aliquid novi

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Rufus Coppertop
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aliquid novi

Post by Rufus Coppertop »

Is anyone else here suspicious about this saying attributed to Pliny the Elder?

ex Africa semper aliquid novi

always out of Africa, something new is the common translation but I have difficulty with novi being plural nominative or singular genitive and aliquid being singular nominative or accusative.

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bedwere
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Re: aliquid novi

Post by bedwere »

Novi is singular genitive and aliquid is nominative.

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Barry Hofstetter
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Re: aliquid novi

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

It's Pliny the Elder Nat.Hist. 8.18:

unde etiam vulgare graeciae dictum semper aliquid novi africam adferre.

aliquid novi: in this context, aliquid is the accusative direct object of adferre, novi is the singular genitive. Why genitive? It's the partitive construction, "something of new" = something new. Here africam is the accusative subject of adferre in indirect statement. What you have cited above appears to be some sort of paraphrase.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter

Cuncta mortalia incerta...

Rufus Coppertop
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Re: aliquid novi

Post by Rufus Coppertop »

unde etiam vulgare graeciae dictum semper aliquid novi africam adferre

Okay. - unde etiam - and also whence
- vulgare graeciae dictum - the common Greek saying
- semper - always
- aliquid novi africam adferre - to bring Africa something new

Am I on the right track with that?

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Barry Hofstetter
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Re: aliquid novi

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

Rufus Coppertop wrote:unde etiam vulgare graeciae dictum semper aliquid novi africam adferre

Okay. - unde etiam - and also whence
- vulgare graeciae dictum - the common Greek saying
- semper - always
- aliquid novi africam adferre - to bring Africa something new

Am I on the right track with that?
Not quite. Your English makes it sound like africam is the indirect object, whereas it is actually the subject, "whence also the common saying of Greece that Africa always produces something new."
N.E. Barry Hofstetter

Cuncta mortalia incerta...

Rufus Coppertop
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Re: aliquid novi

Post by Rufus Coppertop »

Barry Hofstetter wrote:
Rufus Coppertop wrote:unde etiam vulgare graeciae dictum semper aliquid novi africam adferre

Okay. - unde etiam - and also whence
- vulgare graeciae dictum - the common Greek saying
- semper - always
- aliquid novi africam adferre - to bring Africa something new

Am I on the right track with that?
Not quite. Your English makes it sound like africam is the indirect object, whereas it is actually the subject, "whence also the common saying of Greece that Africa always produces something new."
Ah haaa! It makes sense to me now.

I think.............

It's an example of Indirect Speech using the accusative and infinitive.

So another way of expressing it might be, Graeci dicunt Africam semper adferre res novas?

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