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9
votes
1 answer
"Desinat in piscem" in Horace's Ars Poetica: morphology or looks or what exactly?
This is about the core meaning of desinat in piscem as in:
Humano capiti ceruicem pictor equinam
iungere si uelit et uarias inducere plumas
undique collatis membris, ut turpiter atrum
desinat in piscem mulier formosa superne,
spectatum…
user425
9
votes
1 answer
"With all due respect" in Latin
Several sites, including the notorious Google Translate, have Salva pace to mean "with all due respect".
However I could not confirm this from classical sources, yet we can find several instances of this usage with either genitive (e.g. "salava pace…
d_e
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9
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Genitive Adjective with no Noun Referent
Praejudicium autem cum dico, non volo intelligi qualecunque praegressum judicium in animo; quasi animus ab omni omnino judicio liber esse debeat: sed judicium quod semel formatum tanti fit, ut eo quis stare velit, atque idcirco rationes omnes…
MichaelJYoo
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9
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Did poets elide across consonants?
I have a definite recollection that Plautus, Ennius, or some other early poet had a tendency to elide across a word-final S, as in (made-up examples) domus et → dom'et and domus est → domu'st. If memory serves, this was discussed in a class on…
Draconis
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Origin of "animabus illis"
In the offertory of the requiem mass there occurs the phrase "tu suscipe pro animabus illis quarum hodie memoriam facimus". I understand that *animabus is used instead of animis, because the latter could be a form of animus just as well as of anima,…
gmvh
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9
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2 answers
Does Greek accent ever affect Latin stress?
Latin borrowed a number of words, including names, from Greek.
Are there any instances where the stress in Latin is not where expected but follows the Greek accent instead?
My impression was always that Latin completely ignores Greek accents and…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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9
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1 answer
What are the different ways to express present continuous tense in Latin?
Latin doesn't have present continuous tense. How to express present continuous tense?
Tobey
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9
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2 answers
Why is Antirrhinum written with two 'r'?
According to Wikipedia Antirrhinum (Dragon flower) is derived from ἀντί anti "against, like", and ῥίς rhis "nose". Therefore, I would expect it to be pronounced Anti-rrhinum (with a long 'i'). But because of the double 'r' I would expect to be…
Corylus
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9
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Quem or quid when asking what something is buying?
I am not sure whether to say "Quem emit Iulius?" or "Quid emit Iulius?" if I want to know what Julius is buying. I know the interrogative pronoun should be in the accusative case but it is not clear to me what gender it should be. As far as I…
user1488
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9
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On the syntax of some datives in a beautiful Ciceronian structure
I was wondering if you would like to share your thoughts on the grammar of the datives in the following texts from Cicero. The second example is a very interesting one provided by Kingshorsey in an answer to a previous related question of mine.…
Mitomino
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9
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2 answers
Hit the lamb with the flower
Page 18 of "Prosodic Phrasing in Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism" by Jessica Mayo, a doctoral dissertation that has nothing to do with Latin (but watch for the relevance, it's coming), describes an experiment in which children are presented…
Ben Kovitz
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9
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5 answers
Does D/L variation go back to a dl cluster?
As outlined here in “Indo-European *d, *l and *dl” by Tim Pulju, there’s a hypothesis going back to Hamp 1972 that the l in Latin lacrima and d in the archaic variant dacruma both represent a dl cluster that derived in this word by long-distance…
Asteroides
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9
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"Interdum sane, qui cogitare se dicit nondum constitutum sibi certi quidquam fatetur"
In the Thesaurus of Iohannes Matthias Gesnerus under cogito: (clearer link)
inter cogitare et deliberare hoc interest, cogitare est dubitare, deliberare, confirmare. Haec Nonius 5,28. Interdum sane, qui cogitare se dicit nondum constitutum sibi…
d_e
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9
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1 answer
Difference between 'urbe' and 'oppidum'?
I have found that LLPSI uses oppidum to describe cities (at least in the early chapters) while Duolingo uses urbe. What is the difference, and which should I usually use?
James
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"cenacula dicuntur, ad quae scalis ascenditur" - why passive singular (ascenditur)?
According to Festus (can be found in L&S under cenaculum):
cenacula dicuntur, ad quae scalis ascenditur
While the overall meaning of the statement is quite clear (namely that the upper room that were accessible by stairs are called cenacula), I…
d_e
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