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QUESTIONS ARISING FROM 76th. MEETING – 31/3/17
(the record of earlier meetings can be downloaded from the main Circulus page as can the version of Ciceronis Filius with illustrations added) 

We were not able instantly to come up with a Latin phrase for mapo daufu (i.e. bean curd with chili and a little mincemeat in sauce). An equivalent using purely classical vocabulary might be caseus fabārius anūs maculātae (`speckled old woman’s bean cheese’) but daufum cum capisco carneque (`tofu with pepper and meat’) would be clearer to the uninitiated and, throwing purism to the winds, mapodaufum would be simplest.  John explained that bacillus (little stick) was the word used by the early Jesuits for `chopstick’, a discovery made by Eugene after the Circulus had for some years been using the less authentic clavula (`little twig’). Nobody could remember the Latin for `vegetarian’ but subsequent investigation came up with the late Latin vegetārius.
Picture
                                                                 spīritus Deī ferēbātur super aquās
 
We read and translated chapter I of Genesis from the Vulgate, noting in particular the use of quod with the subjunctive with anticipatory placing of the subject in the main clause, where classical Latin would simply have used an accusative and infinitive. For example: vīdit Deus lūcem quod esset bona (`God saw the light that it was good’), equivalent to the earlier vīdit Deus lūcem esse bonam (`God saw the light to be good’). The later medieval construction was generally vīdit quod lūx erat bona, with the indicative and without any extraction of the subject into the main clause. The Vulgate often used the subjunctive, presumably reflecting that mood’s normal employment to focus on a statement’s existence in somebody’s mind rather than in reality although (at least in the Old Testament) it can also be a simple variant on the indicative without any difference of meaning. The quod plus subjunctive construction, though not standard in the Classical language, was occasionally used. For example in chapter 36 of the Bellum Hispanicum (written around 45 B.C.by one of Julius Caesar’s officers) we have Renūntiāvērunt quod Pompēium in potestāte habērent (`They announced that they had Pompey in their power’) and in the 2nd. Century A.D. biographer Suetonius (Life of Titus) recordātus quondam super cēnam quod nihil cuiquam tōtō diē praestitisset (`remembering once over supper that he had given nothing to anyone the whole day’). The Vulgate’s placement of the subject as an object in the main clause seems to be an imitation of the Greek idiom (εἶδεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ φῶς, ὅτι καλόν, `God saw the light that [it was] beautiful’). See the two references kindly provided by Eugene:
Nunn’s An Introduction to Ecclesiastical Latin (pp.51-54) https://archive.org/stream/introductiontoec00nunnuoft#page/50/mode/2up );
Plater and White’s A grammar of the Vulgate (p.120)
https://archive.org/stream/AGrammarOfTheVulgateByPlaterAndWhite/AGrammarOfTheVulgate#page/n127/mode/2up
 
We also noted other unclassical phrases For lūmināria sint in signa et tempora et diēs et annōs (literally `let the luminaries be into signs and days and times and days and years’) for which the Classical Latin would probably have been sint signa temporum et diērum et annōrum. Another rather strange idiom, presumably reflecting the structure of the original Hebrew is factum est vespere et māne, diēs ūnus (`it was done in the evening and the morning, day one’). The Bible Hub website provides an interlinear translation of the Hebrew text and the same site also has detailed commentaries that sometimes discuss linguistic issues but it is, of course, impossible to get to grips with the original without extensive prior study of the Hebrew language.
 
The contrast between Classical Latin can be convenient studied by comparing Jerome’s version of Genesis with Sebastian Castellio’s attempt to produce a translation in Ciceronian style (Biblia sacra, 1551). Chapter 1 of the latter can be read and listened to on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52bP_qUcxYo  Castellio is best known today for his passionate defence of freedom of expression and condemnation of the execution at Geneva, on Calvin’s orders, of a theologian who had committed the `blasphemy’ of denying the doctrine of the Trinity (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Castellio )
Picture
 ​     Sebastiānus Castelliō (1515-1563), prōfessor pūblicus litterārum Graecārum in Academiā Bāsilēnsī
 
Also on the linguistic front we noted the use in Latn of all periods of an adjective on its own as an abbreviation of a noun-adjective phrase: eg. porcīna (literally of a pig) for carō porcīna (`flesh of pig’, ie. pork) or, in this week’s reading, ārida for (presumably) rēs ārida (`dry thing’, `dry material’). The very common word patria (native land, fatherland) is similarly an abbreviation for terra patria. The modern Chinese 祖國 (Cantonese: jou gwok, Mandarin: zuo gwo), literally `ancestor land’, `land of our fathers’ has a similar structure. Zhang Wei pointed out that this was a calque (loan translation) apparently introduced into the language from Japanese, there being no such phrase in classical Chinese. Finally Don himself pointed out that `Zhang Wei’ was the commonest two-syllable name in China. Zhang Wei explained that, though this was true of the Pinyin transliteration, the second character of 張渭 is relatively rare.
 
We did not have time to read the articles by Vittorio (`Victorius’) Ciarrocchi on Clara Hollingworth and on the celebrated photo of a sailor kissing a surprised nurse in Times Square on VJ Day in 1945 (see the plain Latin text at http://linguae.weebly.com/initium-et-finis-belli.html). It is intended to read these at the next meeting, by which time John will hopefully have been able to provide macrons and glossing. Don did, however, talk about meeting the lady herself  in Beijing in 1975 when she was serving as the first correspondent of a British newspaper and Don himself a member of the first British student party to take up residence there after China began to open up.

GENESIS
 
The text is the Clementine (1592) edition of the Vulgate, downloaded from http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/poly/gen001.htm but with macrons added. The distinction between long and short vowels was probably beginning to break down in St. Jerome’s time (late 4th century) but it is better for learners to maintain the habit of pronouncing according to the classical norm, especially if they intend to read classical poetry. I have retained the use of `j’ for consonantal `i’, which was introduced in the Middle Ages and is normal in church texts. I have also kept the `æ’ for`ae’, even though the latter is more appropriate for the diphthongal pronunciation which I am recommending and which most philologists believe was standard until replaced by a simple vowel in late antiquity.
Note that the superscript numbers in the King James column of the Polyglot Bible give the original Hebrew word and its meaning(s).
 
Chapter 1
 
1 In prīncipiō creāvit Deus cælum et terram.
    In   beginning   created        God     heaven  and earth
2 Terra autem erat inānis et vacua, et tenebræ erant super faciem abyssī: et spīritus Deī ferēbātur[1]    super aquās. 
       Earth   however   was    void  and    empty  and  darkness   was               over         face    of-abyss                     and spirit            of-God was-moving              over    waters
3 Dīxitque Deus: Fīat          lūx. Et facta est lūx.
      And-said    God   let-be-made   light      and    made was light
4 Et vīdit Deus lūcem quod[2] esset bona: et dīvīsit lūcem ā tenebrīs.
  And  saw          God        light       that                     it-was  good    and  he-divided light    from darkness
5 Appellāvitque lūcem Diem, et tenebrās Noctem: factumque est vespere et māne, diēs ūnus.[3]
   And-he-called       the-light         day          and  the-darkness  night             and-done     it-was    in-evening and in-morning
6 Dīxit quoque Deus: Fīat firmāmentum in mediō aquārum:[4] et dīvidat aquās ab aquīs.
      Said      also                  God   let-be-made         firmament     in    middle   of-waters            and let-it-divide waters  from   waters
  7 Et fēcit Deus firmāmentum, dīvisitque aquās, quæ erant sub firmāmentō, ab hīs, quæ erant super firmāmentum.
    And  made  God               firmament           and-divided                 waters  which   were under   firmament            from these  which  were      above     firmamentum
 Et factum est ita.
  and   done      it-was thus
 8 Vocāvitque Deus firmāmentum Cælum: et factum est vespere et māne,     diēs secundus.
   And-called               God     firmament                         Heaven   and  done       it-was in-evening and in-morning  day  second
9 Dīxit vērō Deus: Congregentur       aquæ, quæ     sub cælō sunt, in locum ūnum: et appareat      ārida.[5]   Et factum est ita.
  Said      indeed    God     let-be-gathered-together     waters  which       under heaven  ar e     into  place           one       and   let-there-appear dry[thing]      and  done      it-was thus
10 Et vocāvit Deus āridam Terram, congregātiōnēsque aquārum appellāvit Maria. Et vīdit Deus quod esset bonum.
         and  called    God        dry[thing]  land             and-accumulations                    of-waters         he-called               seas        and    saw         God    tha       t   it-was      good
11 Et ait: Germinet      terra herbam virentem, et facientem sēmen, et lignum[6]
   and he-says  let-put-forth   earth plant-life   green     and            producing        seed          and  tree   
pōmiferum faciēns frūctum juxtā   genus suum, cuius sēmen in sēmetipsō sit super terram. Et factum est ita.
 fruit-bearing       producing   fruit    according-to species        its            whose          seed      in        itself           may-be upon     earth           and done    it-was thus
12 Et prōtulit terra herbam virentem, et facientem sēmen juxtā genus suum, lignumque faciēns frūctum, et habēns
   and brought-forth earth      plant-life    green            and       producing           seed  according-to kind    its                  and-tree            producing   fruit             and   having  
 ūnumquodque sēmentem secundum speciem suam. Et vīdit Deus quod esset bonum.
       each-one                             seed                according-to   species             its                  and   saw   God         that       it-was   good
13 Et factum est vespere et    māne,      diēs tertius.
     and  done   it-was in-evening and in-morning  day   third
14 Dīxit autem Deus: Fīant lūmināria in firmāmentō cælī,   et dīvidant   diem ac noctem, et sint            in signa et tempora,
   Said     moreover God   let-be-made light-givers in   firmament    of-heaven and let-them-divide              day   and night      and may-they-be   for   sign   s  and  seasons
 et diēs et annōs:
  and  days and years
15 ut lūceant                in firmāmentō cæli,   et   illūminent terram. Et factum est ita.
  s o-that they-may-shine  in    firmament   of-heaven  and    illuminate   earth        and  done   it-was  thus
16 Fēcitque Deus duo lūmināria magna: lūmināre maius, ut præesset   diēī: et     lūmināre minus, ut præesset  noctī: et stellās.
    and-made         God        two       light-bearers  great           light-bearer   greater  that it-might-rule-over day  and       light-bearer  lesser    that it-might-rule-over night and stars
17 Et posuit   eās in firmāmentō cæli,       ut  lūcērent            super terram,
    and he-placed them in  firmament      of-heaven that they-might-shine  above  earth
18 et præessent     diēī ac noctī, et dīviderent lūcem ac tenebrās. Et vīdit Deus quod esset bonum
   and  might-rule-over day and  night  and    divide                            light   and   darkness            and   saw        God   that     it-was       good
19 Et factum est    vespere  et māne,        diēs quartus.
        And  done    it-was  in-evening and in-morning  day    fourth
20 Dīxit etiam Deus: Prōdūcant aquæ reptile    animæ[7] vīventis, et volātile   super terram sub firmāmentō cælī.
          Said    also       God   let-bring-forth   waters  crawling-thing      of-breath        living           and flying-thing  above       earth           under  firmament      of-heaven
21 Creāvitque Deus cētē[8] grandia, et omnem animam vīventem atque mōtābilem, quam prōdūxerant aquæ in  speciēs suās,
     And-created        God   sea-creatures large    and  every  breathing-thing             living                 and                  mobile             which      had-produced        waters  into   species  their  
 et omne volātile secundum genus suum. Et vīdit Deus quod esset bonum.
and   every flying-thing according-to   kind   its-own  and           saw         God        that          it-was   good 
22 Benedīxitque       eīs,    dīcēns: Crēscite, et multiplicāminī, et replēte aquās maris: avēsque multiplicentur super terram.
    and-he-gave-blessing to-them           saying       grow                 and  multiply                           and  fill              waters   of-sea         and-birds    let-be-multiplied     above  earth
23 Et factum est vespere et māne,          diēs quīntus.
       and   done     it-was in-evening and in-morning             day   fifth
24 Dīxit quoque Deus: Prōdūcat terra animam vīventem in genere suō, jūmenta,           et reptilia,  et bēstiās terræ secundum
                   said     also              God    let-bring-forth earth              breath       living               in         kind    own  beasts-of-burdenand crawling-things and  beasts   of-earth      according-to
speciēs suās. 
 Factumque est ita.
  species  their-own        and-done       it-was  thus
25 Et fēcit Deus bēstiās terræ juxtā    speciēs suās, et jūmenta,   et omne reptile       terrae in genere suō. Et vīdit Deus quod
   and  made God     beasts    of-earth according-to  species their-own and beasts-of-burden and every crawling-thing  of-earth in    kind             own   and  saw        God   that
 esset bonum,
  it-was   good
26 et ait: Faciāmus hominem ad imāginem et similitūdinem nostram: et præsit       piscibus maris, et volātilibus cæli, et bēstiīs,
   and he-says  let-us-make   human               in    image                 and      likeness                       our              and  let-him-rule-over  fish         of-sea          and          birds      of-sky  and  beasts 
 ūniversæque terræ, omnīque reptilī, quod  movētur[9] in terrā.
  and-whole        earth    and       -every       crawling-thing that           moves                  on  earth
27 Et creāvit Deus hominem ad imāginem suam: ad imāginem Deī creāvit  illum, masculum et fēminam creāvit eōs.
              And  created  God     human                  in    image                   his-own   in      image       of-God he-created  him              male                    and   female      he-created them.
28 Benedīxitque illīs Deus, et ait: Crēscite et multiplicāminī, et replēte terram, et subjicite[10] eam, et domināminī piscibus
  and-gave-blessing       to-them God   and said   grow                  and   be-multiplied             and   fill                    earth      and   subjugate                   it      and   dominate-over        fish 
 maris, et volātilibus cælī, et ūniversīs animantibus, quæ moventur super terram.
    of-sea   and   birds                    of-sky  and  all                              living-things     which   move                         upon    earth
29 Dīxitque Deus: Ecce dedī        vōbīs omnem herbam afferentem sēmen super terram, et ūniversa ligna quæ habent in 
            And-said    God     behold I-have-given  to-you  every                 plant       bearing                          seed     upon         earth           and     all              trees           which   have        in
 sēmetipsīs sēmentem generis suī, ut sint          vōbīs in escam:
    themselves        seeding                  of-kind     own that they-may-be for-you into food
30 et cūnctīs animantibus terræ, omnīque volucrī cælī, et ūniversīs quæ moventur in  terrā, et in quibus est anima vīvens,
          and  to-all      living-things         of-land      and-every  flying-thing of-sky and  to-all-things   which    move                on        land   and in   which  there-is breath  living
 ut habeant               ad vēscendum.[11] Et factum est ita. 
 that they-may-have-them for  feeding-upon                and  done           it-was thus 
31 Vīditque Deus cūncta quæ fēcerat,   et erant valdē bona. Et factum est vespere et māne, diēs sextus.
        and-saw    God    all-things   which he-had-made and  they-were very   good    and  done  it-was in-evening and  in-morning day   sixth
 
 NOTES:
[1] ferēbātur is literally `was being carried’.
[2] The use of quod (or quia) to introduce reported speech became common in post-classical Latin although the classical accusative and infinitive construction (vīdit lūcem esse bonam).
[3] factum est is best regarded as impersonal (`it was done’ or it came to pass’) whilst the phrase diēs ūnus (and similar expressions after each day of creation) is not part of the sentence structure (which would have required factus est) but tacked on like an item in a list Evenin is mentioned first as the Jewish day ran from sunset to sunset.
[4] The classical idiom would have been in mediīs aquīs
[5] i.e. rēs arida (cf. patria for terra patria (fatherland),  porcīna for carō porcīna (pork) etc.)
[6] lignum, -I n usually meant `wood’ or `timber’ in classical Latin but can mean `tree’ in the Vulgate
[7] anima (etymologically connected with Greek anemos, wind) , can mean breath. life or soul. The Hebrew similarly has the basic meaning of `breathing thing’, with an extended range of metaphorical meanings. The root is cognate with the Greek anemos (wind),
[8] cētus, -ī m, any large sea creature (whale, dolphin etc.) had an alternative plural accusative form cētē, borrowed from the Greek neuter noun, cētos
[9] movētur means literally `is moved’
[10] In classical Latin this would normally have been written subicite, with the single `i’ representing the combination of consonant and vowel (`yi’ in modern English orthography).
[11] The words dedī omnem herbam etc. from the previous clause; i.e. the plants are given to animals as well as to men. 


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