Kia Ora, dudes

by **phil** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 10:39 pm

Good morning all, I'm Phil, a new member to the forum, and I'm from the antipodes. I did a year of Latin in high school, and after a short break (20 years) decided to try again. I'm currently working through Wheelock's Latin (6th revision). I decided to learn Latin for two reasons: firstly, to really appreciate the graffiti sketch from 'Life of Brian', and secondly, I hope one day to be able to read 'Harry Potter' in the original Latin. BTW Kia Ora is the traditional greeting of the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand. Cheers Phil

by **Milito** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 2:09 pm

Hey, welcome to the forum, Phil! Kilmeny

by **Episcopus** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 2:46 pm

[quote author=philjgibbs link=board=6;threadid=311;start=0#2039 date=1059345562] BTW Kia Ora is the traditional greeting of the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand. Cheers Phil [/quote] I see! 'Twas a good thing that I have read that for I was about to ignorantly call you a freak because of this-there! Some one translate that into latin! Please! sunt

by **mariek** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 2:17 am

[quote author=philjgibbs link=board=6;threadid=311;start=0#2039 date=1059345562]firstly, to really appreciate the graffiti sketch from 'Life of Brian', and secondly, I hope one day to be able to read 'Harry Potter' in the original Latin.[/quote] Welcome to Textkit! I've never seen Life of Brian (that's a movie, right?). What is the graffiti sketch, and how does it relate to Latin? Being quite fond of the Harry Potter series, I am also looking forward to reading it in Latin someday...

Website · by **benissimus** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 3:50 am

Romans, go home!

by **mariek** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 4:53 am

[quote author=benissimus link=board=6;threadid=311;start=0#2149 date=1059450615] Romans, go home! [/quote] ???

by **Ptolemaios** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 10:32 am

It's a brilliant scene in Life of Brian, where Brian tries to write "Romans go home" in Latin on a wall. He makes some mistakes (it has been quite some time since I've seen this movie, so I don't remember which mistakes), and a Roman soldier passing by corrects his Latin and orders him to write it a hundred times as a punishment for his faulty Latin. Vale. Ptolemaios

by **Episcopus** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 12:05 pm

[quote author=Ptolemaios link=board=6;threadid=311;start=0#2161 date=1059474768] It's a brilliant scene in Life of Brian, where Brian tries to write "Romans go home" in Latin on a wall. He makes some mistakes (it has been quite some time since I've seen this movie, so I don't remember which mistakes), and a Roman soldier passing by corrects his Latin and orders him to write it a hundred times as a punishment for his faulty Latin. Vale. Ptolemaios [/quote] haha yeah what a fool

by **Skylax** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 2:13 pm

Brian had originally written Romanes eunt domus. The Roman soldier has him change it into Romani ite domum after a thorough grammatical check. I appreciated also the scene with Pilatus and his speech defect. Positively hilarious. This movie is a masterpiece, you big nose !

by **Episcopus** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 7:20 pm

[quote author=Skylax link=board=6;threadid=311;start=0#2172 date=1059488030] Brian had originally written Romanes eunt domus. The Roman soldier has him change it into Romani ite domum after a thorough grammatical check. I appreciated also the scene with Pilatus and his speech defect. Positively hilarious. This movie is a masterpiece, you big nose ! [/quote] hah yeah reminded me have you to watch that again! What a film!

by **mariek** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 7:34 pm

I will have to rent that movie after I can appreciate the difference between "eunt" and "ite".

by **Episcopus** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 8:51 pm

well I presume, although I have not studied irregular verbs, in this case (ire = to go) eunt = they go Romanes = ??? Romani (you know romanus mariek!) ite (go!) domum, home "i" is single imperative "go" and to make it plural always add -te, hence "ite!" Romanes eunt domus, is a pile of crap as domus is in nominative (should be unless it be a freak noun heh who knows it has a locative!) Romanes I don't know what he means by that and eunt would be making a statement 'they go'... So...damn that movie rules ;D

by **Milito** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 9:03 pm

[quote author=Episcopus link=board=6;threadid=311;start=0#2216 date=1059511870] well I presume, although I have not studied irregular verbs, in this case (ire = to go) eunt = they go Romanes = ??? Romani (you know romanus mariek!) ite (go!) domum, home "i" is single imperative "go" and to make it plural always add -te, hence "ite!" [/quote] Hey, excellent explanation! [quote author=Episcopus link=board=6;threadid=311;start=0#2216 date=1059511870] Romanes eunt domus, is a pile of crap as domus is in nominative (should be unless it be a freak noun heh who knows it has a locative!) Romanes I don't know what he means by that and eunt would be making a statement 'they go'... [/quote] What's going on there is that every word is incorrect. "Romanes" doesn't exist - he's declining it as though it were a 3rd declension, which it isn't. Grammar goof 1. "Eunt", as you explained, is in the wrong mood entirely. Grammar goof 2. "Domus".... is nominative here (grammar goof 3), but is also one of those freak nouns you mentioned, and does have a locative! It's a feminine noun but looks like a 2nd declension masculine, except that it sometimes acts like it might have had an ugly collision with a fourth declension. (The "u" one that Benissimus likes.) Kilmeny (Go look "domus" up in a dictionary.... the result is truly awe-inspiring...!)

by **Episcopus** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 9:21 pm

yay I thought someone more experienced would have come up and slammed my attempt ;D Already after only a few weeks in Latin with one book my everything, I understand that this life of brian joke-there, is funny; but somewhat feeble - the "grammar" is clearly that of nothing but a retard...the mistakes seem fake now... No actually "Romanes (spelling mistake) eunt (go, wrong mood though) domus..." ..could be made... what do you think? is it feeble/too obvious?

by **Milito** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 9:26 pm

[quote author=Episcopus link=board=6;threadid=311;start=0#2237 date=1059513707] No actually "Romanes (spelling mistake) eunt (go, wrong mood though) domus..." ..could be made... what do you think? is it feeble/too obvious? [/quote] You know, if you're sort of mixing what you know of the way your own language works, bits of what you've heard people actually speaking the language you're writing in say, and a very rough idea of it, maybe..... I wonder if anyone has published some sort of unedited listing or something of the graffiti found in Pompeii for comparison....... Kilmeny

by **Episcopus** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 9:29 pm

nobody really knows common roman speech..slang by those river folk in that small latin village...and graf. It had to be different from the latin of Caesar... Niobe wuz ere 4T1

by **Milito** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 9:36 pm

(Sorry, Phil, we've turned your intro into a discussion on Roman graffiti!) I tripped over something somewhere (here, maybe?) that said that graffiti found in various places has been used to guess at pronounciation - the idea being that if a word was supposed to be spelled (for example) "domus", and the graffiti left off the "s" at the end, then maybe (probably?) most people didn't pronounce that final sound, which is why it was spelled wrong.... someone wrote what he heard, not what he should have. Funny how we try so hard to stamp out graffiti these days, and yet in a thousand years, it might be considered invaluable! Kilmeny

by **Episcopus** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 9:39 pm

I doubt it...this language is all slang nowadays...

by **mariek** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 6:45 am

[quote author=Milito link=board=6;threadid=311;start=0#2223 date=1059512633](Go look "domus" up in a dictionary.... the result is truly awe-inspiring...!)[/quote] I did! domus, -us or -i (dat: domo or domui; abl domo or domu; loc: domi, rarely domo or domui; gen pl: domorum or domuum) etc... Certainly sounds like a schitzophrenic noun!

by **mariek** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 6:48 am

[quote author=Milito link=board=6;threadid=311;start=15#2245 date=1059514574] Funny how we try so hard to stamp out graffiti these days, and yet in a thousand years, it might be considered invaluable! [/quote] Now there's a scary thought! I don't know about graffiti in your area. In mine -- on buses, walls, etc -- most of it is unreadable, it's like some sort of code, I wouldn't even know where to begin in trying to pronounce it.

by **ingrid70** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 8:51 am

I've got a little book with Pompejan graffiti with translations (in Dutch), and the lines of graffiti are numbered, so I suppose there is such a list. The book gives only a selection, but it's very funny sometimes. Ingrid

by **vinobrien** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 11:52 am

In the film, the Centurian suggests that Romanes means "people called Roman", but then he also thinks that domum is a locative.

by **Milito** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 1:33 pm

[quote author=mariek link=board=6;threadid=311;start=15#2278 date=1059547722] Now there's a scary thought! I don't know about graffiti in your area. In mine -- on buses, walls, etc -- most of it is unreadable, it's like some sort of code, I wouldn't even know where to begin in trying to pronounce it. [/quote] Yep, it's pretty well unreadable around here, too, though we don't seem to have a lot of it.... unless it's just that I don't hang out in the places where the graffiti does..... Kilmeny

by **Episcopus** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 8:37 pm

[quote author=Episcopus link=board=6;threadid=311;start=15#2243 date=1059514175] Niobe wuz ere [/quote] Niobe was 3rd conj hah

by **merytdjehuty** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 9:32 am

I remember that Life of Brian sketch, i bought the movie some time ago, hilarious. my Latin is pretty sketchy, considering how long i've been teaching myself. If only I could get off my bum and do some more often... BB Merytdjehuty

by **phil** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 11:31 pm

Hi guys, and guyesses, Sorry I took so long to get back to you all. Holidaying on a South Pacific island at the moment (blue skies, palm trees - you'd hate it) and I don't check the email every day. Yep, that's the sketch - I think some of you remember it better than I do! I have brought my Wheelock with me though, so expect a few questions over the next few days. Oh well, back to the pool. Cheers Phil

by **phil** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 11:35 pm

Well, I've finally worked out why the LOB line "Conjugate the verb 'to go'" is funny, and I've also started on translating Harrius Potter into English. It only took me about 5 minutes to translate "Caput Primum". It means 'Chapter One'! Actually, I'm nearly at the end of the first whole page!! Phil

by **Keesa** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 12:16 pm

Excuse my breaking into this discussion on Roman graffitti, but-Harry Potter is in Latin? Who translated it, why, when, how, where? If Latin is supposed to be a dead language (and we know it isn't, but it's supposed to be), then why go through the trouble? Our nearest graffitti is about fifteen miles away, under a highway bridge, but I'm afraid it won't be very useful to people wanted to know how the language is pronounced-it's mostly hearts with initials on the sides, a Nazi swastika, a "TJ lvs CP" (Look at that-it's Hebrew-no vowels!). Nothing for anyone interested in pronunciation.

by **Emma_85** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 1:09 pm

http://www.textkit.com/greek-latin-forum/viewtopic . php?t=94;start=0 Think you'll be able to find the info there... Lol, at least I know how to pronounce my own graffiti, though the Turkish stuff... well... Anyway, there's enough graffiti around to practise (except where Keesa lives, obviously...).

by **Keesa** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 10:08 pm

Mercifully, I am, for the moment, graffitti-free. You graffitti-studiers will have to go elsewhere... ;D Keesa

by **Emma_85** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 9:39 am

I suggest Berlin, you'll find more graffitti there, than anyone could possibly read in a life time.

by **Episcopus** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:46 am

When I know latin well enough to be confident I will not be able to restrain myself from writing many things in latin on public property. ;D

by **annis** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 12:12 pm

If I recall correctly, silent reading wasn't invented until well into the christian era, so that Roman graffiti depended in part on being read aloud by passers by. So a lot of Pompeian graffiti is along the lines of "I, who am reading this, am a ___." Fill in the blank, of course.

by **Episcopus** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 1:36 pm

Really? I always thought of silent reading as reflex! Interesting...

by **Keesa** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:08 pm

I had to go into the other side of town today (the other side of the town 30 miles away...our nearest! ;D), and it's amazing how much more closely I looked at the graffitti...I found one that would have delighted you of the spelled-as-pronounced school; it said "Justice", but it was spelled, "Justise". Nothing like a good Textkit thread to make you more aware... ;D

Website · by **benissimus** » Sun Sep 14, 2003 12:37 am

We have lots of graffiti here

My landlord who lives at the end of my block persistently repaints his fence, but these gangster kids keep painting it... different colors. He isn't showing any signs of giving up though; I guess it's just a matter of who gets more annoyed with it first/ ::)

by **klewlis** » Sun Sep 14, 2003 1:07 am

graffiti fascinates me... not the obscene stuff but the creative type... there are some amazing works of art out there which are labelled graffiti but which are really cool... it's like a language to these kids, definitely self-expression and communication, and very interesting.

by **Carola** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 1:15 am

[quote author=Episcopus link=board=6;threadid=311;start=0#2237 date=1059513707] No actually "Romanes (spelling mistake) eunt (go, wrong mood though) domus..." ..could be made... what do you think? is it feeble/too obvious? [/quote] You only have to read some of the more ridiculous attempts by sign writers and advertisers these days (and that is after having many years of education at the taxpayers' expense) to see the humour in this scene. I wish some Roman soldiers would stand next to our local real estate agent when he does his signs - houses in "sort after areas" with great "veiws" arghhh!!!

by **mingshey** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 1:42 am

[quote author=Carola link=board=6;threadid=311;start=30#6034 date=1063588548] You only have to read some of the more ridiculous attempts by sign writers and advertisers these days (and that is after having many years of education at the taxpayers' expense) to see the humour in this scene. I wish some Roman soldiers would stand next to our local real estate agent when he does his signs - houses in "sort after areas" with great "veiws" arghhh!!! [/quote] The situation is quite the same in Korea(what an odd spelling it is, when Corea's more natural, anyway...). It is accelerated with people interacting rapidly on internet these days. TV is a history in this job. Those doll-headed slap-stick comedians and lip-synch dance singers take the position of show hosts on TV to spread all kinds of stupid speech habits nationwide, but it's no match for the power of internet.

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