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Are the words catastrophe and atrophy related?
For context; I am an absolute noob with etymology. But I recently had a thought that made by blood run cold.
Q: Are the words "catastrophe" and "atrophy" related?
Looking at Wikipedia led me to their respective Latin words "catastropha" and…
David Raveh
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8
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Best modern translation for "Emperor"?
The word "Emperor" seems a bit hard to pin down in Latin when looking for a constant expression to use, because of its multiple synonyms that seem to have been employed frequently throughout history. I would like to know which you all think should…
Victor BC
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How would you say "A butterfly is landing on a flower." in Latin?
How would you say "A butterfly is landing on a flower." in Latin? Specifically, which word would you use for "to land"?
In a song called "Aeromiting u vrtu", sung by Oliver Dragojević, the author uses the very-Latin-sounding word "aterira" for that.…
FlatAssembler
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8
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Cicero about paragraph marks
I have looked on the Internet about books with no punctuation marks and found a post by Thomas Musselman at Quora:
Punctuation is a post-3rd Century invention so when you read older texts you are reading them with someone sticking in punctuation…
jsx97
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8
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How did the Romans wish happy holidays?
The Roman year included many festive occasions.
In today's world it is customary to wish merry Christmas, happy Easter, and other such things.
Did the Romans do the same during their own festivals, celebrations or vacations?
If they did, how did…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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8
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Is 'extra' an adverb or preposition here?
At hæc causa (per notam II et III) non potest in ipsa natura humana contineri quandoquidem vera hominis definitio numerum vicenarium non involvit adeoque (per notam IV) causa cur hi viginti homines existunt et consequenter cur unusquisque existit,…
Aili J.
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8
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When and why did "Σ" make a comeback?
Math uses "Σ", as does modern Greek. But according to Wikipedia, "Σ" disappeared during late antiquity and the Middle Ages:
In handwritten Greek during the Hellenistic period (4th–3rd century BC), the epigraphic form of Σ was simplified into a…
MWB
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8
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What are some ancient Greek words from which a word-internal digamma was lost?
It's been 4,000 years since I studied ancient Greek, and the only words I can remember that once contained digammas started with the letter: οἶνος, οἶδα, and so on.
Were there word-internal digammas of whose existence we have evidence? If so, what…
Joel Derfner
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8
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Transcribing and translating the passage read by Thomas More in Wolf Hall
I've been trying to correctly determine what the character of Thomas More is reading at the beginning of episode 3 of BBC's Wolf Hall. From the context and my pitiful knowledge of Latin, I understand it to be some book used by inquisitors, but my…
Cyril
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How to say 'that' as a conjunction as in "I'm pleased that it is friday"?
I see this use of 'that' in English sentences all the time connecting subordinate clauses and such. I was wondering how'd you say something like "I'm pleased that it is Friday" or "He told me that it will be easy" in latin.
I'm unsure if it uses…
MWB_Primus
- 81
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8
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1 answer
In “word x is case y”, what dictates the verb’s number?
In the languages I am familiar with where verbs are pluralised, if you have more than one subject, the verb has to agree in number to however many subjects there are. However, in Lingua latīna per sē illūstrāta : Pars 1 : Exercitia latīna I, this…
Canned Man
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In the construction "magno argumento esse", does "argumento" take an explanatory infinitive?
Cicero, Phil. 2.16: Quod autem idem maestitiam meam reprehendit, idem iocum, magno argumento est me in utroque fuisse moderatum.
Cicero, ND 1.1 (LCL 268): De qua tam variae sunt doctissimorum hominum tamque discrepantes sententiae, ut magno…
Kingshorsey
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Idiomatic translation of "By the book"
What is an idiomatic translation of the English phrase "by the book", as in "We run our business by the book?"
I'm not sure if a very literal translation, e.g. "per librum," makes sense or has any historical precedent -- I'm looking for a…
Jasha
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8
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Canonical version of Metamorphoses
I am trying to verify a statement about Ovid's Metamorphoses made in the Wikipedia page on the subject.
The claim is that it contains 11,995 verses.
The following questions arise:
Can I define the verse count precisely?
What is the verse count for…
David
- 183
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8
votes
1 answer
Where can I hear the original pronunciation of the Latin alphabet?
Is there a difference between the pronunciation of c, k and q in classical Latin?
If they are all the same, why have three different letters for the same sound?
Also, if x is pronounced just like ks, why have a separate letter for it?
ronenfe
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