What would you say is the best way to say, “Happy Birthday!” in Latin? I’m not so sure of what I have come up with.
The phrase I am familiar with is felicem tibi natalem.
felix natal is “happy birthday”, put into the accusative for exclamatory purposes.
See, the ne habeas is understood.
Felix dies tibi sit according to Minimus, from Cambridge University Press.
I’ve always said, “felicem diem natalis habeas” but I did just make it up…
The standard translation is felix dies natalis tibi sit or something like that (tibi opto ut felix sit dies natalis; diem natalem felicem habeas; …).
But you can also sing the famous song ‘Happy birthday to you’ in Latin. There is a standard translation of that too, but the ‘natalis’ is left away in it metri causa:
Felix dies tibi (2x)
Felix dies tibi, (here comes the name in the vocative),
Felix dies tibi.