Per Aroua Ad Astra

[mariek]

<br />I caught the beginning of an episode of "Buck Rogers", an old SciFi program, where you see a spaceship called Searcher. The name of the ship is on the outside, and directly beneath it, I noticed the words "per aroua ad astra" and thought it looked very much like Latin. Well I tried working it out:<br /><br />er = through<br />ad = to<br />astra = stars (ACC PL of astrum)<br /><br />I couldn't figure out aroua. Any thoughts?<br /><br />Per aroua ad astra = through _______ to the stars.<br /><br />I took a guess at "space", looked up the word and found spatium. Well that's definitely not it. Hmmmm.<br /><br />

[bingley]

Ardua not aroua. <br /><br />Per ardua ad astra.<br /><br />Buck Rogers must have pinched it from the RAF. See http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/hrafmotto.html

[mariek]

[quote author=bingley link=board=3;threadid=324;start=0#2279 date=1059547784]<br />Ardua not aroua. <br />Per ardua ad astra.<br />Buck Rogers must have pinched it from the RAF. See http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/hrafmotto.html<br />[/quote] <br />Neato! I didn't know that was the RAF motto. My dictionary says "per arduum" means upwards, uphill, high into the air. So "per ardua ad astra" should mean high up into the air to the stars. The website however translates it to "through struggles to the stars".<br /><br />As for Buck Rogers, maybe I misread the words on the ship. The lettering was a bit blocky and I could have missed the top part of the 'd' in ardua. <br />

[ingrid70]

think of per ardua as: through an uphill struggle<br /><br />Ingrid

[benissimus]

ardua -> arduous

[mariek]

<br />Why is the phrase "per ardua" feminine, and not masculine as "per arduum"?

[Milito]

[quote author=mariek link=board=3;threadid=324;start=0#2312 date=1059579597]<br /><br />Why is the phrase "per ardua" feminine, and not masculine as "per arduum"?<br />[/quote]<br /><br />Actually, it's neuter plural. Arduus/ardua/arduum is an adjective, which can also be used as a neuter noun, meaning "height" or "difficulty". So it's essentially the same as "per arduum", except that there are more than one "arduum" under consideration. <br /><br />Kilmeny

[vinobrien]

It's not feminine, it's a neuter accusative plural so it ends in -a: Through difficulties (lofty things?), to the stars.

[sfryer]

[quote author=mariek link=board=3;threadid=324;start=0#2312 date=1059579597]<br /><br />Why is the phrase "per ardua" feminine, and not masculine as "per arduum"?<br />[/quote]<br /><br />'ardua' is neuter plural of 'arduum' - "difficulties" rather than "a difficulty."

[mariek]

<br />Ah.... I see. Accusative plural. Why didn't I think of that? One of these days I will look at a word and just "know" what it is, but I'm not holding my breath.<br /><br />Is per one of those prepositions that always takes the ACC? <br />

[Milito]

[quote author=mariek link=board=3;threadid=324;start=0#2333 date=1059589123]<br />Is per one of those prepositions that always takes the ACC? <br />[/quote]<br /><br />Yes, that's correct. It is an accusative-only preposition. (I looked it up in the dictionary to confirm that.... some of them, like "in" are sneaky and take more than one case in different situations.....)<br /><br />Kilmeny

[vinobrien]

One of the meanings of the accusative is "motion towards" so most prepositions with that idea take the accusative. "In" means "into" with the accusative (moving) or "in" with the ablative (stationary).

[mariek]

[quote author=Milito link=board=3;threadid=324;start=0#2339 date=1059589863]<br />...some of them, like "in" are sneaky and take more than one case in different situations.....) [/quote]<br /><br />Well that certainly adds a challenge to learning these prepositions. Guess they're just trying to keep us on our toes! In my mind, I think of ABL as the case to use with prepositions, so the ones that take ACC always throw me off.<br />

[mariek]

[quote author=vinobrien link=board=3;threadid=324;start=0#2406 date=1059640778]<br />One of the meanings of the accusative is "motion towards" so most prepositions with that idea take the accusative. "In" means "into" with the accusative (moving) or "in" with the ablative (stationary). <br />[/quote] <br />Thanks for the tip. I will try to remember that tip. Motion = ACC. Stationary = ABL. <br />Except for apud because I can't see how being among people can be seen as a motion towards, unless you think of it as moving towards people in order to be among them.<br />

[ingrid70]

[quote author=mariek link=board=3;threadid=324;start=0#2452 date=1059666398]<br />[quote author=Milito link=board=3;threadid=324;start=0#2339 date=1059589863]<br />...some of them, like "in" are sneaky and take more than one case in different situations.....) [/quote]<br /><br />Well that certainly adds a challenge to learning these prepositions. Guess they're just trying to keep us on our toes! In my mind, I think of ABL as the case to use with prepositions, so the ones that take ACC always throw me off.<br /><br />There are actually more prepositions that take the acc. than the abl, but the latter are more common. <br /><br />I learned this list for abl. prepositions, say it out loud, it has a rythm to it:<br />A, ab, abs, de, ex and e,<br />cum and sine, pro and prae<br /><br />Ingrid<br />[/quote]

[Episcopus]

[quote author=mariek link=board=3;threadid=324;start=0#2453 date=1059666547]<br /><br />Thanks for the tip. I will try to remember that tip. Motion = ACC. Stationary = ABL. <br />Except for apud because I can't see how being among people can be seen as a motion towards, unless you think of it as moving towards people in order to be among them.<br /><br />[/quote]<br /><br />heh

[mariek]

[quote author=ingrid70 link=board=3;threadid=324;start=0#2460 date=1059677200]<br />I learned this list for abl. prepositions, say it out loud, it has a rythm to it:<br />A, ab, abs, de, ex and e,<br />cum and sine, pro and prae [/quote]<br /><br />Cool! Thanks.<br /><br />