Most Popular
1500 questions
9
votes
2 answers
Three forms of a Latin verb?
Why do Latin to English dictionaries list three forms of a Latin verb? I've seen this other places like grammar books too. For example:
sedeō, sēdī, sessum: to sit.
There's no Latin keyboard for my phone, so please excuse the mixed up symbol for…
Luke Sheppard
- 377
- 2
- 5
9
votes
3 answers
"Populus Romanus Quiritium" as vocative?
In Latin Prose Composition by John Arbuthnot Nairn (Cambridge UP, 1926; p. 5 of "Versions" section), I find the following as a translation of Shakespeare's "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears":
Populus Romanus Quiritium, amicique et…
TKR
- 31,292
- 2
- 66
- 120
9
votes
1 answer
Hexametric Greek names
A number of Greek names encountered in hexameter follow the syllable length pattern -vv-; consider for example Penelope, Telemachos, Calliope, Terpsichore.
The pattern -v-- is absent as the metric would not permit it, but I find it hard to believe…
Joonas Ilmavirta
- 113,294
- 21
- 192
- 587
9
votes
1 answer
Why did the Romans perceive darkness, ᴛᴇɴᴇʙʀᴀᴇ, as a plural count noun?
Why did the Romans perceive darkness, tenebrae, as a plural count noun? [Perseus corpus-search reference]
Or perhaps the better question is: what special nuance is conveyed by the
plural tenebrae which would be lost were the…
tchrist
- 265
- 3
- 8
9
votes
4 answers
Can "illa" be used to mean "there?"
Dīxit, et potentem hastam magnīs vīribus manūs sinistrae in uterum equī iēcit; stetit illa, tremēns.
Does stetit illa refer to the spear? As in "it stands there?" Is illa capable of carrying that meaning?
This passage is from Wheelock's Latin.
Nickimite
- 2,953
- 8
- 14
9
votes
3 answers
Semantic differences between verbs of thinking
Latin has lots of verbs which can be translated as "think", including puto, opinor, arbitror, existimo, reor, censeo, cogito, and doubtless many others.
How might one get a handle on the semantic nuances that distinguish these verbs? Ideally, I'd…
TKR
- 31,292
- 2
- 66
- 120
9
votes
1 answer
Is it idiomatic to say "Intellego" to assure the speaker you're understanding?
In other words, when an English speaking person would say "I see" meaning "I understand what you're saying", is it natural in classical Latin to say Intellego, as in, maybe even more than once? If not, is there such an idiom at all?
Vincenzo Oliva
- 4,508
- 1
- 15
- 37
9
votes
1 answer
The spelling of τηλικοῦτος
Why is τηλικοῦτος (< τηλικ + οὗτος) not spelled τηλιχοῦτος? Cf. e. g. ἀφορισμός.
Toothrot
- 589
- 2
- 8
9
votes
1 answer
What's the Latin or Greek for ladybug?
I'm curious whether we know the Classical Latin or Greek names of the ladybug. I can't find the word in any of the dictionaries I have access to at the moment, and googling turns up this reddit thread where the question is raised but not answered.…
TKR
- 31,292
- 2
- 66
- 120
9
votes
1 answer
Are there attestations of Greco-Latin contact languages from antiquity?
When speakers of different languages meet they often develop some contact language or pidgin containing elements of both languages. Surely speakers of Greek and Latin met in the antiquity at several places (e.g., sea ports or the border between…
Sir Cornflakes
- 2,307
- 1
- 14
- 36
9
votes
2 answers
How would I say "fallen" in a Christian sense?
Suppose I want to talk about "fallen angels": angels who (according to some Abrahamic sects) rebelled against God and were cast out of Heaven.
What would be the appropriate word for this? I'm not very familiar with Christian terminology in Latin.
Draconis
- 66,625
- 6
- 117
- 269
9
votes
1 answer
Audio and video... and tango?
Audio and video are two (apparently XX-century) concepts.
Both take the same form as 1st-person sing., present tense Latin verbs. Wiktionary articles for the English words (audio, video) assert that their etymology actually is that of those verbal…
Rafael
- 11,428
- 2
- 32
- 66
9
votes
1 answer
Why is elision more common than synizesis?
In classical poetry, if two vowels are next to each other (without a consonant in between), there are two ways to avoid the collision:
Elision removes one of the vowels when the vowels meet at a word boundary.
Synizesis works within a word,…
Joonas Ilmavirta
- 113,294
- 21
- 192
- 587
9
votes
1 answer
Interchange between u- and o-stem forms in suffixed derivatives (e.g. "lectus", "lectuarius")
A little while back, I asked a question about the alleged Latin word "tribalis" (which it seems was not actually used), and I mentioned that it seemed to me that it would be an irregular formation because tribus is a u-stem noun, but tribālis does…
Asteroides
- 28,832
- 1
- 80
- 144
9
votes
1 answer
Help with stained glass lettering
This jpg shows what I think is Latin lettering on a stained glass window at a Japanese wedding chapel:
If it is Latin, I'd appreciate (1) an English translation and (2) the lettering deciphered into legible English letters.
niconiko
- 93
- 2