With the book not owned , I was wondering if those of you who do have a copy, and have read some of the pages, could answer a couple of questions for me. Please if you dislike Harry Potter, don’t dis his poor behind! Just ignore this post!
Is it written in the classical style, with classical vocabulary? I realise that it is not going to be Caesar nor Cicero, but a presumably much simpler version of classical style; but I was thinking it would be good to get me more used to Latin if the vocab. were unaltered into mediaeval or more modern meanings, and the style preserved things like the dative for indirect object instead of ‘ad’ or whatever which did not initially perform the same function.
etc.
Edit: because I want something in Latin to read when I’m not studying Latin; something to read to relax while still getting review of all the points I had come across.
Salve!
Well, the style is definitely classical. I mean, you won’t see any “ad te dixi” for “tibi dixi”, at least as far as I’ve read, but I doubt there is anything grammar-wise that may be characteristic of Medieval Latin.
Mmhh.. I don’t know what it is, but the Latin is pretty straightforward. If anything, at times, the problem, if any, will be with the vocabulary, which I may not have encountered before, or the neologisms for bicycle, car, etc., but once you get those, like I said, the syntax is straight forward, no ten-line sentences, for instance, with the subject separated from the verb by 15 words and from the object by 20. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t be so sure, since I myself haven’t been exposed to much Latin, but I’ve read the translation is a good one (I suppose a matter of opinion, but OK). I can tell you, though, that it’s definitely enjoyable and fun to read, especially for me, not having ever read the book in English or seen the movie.
If you’re still working through Wheelock’s, I suggest you finish it first before diving into Harrius, especially wait until you reach the subjunctive; with Harrius, you’ll be getting much practice with all those forms, and more.
I read the Potter book last winter. Here’s my take on it. Fantastic!
As for the style, I would call it Neo-Latin: classical syntax but modern style and creativity of expression! It is precisely the kind of work we should all be reading before diving into pure classical texts. It is every bit as much latin as the works of Circero himself are! Translation itself is an art and this translation is indeed high art. Good story too, although nothing but the latinity could have ever drawn me to it.
Below is a post that I recently wrote for a slightly different audience. For those of you can’t make it through my doubtlessly poor latin, just click on the link to hear some sentences from the book spoken in our beloved latin.
Amici humanissimi aut rem nostram colentes aut id volentes facere,
vos omnes Kynetus VALESIUS scriba quam humillissimus medullitus omnes salutat.
Laeti pede rapido hilarique solum vos fauni dryadaeque ferite! Nam
modo magni momenti situm inveni qui fortasse magno auxilio omnibus
erit petentibus plicas linguae latinae audibiles. Ut videtur, grex est
apud Universitatem Oklahomae qui suscipit plicas audibiles facere
omnium capitulorum libri cui nomen “Harrius Potter et Philosophi
Lapis”. Saltem meo in mente dubium est num legitimum est hoc facere.
Utcumque res se habet, opportet vos situm visere. Ecce
Agreed, translation from one language to another is an art form, albeit lesser than actual writing. Anyone who says otherwise has probably never done it (I’m not talking about translation to learn, I’m talking about the real thing when you know both languages really well). And this wasn’t the translator’s native tongue, which gives him or her additional kudos in my book.
Excellent, is this the way of neo-latin then, Kynete? Classical syntax, that’s what my main concern was; and the language, of course, has to be new.
, I was wondering if those of you who do have a copy, and have read some of the pages, could answer a couple of questions for me. Please if you dislike Harry Potter, don’t dis his poor behind! Just ignore this post!
