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Epictetus in Thalassarctian.

A Thalassarctian text I’ve been working on, a translation/adaptation of a passage of Epictetus:

Àtᴥuβumuδᴥamkòζdᴥιliιi, khimᴥutuphϙinᴥitᴥιdινoᴥιiz-na νᴥumᴥk aaγϙυbᴥυιi? Tihuupιi, dινoᴥqηketihuιi. Ϙuνηhιιpιi, dινoᴥqηkeϙuνηhιιi-νi samὼiotᴥumιi-nᴥi νᴥumᴥι ϙυbᴥυiiνᴥιiz. Tazι mᴥυtᴥζogᴥϙinᴥiιi, dινoᴥιiz-nᴥi mᴥυtᴥζogᴥι νᴥànòλιbᴥιiz, μᴥηzoϙinᴥidυιi-nᴥi aliotakhiloι sὰkᴥalbᴥàz.

Interlinear

(showing the morphemes in their original forms, before the changes required by composition)

àtᴥuβu
icebear
-muδᴥ
lame
-am
old
-m
be
-kòζ
CONSEQ
-dᴥιli
have_become
-ιi
1SG
khimá´¥utuph
what_other
-ϙinᴥi
have
-tᴥι
CAPAC
-dινoᴥ
do
-ιi
1SG
-z
DIFF
=na
than
νᴥumᴥ
God
-k
DAT.SG
al
sing
-k
INF
-ϙυbᴥυ
praise
-ιi
1SG
Now that I have become a lame, old icebear, what else could I have to do, than to sing to praise God?
tihu
tihuι
-m
be
-p
POT
-ιi
1SG
dινoᴥ
do
-qη
would
-ke
CONTIN
-tihu
tihuι
-ιi
1SG
ϙuνηhι
ϙuνηhιι
-m
be
-p
POT
-ιi
1SG
dινoᴥ
do
-qη
would
-ke
CONTIN
-ϙuνηhι
ϙuνηhιι
-ιi
1SG
=νi
but
sam
animal
-á½¼io
think
-tá´¥u
PTCP
-m
be
-ιi
1SG
=ná´¥i
and
νᴥumᴥ
God
-ι
DIR.SG
ϙυbᴥυ
praise
-iiνᴥ
DEONT
-ιi
1SG
-z
DIFF
If I were a tihuι, I would be doing as the tihuι does. If I were a ϙuνηhιι, I would be doing as the ϙuνηhιι does. But I am a thinking animal and I ought to praise God.
taz
this
-ι
DIR.SG
mᴥυtᴥ
work
-ζogᴥ
NMLZR
-ϙinᴥi
have
-ιi
1SG
dινoᴥ
do
-ιi
1SG
-z
DIFF
=ná´¥i
and
mᴥυtᴥ
work
-ζogᴥ
NMLZR
-ι
DIR.SG
νᴥàn
abandon
-ò
NEG
-λιbᴥ
FUT
-ιi
1SG
-z
DIFF
μᴥηzo
be_allowed
-ϙinᴥi
have
-dÏ…
for_as_long_as
-ιi
1SG
=ná´¥i
and
al
sing
-io
NMLZR
-takhilo
the_same
-ι
DIR.SG
sá½°ká´¥
join
-á´¥
IMPERAT
-al
sing
-bᴥà
2SG
-z
DIFF
This is my work; I do it, and I will not leave the work as long as I am allowed to have [it], and you ought to join singing the same song.

I’ve also been working on the native script version of this. Thalassarctian has a featural alphabet which I have taken to calling the bubble script as it reminds me of nothing so much as a game of Puzzle Bobble.

But for now it’s quite late, and I think this is quite enough to post today.

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2012 02 09 Muke Nother Comments (0) Permalink

Mille.

Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae 1.16

“Milli passum” dixit pro “mille passibus” et “uno milli nummum” pro “unis mille nummis” aperteque ostendit “mille” et vocabulum esse et singulari numero dici eiusque plurativum esse “milia” et casum etiam capere ablativum.

He said milli passum instead of mille passibus and uno milli nummum instead of unis mille nummis and clearly demonstrated mille to be a noun, that it is used in the singular, that its plural is milia, and also that it has an ablative case.

He calls attention to the fact that Latin mille doesn’t quite act like Greek χίλιοι chilioe, which is usually an adjective, but more like the noun χιλιάς chilias, which is less common. In English, too, “thousand” acts noun-like, unlike most of the smaller numbers which are more adjectival.

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2011 12 28 Muke Latin Comments (0) Permalink

Ne diutius pendeas…

Cicero, Ad Atticum 4.15:

Ne diutius pendeas, palmam tulit.

I won’t leave you hanging — he did carry the palm.

Of course, the palma was a sign of victory; palmam ferre would be like winning a medal, perhaps. I think ‘carry the palm’ can stand as an idiom on its own in English, though.

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2011 12 26 Muke Latin Comments (0) Permalink

The lesser Septentrio.

Cicero on constellations, De Natura Deorum 2.43:
Minorem autem Septentrionem Cepheus passis palmis [post] terga subsequitur.
Now Cepheus, palms outstretched, follows behind the lesser Septentrio.

Cepheus is still reckoned a constellation; minor Septentrio appears to be an unusual name corresponding to what we would now call Ursa Minor, or the Little Dipper.

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2011 12 26 Muke Latin Comments (0) Permalink

Å onos, korfos.

šon|os, -oš.  masc.  People (in general).  [PIE *ǵonH₁-o-.]

korf|os, -iris. neut.  The body.  [PIE *kʷrp-es-.]

I think Å¡onos was inspired by Sanskrit jana, but I’m not sure.  It is used in the singular, in general or indefinite statements along the lines of ‘people say….’  I suppose it would be slightly more specific than an impersonal passive like ‘it is said…’ though there might not be much difference in meaning in practice.

Korfos is pretty straightforwardly built on the same pattern as Latin corpus.

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2011 12 24 Muke Nother Comments (0) Permalink

Tranquillissimus animus.

Cicero, Ad Atticum 7.7:

Cetera videntur esse tranquilla; tranquillissimus autem animus meus qui totum istuc æqui boni facit.

Everything else seems to be going peaceably; and my mind is quite peaceable itself, taking the whole thing with contentment.

I don’t think I have the second half of this second sentence right at all. Tranquillissimus autem should mean his mind is even more peaceful, this mind of his which is taking it so contentedly.

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2011 12 24 Muke Latin Comments (0) Permalink

Virtus post nummos.

Horace, Epistulae 1.1.53-56:

“ÅŒ cÄ«|vÄ“s, cÄ«|vÄ“s, quÇ£|rÄ“ndă pÄ•|cÅ«nĭă | prÄ«mum Ä“st;
vÄ«rtÅ«s | pōst nÅ«m|mōs!” HÇ£c | JānÅ«s | sÅ«mmÅ­s ăb | Ä«mō
prōdŏcĕt, | hǣc rĕcĭ|nūnt jŭvĕ|nēs dīc|tātă sĕ|nēsquĕ.

“Hey, citizens! Citizens! Seeking money should come first – virtue after dollars!” This is what the Janus teaches from end to end; the young and the old repeat this lesson.

The Janus Medius was “the place in the forum where bankers and speculators gathered for business.”

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2011 12 22 Muke Latin Comments (0) Permalink

Miserrimus omnis saeculi.

Seneca, Controversiae 2.7:

Miserrimus omnis sæculi maritus: sic contempta absentia mea etiamnunc iniuriam meam nescirem, si qui fecerat tacere voluisset.

I’m the most miserable husband of all time – even now I wouldn’t have known that I’d been wronged in my wretched absence if the man who had done it had wanted to keep quiet.

I am least sure of ‘contempta’ here.

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2011 12 22 Muke Latin Comments (0) Permalink

Geminos filios in ventre.

Plautus, Curculio:

Gĕmĭnōs | īn vēn|tre hăbē|rĕ vĭdĕ|ōr fī|lĭōs.

I look like I’m pregnant with twins.

No comment.

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2011 12 14 Muke Latin Comments (0) Permalink

Habet pœnam noxium caput.

Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 10.40:

“Di in prœlio sunt,” inquit; “habet pœnam noxium caput.“

“The gods are in this battle,” he said. “The guilty head has received its punishment.”

It feels righter here to put habet as “has received” here rather than “has”. I have a vague idea that this isn’t the first time I’ve found that to be the case.

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2011 11 15 Muke Latin Comments (0) Permalink