Explanation of Adjectives!

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Hamzanama
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Explanation of Adjectives!

Post by Hamzanama »

Salvay!
So I reached the part about adjectives and I am a little confused in the sense I do not get what adjective corresponds to what word.
So Puella est parva is pretty clear you get it. But with attributive adjectives I do not understand which noun is being praised or insulted or you get it.
So Quid filia tua parva portat means What does your little daughter carry?
But I think it could mean Youre little, what does your daughter carry. So is there any way to determine which noun parva is being used for.
Thank you, H.

Qimmik
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Re: Explanation of Adjectives!

Post by Qimmik »

But I think it could mean Youre little, what does your daughter carry.
No, it can't mean that. To mean that it would have to be "quid filia tu [not tua] parva fert?" with tu parva interpreted as a parenthetical insult or as a vocative, "you little female person," in a very odd context. But that would stretch Latin's generous capacity for hyberaton. And don't expect Latin, or any other natural language, to be perfectly unambiguous.

adrianus
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Re: Explanation of Adjectives!

Post by adrianus »

Sic significari potest, ut opinor, modo angustissimo solo. Si ego conjector tuam palmam parvam legas et rugas filias palmae manûs poeticè vocem, forsit sic dicam: ô tua parva [manus vel palma subaudita], quid filia portat [vel praesagit] ? Alienior autem est talis sententia, ut dicit Qimmik.

I think it could mean that, but only in the most narrow way. If I were reading your palm and it was tiny and I chose to liken its creases to the daughters of your hand or palm, since the latin word for creases or lines in the hand is feminine, maybe I could say in a poetic way, "O your tiny one [hand or palm], what does the daughter [i.e., that line on it] carry [or bring,—as in portend]?" Altogether strange, as Qimmik says.
I'm writing in Latin hoping for correction, and not because I'm confident in how I express myself. Latinè scribo ut ab omnibus corrigar, non quod confidenter me exprimam.

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