catullus #1

Deudeditus · Post by **Deudeditus** » Wed May 10, 2006 6:34 pm

This was confusing me.

Cui dono lepidum nouum libellum
arida modo pumice expolitum?...

To whom do I give this witty new book
just polished with a pumice (arida)

at first, I thought that arida described pumice, but I looked it up and it turned out to be masculine. so what does arida belong to?
I'm assuming it's ablative.

thanks
-Jon

Adelheid · Post by **Adelheid** » Wed May 10, 2006 8:20 pm

Funny, Perseus has 'arido' here, instead of 'arida'.

This site has more to say about it.

Lucus Eques · Post by **Lucus Eques** » Wed May 10, 2006 8:41 pm

Unless it was an ancient typo, says that site that Adelheid provided, it was simply Catullus' choice to make it feminine.

cdm2003 · Post by **cdm2003** » Thu May 11, 2006 4:47 pm

My New College dictionary says that pumex, -icis, though typically used as a masculine noun, can also be used as a feminine one.

Hope that helps.

Deudeditus · Post by **Deudeditus** » Thu May 11, 2006 7:31 pm

I got it from vroma and aqui.
Adelheid, that link helped a little, but, as it's all in latin, I won't understand it untill probably tomorrow or tonight.

thanks. but did it say somewhere that rocks which are normally masculine can be feminine also? I don't know, bc I just glanced over it and I'm still learning the basics, etc... but thanks anyway.

thank you.

-Jon

Adelheid · Post by **Adelheid** » Thu May 11, 2006 7:42 pm

Deudeditus wrote:Adelheid, that link helped a little, but, as it's all in latin, I won't understand it untill probably tomorrow or tonight.

Well, I didn't want to pretend that I understood it all

so I didn't offer any interpretation( didn't want to be presumptuous). But it did look like an interesting site for this particular question.

Lucus provided a valid translation though (as far as I can determine): Catullus just made pumex a feminin word, because he wanted to. Or else it was a big fat typo. Anyway, arida/arido goes with pumice, that's for sure!

Misopogon · Post by **Misopogon** » Thu May 11, 2006 9:55 pm

According to my dictionary pumex is usually femine in Catullus.

Regards
Misopogon

whiteoctave · Post by **whiteoctave** » Sun May 14, 2006 9:21 am

arido, the reading of V, is without any doubt the correct reading. i transcribe the marginal note I've made in my OCT: 'arido certissime: pumex semper est Latine feminina. n.b. ad A.V.610 Seru. perperam affirmat Catullum arcum ut feminina ac turben ut neutra esse usum (ad VII.378). immo illam Ennius atque hanc Tibullus. sic genera caecus Seru. confudit. ud. praesertim Gooldium (LCM 1981), p.235. cf. ad hunc uersum Mart.VIII.72.2 morsu pumicis aridi politus.'
any dictionary suggesting evidence for a feminine pumex is incorrect. any lexicon of Catullus is similarly useless, for this is the only instance therein where the gender of pumex can be discerened.
to repeat, est mera insania lectionem [arido] respuere.

~D