I recently learned that 'U' can be substituted for a 'V' in some latin words to make them more understandable to a modern reader.
So if i changed: "malum diluere" into "malum dilVere" Would it still have the same translation? (to dissolve evil)
I know this sounds like a very stupid question but to be fair, im a very stupid guy.
Can 'U' always be substituted for 'V'?
-
- Textkit Neophyte
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2003 11:30 am
- benissimus
- Global Moderator
- Posts: 2733
- Joined: Mon May 12, 2003 4:32 am
- Location: Berkeley, California
- Contact:
Romans only used the letter V to represent both sounds, so there is no difference in sound no matter which you use. U was originally just a variant, but eventually it adopted the vowel role and V kept the consonants, similarly to what happened with I and J. Technically, "malum diluere" could be written "malvm dilvere", but again, a modern reader would not know how to pronounce "malvm" without some explanation. "Diluere" may not seem that unusual to us who are used to Latin (somewhat at least), but I wouldn't want those barbarians mangling it into something sounding like "dill-yoo-uh-ray" though there is only so much you can expect from those ignorant fools
flebile nescio quid queritur lyra, flebile lingua murmurat exanimis, respondent flebile ripae
-
- Textkit Neophyte
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2003 11:30 am
OK thanx, that pretty much answered my question.
But how do u pronounce diluere? see im one of those barbarians you're reffering to so i dont actually know.....
oh and is there anything wrong if you pronouce 'dilvere' with the 'v' sounding like a v? Im trying to make things easier to understand for the readers, because i doubt most of em' will have taken the time to study latin...
But how do u pronounce diluere? see im one of those barbarians you're reffering to so i dont actually know.....
oh and is there anything wrong if you pronouce 'dilvere' with the 'v' sounding like a v? Im trying to make things easier to understand for the readers, because i doubt most of em' will have taken the time to study latin...
- 1%homeless
- Textkit Enthusiast
- Posts: 440
- Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2003 6:21 am
- Location: East Hollywood
- Contact:
- benissimus
- Global Moderator
- Posts: 2733
- Joined: Mon May 12, 2003 4:32 am
- Location: Berkeley, California
- Contact:
I assume he was talking about pronouncing it with a "Classical V" as opposed to a "Classical U". You can do that, I suppose, but typically it only functions as a consonant at the beginning of a word (or word-part in compounds) or when between two vowels. Pronunciation varies in poetry for the sake of meter and I doubt it would sound too unusual to mix the V and U.
flebile nescio quid queritur lyra, flebile lingua murmurat exanimis, respondent flebile ripae