New to this! Trying to Translate this.....

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AnimatorMan
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New to this! Trying to Translate this.....

Post by AnimatorMan »

My Children , My Love, My Life

So Far I have this. Im not sure if Im going in the right Direction.

Meus Liberi, Meus Diligo, Meus Vita

Turpissimus
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Post by Turpissimus »

I think the nominative case is the one to use here.

Mei liberi (you've got to put both bits in the plural)

Mei amati (?) - I think this would mean more "my beloved ones", which I think is what you mean here. I can't vouch for this translation bearing any kind of resemblance to the way a Roman would have put things.

Mea vita (this bit is almost correct)

Diligo will be a verb of course, which illustrates the hazard of simply looking up words in the dictionary.

I only started learning Latin in earnest a few months ago so I wouldn't get this carved on a bit of gold jewellery or something, that would be very foolish....

whiteoctave
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Post by whiteoctave »

the vocative case, i.e. that of directly addressing another, is required. In most genders and declensions this is the same as its nominative counterpart, though the masc sc. voc. of meus is mi and of, e.g., lemniscus is lemnisce.

a very common way of love elegists of referring to their loved one was 'mea vita', but since you want a tricolon of vocatives here, you probably don't want that to stand for both.

mei liberi, meae deliciae, mea vita seems a rather ineluctable translation, and is chosen for variation of the sound in the first person possessive pronoun. the use of deliciae, lit. delights, of a loved one is most common and the fact that it stands in the plural equates the level of love, in a way, to that for the children.

~D

Turpissimus
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Post by Turpissimus »

Surely he means "my children (are) my love, my life". He could mean "O my children" with "my love, my life" in apposition.

Did the Romans have any preference between these two, or was the second used to the exclusion of the first?

whiteoctave
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Post by whiteoctave »

well the former is a statement with ellipsis of esse so the need for a subject takes away from the force of the vocative. the statement could be to anyone, for it states 'my children are etc.'. the vocative must of course be an invocation or direct address to those in the case. the use of apposition is essentially a condensation of an equation linked by copulae. so here, if the three vocatives are of the same persons (which does seem a more likely reading, having thought about it), a,b,c, in the vocative is the same as 'a b cque sunt' vel 'a sunt b atque sunt c' vel sim, if directed towards such persons when spoken.

~D

AnimatorMan
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Post by AnimatorMan »

Ok now you guys are way to smart for me .... Im really confused now !

What I what Im basicly trying to say is

" My Children Are the Love of my Life" ... Im trying to keepit really simple by saying

"My Children My Love My Life "

AnimatorMan
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Post by AnimatorMan »

Ok how about this one....

'My Family My Love My Life"

Im trying to say
"My Family is My Love The Meaning of My Life"

Turpissimus
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Post by Turpissimus »

Im really confused now !
I blame you for this David. Episcopus regularly chews out characters who try to get translations on this board, but you, you scare them away - what with your tricolons and copulae!

Grating over-familiarity aside, I think the best translation is probably -

Mei liberi, meae deliciae, mea vita.

Refering to one's loved ones as "delights" is a think a quite charming Latin idiom and far more suitable than the quite gauche amati.

whiteoctave
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Post by whiteoctave »

mea culpa, perhaps, turps, (though nonetheless, it would be tricola).

Ah sweet Romford. D'you know Mashiter's Walk?

~D

Turpissimus
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Post by Turpissimus »

Mashiter's walk... let's see.....

Gidea Park.

That's actually one of the nicer areas in Havering. Go out for the night down there and your chances of being knifed in the face after an evening's drinking are perhaps as low as, oooo, five percent, ten tops.

While I'm on the subject of the degenerate inhabitants of my home town, I will, if asked nicely, show you some of the delightful and tasteful jewellery which adorns some of the young ladies of my fair city. One would not think such skill, such, dare I say it, craftsmanship would go into fashioning a ruby-encrusted gold-plated clown pushing a baby-stroller. And you would not think human ingenuity could produce one that stands at a proud six-inch height. But rest assured, it has been done.

AnimatorMan
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Post by AnimatorMan »

Guys I hate to sound ungrateful but Im getting confused......

How About this Is there a Simple Translation for this

"My Family My Love My Life"

Im trying to say
"My Family is My Love The Meaning of My Life"

whiteoctave
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Post by whiteoctave »

mr animation, if you want to retain children, take

Mei liberi, meae deliciae, mea vita.

if family, read 'propinqui' (though that is narrowed to males), or more figuratively alter mei liberi for 'mea domus'. if you are in the habit of retaining slaves, 'mea familia' should do the trick.

~D

AnimatorMan
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Post by AnimatorMan »

So If I want to State
"My Family My Love My Life"

It would be
Mei propinqui, meae deliciae, mea vita

But you are saying this is narrowed to males !!! By this do you mean Narrowed to only male Family members or Do you mean that propinqui is the Masculine version of the noun and the femine would be something different? If its only Directed toward male family members is there a Noun Directed at both

P.S. I Appreciate All the Help with this...

whiteoctave
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Post by whiteoctave »

go for 'mea domus' etc., for yes, 'propinqui' has specific male reference.

I am amazed at your use of capitals - is there a specific criterion for their employment, or is it just a random system to liven up a rather uneventful tract of miniscule?

~D

AnimatorMan
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Post by AnimatorMan »

whiteoctave wrote:go for 'mea domus' etc., for yes, 'propinqui' has specific male reference.

I am amazed at your use of capitals - is there a specific criterion for their employment, or is it just a random system to liven up a rather uneventful tract of miniscule?

~D
whiteoctave

Are you making fun of me ? Just to let you know I barley have a handle on Standard English !!! Thats why I was asking for help !

AnimatorMan
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Post by AnimatorMan »

Regardless of what you were trying to do I still appreciate the help.
Im going to use this.

Mea domus, meae deliciae, mea vita

This is going on my body as a tirbute to my family and my Very ill wife so I would rather have it correct !

whiteoctave
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Post by whiteoctave »

i'm not making fun, rather i was just interested if there were any basis for using them, because you obviously have to make a purposeful effort to capitalise when typing.

~D

AnimatorMan
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Post by AnimatorMan »

Very Good point but no actually I can do it without thinking about it .

whiteoctave
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Post by whiteoctave »

ok. fine choice, if you are to have a tattoo, to choose latin.

just to break down the current latin for you, 'mea domus' literally means 'my house' but house was often used metonymously for one's household, i.e. the people that make up a family; 'meae deliciae' literally means 'my delights' but was used of (a) loved one(s) figuratively, as here; 'mea vita' is simply 'my life'. these three nouns are in what is called 'apposition', that is, they all refer to the same thing - your loved ones - and are syntactically equal.

best,

~D

AnimatorMan
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Post by AnimatorMan »

Thank you so much for explaining that for me I really appreciate it.. If I could borrow just one more moment of your time could you help me phonetically spell these words out so I can learn to say them properly... I would hate to destroy such a beautiful language !!!!!

Turpissimus
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Post by Turpissimus »

mea domus, meae deliciae, mea vita

pronounced

me-a do-mus (e as in bet, a as the u sound in nut, o as in hot, u as in full)

me-ae deliciae (ae is pronounced as eye, de should be pronounced as day, lici is pronounced rather like licky)

me-a vita (vi-ta: vi- is like wee, -ta is again pronounced with the a as the u sound in nut)

Of course I'm British, with a slight cockney accent, and you're American I imagine, but I've tried to take account of any differences in pronunciation.

And I see you're having it tattooed on yourself. It takes a brave man to take that kind of step based on the advice of a couple of blokes in an online forum. Sir, I salute your courage.

AnimatorMan
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Post by AnimatorMan »

Are you saying I shouldnt believe this
"mea domus, meae deliciae, mea vita" to be an accurate depiction of what Im asking for ?

Turpissimus
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Post by Turpissimus »

Are you saying I shouldnt believe this "mea domus, meae deliciae, mea vita" to be an accurate depiction of what Im asking for ?
It's very accurate. It's not a difficult piece of Latin. Our man Whiteoctave is more than up to the task of translating it.

The thing is though, that you don't know that. Needleing your flesh with ink to a pattern of words you don't understand based on some advice you read on an online forum you didn't know existed a few weeks ago, would strike many people as, I don't know, a little odd. We know the advice we're giving you is sound, so do most people reading this thread, but you don't, because your understanding of Latin is, shall we say, not all that it might be. Therein lies the source of my reservations.

And what, exactly, is your connection to Mashiter's walk, WO?

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benissimus
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Post by benissimus »

You two are really tormenting this guy!

AnimatorMan, I think "mea domus, meae deliciae, mea vita" is a good choice. You can trust whiteoctave when it comes to Latin, but Turpissimus certainly makes a valid point: It is usually not wise to put your faith in uncertified strangers :wink:
flebile nescio quid queritur lyra, flebile lingua murmurat exanimis, respondent flebile ripae

AnimatorMan
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Post by AnimatorMan »

Good point Benissimus but is not really the person behind the computer Im worried about..... Its the Man behind the Needle !!!!!!!!

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