Q concerning 6th ed. Chap 23 practice #9
Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 10:53 pm
Salvete!
I'm going through Wheelock's as a self-learning program. I'm pretty happy that I've made it thus far without a great deal of difficulty, but this one translation exercise really exemplifies some of the problems I'm having:
9. At vita illius modi aequi aliquid iucundi atque felicis continet.
I typically break down the sentence into probable phrases:
A. At
B. vita illius modi aequi
C. aliquid iucindi atque felicis
D. continet.
We have phrase B which could be nom. or abl. and phrase C which could be nom. or acc. I think usually the nominative phrase comes first (except in poetry, where anything goes, apparently). So we have:
A. But, mind you,
B. nom. the life of that (level; calm; just; favorable) (measure, bound; manner, way)
C. acc. someone pleasant and also happy
D. 3rd person sing. (keeps, encloses, restrains, contains)
Looking at all the possible meanings, there are several which make sense, some of which are:
I. But, mind you, the life of that just way keeps someone pleasant and also happy.
II. But, mind you, the life of that just way restrains someone pleasant and also happy.
III. But, mind you, the life of that calm manner contains someone pleasant and also happy.
IV. But, mind you, the life of that favorable way restrains someone pleasant and also happy.
The Key written by our host Belissimus suggests III as the translation. My main issues with this are:
(a) although (keeps, encloses, restrains, contains) all carry the same sense of limiting something, "contains" carries other senses, for example including something, as in "life contains ups and downs", and "keeps" also carries other senses, for example maintaining something, as in "life keeps death away".
(b) why would we choose "calm" over "just" or "favorable"? These seem to have very different senses.
So the basic problem I'm having is not necessarily grammatical, but semantic. How do I choose among several seemingly equally likely candidates?
Thanks!
--Rob
I'm going through Wheelock's as a self-learning program. I'm pretty happy that I've made it thus far without a great deal of difficulty, but this one translation exercise really exemplifies some of the problems I'm having:
9. At vita illius modi aequi aliquid iucundi atque felicis continet.
I typically break down the sentence into probable phrases:
A. At
B. vita illius modi aequi
C. aliquid iucindi atque felicis
D. continet.
We have phrase B which could be nom. or abl. and phrase C which could be nom. or acc. I think usually the nominative phrase comes first (except in poetry, where anything goes, apparently). So we have:
A. But, mind you,
B. nom. the life of that (level; calm; just; favorable) (measure, bound; manner, way)
C. acc. someone pleasant and also happy
D. 3rd person sing. (keeps, encloses, restrains, contains)
Looking at all the possible meanings, there are several which make sense, some of which are:
I. But, mind you, the life of that just way keeps someone pleasant and also happy.
II. But, mind you, the life of that just way restrains someone pleasant and also happy.
III. But, mind you, the life of that calm manner contains someone pleasant and also happy.
IV. But, mind you, the life of that favorable way restrains someone pleasant and also happy.
The Key written by our host Belissimus suggests III as the translation. My main issues with this are:
(a) although (keeps, encloses, restrains, contains) all carry the same sense of limiting something, "contains" carries other senses, for example including something, as in "life contains ups and downs", and "keeps" also carries other senses, for example maintaining something, as in "life keeps death away".
(b) why would we choose "calm" over "just" or "favorable"? These seem to have very different senses.
So the basic problem I'm having is not necessarily grammatical, but semantic. How do I choose among several seemingly equally likely candidates?
Thanks!
--Rob