= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
JoshuaZ comments on REQ: Latin translation for HPMOR - Less Wrong
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (52)
I wonder: Is this because quid quid latine dictum sit, altum videtur?
Or, do you have some sort of sneakiness planned because of Rowling's use of pseudolatin for magical formulae and/or for prophecies? If so, I have a few guesses based on the current storyline, but that only makes me want to see what you have planned all the more.
I'm keeping an eye on you, EY. (But only because I've greatly enjoyed reading through HPMOR, and am eagerly awaiting the next update.)
Nitpick: "quidquid" meaning whatever is one word not two words. While ancient Latin didn't have spacing between words, we can see that in this sort of context it was intended as a single word because Latin allows a lot of word order rearrangement and "quidquid" didn't get split up (as I understand that). "Quid" means "what" but "quidquid" means "whatever" or "anything".
And there's a disclaimer necessary here that I haven't taken Latin in a decade so I could be wrong but I don't think I am.
I think I agree that quidquid cannot normally be split up; but is that reason enough to say it must be one word? The particle -que cannot normally be split up either, but it is split up occasionally in poetry, if I remember correctly. I think what constitutes a word and what doesn't is ultimately an unreclaimable quagmire, though in this case I'd certainly prefer quidquid over quid quid too.
Interesting, I guess the French "quoique" and "quelque" ("whatever" and "some") are descendents of this formulation ("quoi", "que", and "quel" are also words of their own).
He's right, as far as I studied.