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Why are "esurivi" and "sitivi" used in perfect, but "hospes eram" in imperfect in the same context?
There is a fragment of Gospel of Matthew (in Vulgata):
(...), esurivi enim et dedistis mihi manducare, sitivi et dedistis
mihi bibere, hospes eram et collegistis me (...)
My question is: Why exactly are "esurivi" and "sitivi" used in perfect…
Marek Lipka
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Vivitne metaphora "de" in "demonstro"?
I found the following inscription above a sundial outside the York Minster:
LVCEM DEMONSTRAT VMBRA
This seems extraordinarily poetic to me, for many reasons. One reason is the reversal of prosaic word order, aligning with the reversal of light's…
Ben Kovitz
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Ambiguitas casus genitivi?
The first sentence of the introduction to the Systema Naturæ by Linnaeus is:
Homo mundi intraturus theatrum quæritur Quis sit.
How do you tell what noun goes with mundi? Grammatically, two interpretations come to mind:
A man of the world about to…
Ben Kovitz
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What underlying semantic notions explain the meaning of 'against' for the preposition 'in'?
[Wiktionary :]
1. (governs the ablative) in, at, on (space) [quotations ▼]
2. (governs the dative) within (time)
3. (governs the accusative) into, to [quotations ▼]
4. (governs the accusative) about
5. (governs the accusative)…
user37
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Contracted perfect and historical infinitive
The present infinitive is sometimes used as a predicate in a past tense sentence.
The use context is similar to praesens historicum.
My grammar gives two examples:
Nihil Galli respondere, sed in eadem tristitia permanere. (The Gauls did not respond…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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Is my translation correct (Koine Greek silly sentence)
(I understand that questions about Greek are on topic here, apologies if this doesn't cover Koine Greek.)
I'm wondering how to translate the following:
Ό του Χριστου σταυρος φιλος ανθρωποις
My translation is:
The cross of Christ is the love of…
TheIronKnuckle
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How are εὔχομαι and voveo cognates?
The verb εὔχομαι means "to pray", and it shows up before the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) as προσεύχεσθε. I was curious to learn more about this word, so of course I looked it up in Wiktionary, and found this:
From Proto-Indo-European *h₁wegʷʰ-.…
ktm5124
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Is there a latin word for 'plausible deniability'?
Plausible deniability in English is a condition in which a subject can safely and believably deny knowledge of any particular truth that may exist so as to shield the subject from any responsibility associated with the knowledge of such truth.
Is…
Awn
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Can decisions be wise?
I was asked recently how to translate "a wise decision" (as either the act of deciding, or the result) into Latin. "Wisdom" could perhaps be the Greek loanword sophia or the native Latin sapientia; a decision might be a consilium or an arbitrium.…
Draconis
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Quando "a fortiori" ortum est?
Quando vocabulum a fortiori (sive a fortiore) ortum est ut nomen artis legis logicæve? In quo opere scripto primum apparuit?
Volo intellegere eius rationem originis verificareque verbum elisum "ratione" esse. (Vocabulum a fortiore enim idem…
Ben Kovitz
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He is known for...?
How would one best translate the English idiom "to be known for", as in "he is known for defeating the Gauls"? This came up when discussing uses of the gerund, but in English the idiom also works with a non-verbal noun, as in "he is known for his…
Draconis
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Is the perfect participle in deponent verbs active or passive in meaning?
I recently read this interesting question in which Joonas provides a very instructive answer. It still left me, however, with some questions.
"Confitentes iterum ac tertio interrogavi supplicium minatus;" (Plin. Ep. 10.96)
[They were] confessing…
ktm5124
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Help with translating "For those about to die, we salute you" ?
I want to riff off the famous saying "those about to die salute you".
According to wikipedia the original is:
"Ave, Imperator, morituri te salutant" ("Hail, Emperor, those who are about to die salute you")
I want to change it to "Hail, Project…
Alex Kinman
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Translating -ish and -aster endings
There are ways in Latin of expressing less-than-completeness, but I'm intrigued by the strange-ish (!) and allegedly related etymologies given in English dictionaries for these two endings, which are claimed to be derived from Latin and earlier…
Tom Cotton
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The logical "then"
I am interested in translating the word "then" in logical statements like this: "If a number is prime, then it is squarefree."
Or maybe better: "If x is even and x+y is odd, then y is odd."
In common language one would not use a "then" at all, but…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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