Punctution in Latin

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DARKastheRAIN
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Punctution in Latin

Post by DARKastheRAIN »

I'm wan't to use the Latin translation of a Bible verse in an art project, but I'm a little confused about punctuation and capitalization.

I found several sites that have the entire Latin Bible (Latin Vulgate) so it's easy enough to find the verses I want.

http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/Vulgate/
http://www.speedbible.com/vulgate/
http://www.drbo.org/lvb/

On all these sites the format is the same. Only proper names seem to be capitalized, and there's no punctuation. Is this a feature of Latin or something? Do they not use a lot of punctuation and capitalization? Or is it just the Vulgate?

If I were to write these two verses together without the verse numbers

"14. qui ignoratis quid erit in crastinum quae enim est vita vestra vapor est ad modicum parens deinceps exterminatur
15. pro eo ut dicatis si Dominus voluerit et vixerimus faciemus hoc aut illud"

would it just be: "qui ignoratis quid erit in crastinum quae enim est vita vestra vapor est ad modicum parens deinceps exterminatur pro eo ut dicatis si Dominus voluerit et vixerimus faciemus hoc aut illud" or would I need something between "exterminatur" and "pro"?

It's for an inscription on a clay box with a statue on top.

adrianus
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Re: Punctution in Latin

Post by adrianus »

Hi DarkastheRain // Salve ATERutIMBER

The punctuation and initial capitalization you're talking about are modern conventions. Put a full stop/period between your two sentences (i.e., at the end of the first sentence).

Interpunctiones seu commae et litterae capitum sententiarum majusculae quas refers ante nos dies saepè deerant. Punctum inter sententias pone. Id est, termina primam sententiam per punctum.
Last edited by adrianus on Tue Jan 12, 2010 3:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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.

adrianus
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Re: Punctution in Latin

Post by adrianus »

Alternatively, knock yourself out with this punctuation @ http://www.newadvent.org/bible/jam004.htm:

Aliter, tale interpunctione quae hîc reperitur immodicè denotas:
Qui ignoratis quid erit in crastino. Quæ est enim vita vestra? vapor est ad modicum parens, et deinceps exterminabitur; pro eo ut dicatis : Si Dominus voluerit. Et : Si vixerimus, faciemus hoc, aut illud.
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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thesaurus
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Re: Punctution in Latin

Post by thesaurus »

To expand on Adrianus's statements, I think you are free to add whatever punctuation you want, so long as it's sensible and preserves the meaning of the sentences. The original document wouldn't have used punctuation, but that doesn't mean you can't (they weren't fortunate enough to have access to our modern typographical and orthographical conventions).

Ut de responsis Adriani plura dicam, si sententiae rectae et ad eas latinas adhaesae fiunt, licet interpunctiones quascumque adhibeas. Cum textus ipse clarò sine interpunctionibus fuerit, si illum interpunctionibus emendas nihil refert (Romanis, pro dolore, nostrae consuetudines typographiae orthographiaeque defuerunt.)
Horae quidem cedunt et dies et menses et anni, nec praeteritum tempus umquam revertitur nec quid sequatur sciri potest. Quod cuique temporis ad vivendum datur, eo debet esse contentus. --Cicero, De Senectute

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