as usor, but "account" is harder.
The words that I have found (ratio, computum,…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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10
votes
3 answers
Did the Romans 'tip' for good service?
I need to refer in Latin to the modern practice of 'tipping' in return for good service. I am well aware of words and phrases for 'reward', which are essentially correct for my purpose, but I should like, if possible, something both specific and…
Tom Cotton
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Is the palatalization of "d" between "a", "i" or "o" and "ie" or "iu" only a Medieval Latin phenomenon?
In Italian and the other Romance languages, the palatalization especially concerns "c" and "g" before "e" or "i". But some words in Italian (or early Italian in the case of meriggio) show the same for "d" when between "a", "i" or "o" and "ie", and…
Vincenzo Oliva
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Can enclitics be chained?
I am active in a small Latin Discord group; a member brought up a question concerning the validity of the following phrase with chained enclitics:
Valēsneque?
(with the enclitics distinguished) Valēs-ne-que?
I assume that their intent was to…
Ethan Bierlein
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