Dear all,
As you already knew. The deponent verb is passive in form, but active in meaning. So, assuming “Love” is a deponent verb:
In English, we say: I lover her
In Latin, we say: I am loved her [accusative] or: I am loved by her [ablative] ?
Sincerely yours,
Huynh Trong Khanh
I am a bit confused. Can you tell us what Latin verb specifically you are thinking about?
Dear Miguel,
For example: verērī = fear, it is deponent verb
So, if I want to say “He fears Hercules”, how can I do in Latin:
[1] est veritus Herculen [accusative]
or [2] est vertius Herculi [ablative]
Sincerely yours,
I see. The answer is [1]. The rule for deponents should be taken at face-value: deponent verbs are verbs with an active meaning with a passive appearance (so we don’t get bogged down in details about middle voices etc), and appearance is the only important word here.
So verērī = timēre.
Timeō Herculen = Vereor Herculen.
Timuī Herculen = Veritus sum Herculen.
Dear Miguel
[1] First, thanks so much for your support
[2] I see that your location is Portugal. So, are you Portuguess? I am very curious about whether there is Old/ Classical/ Middle Portuguess or not. I am very excited in studying Old Languages. And there’re lots of Old Language opening the door of the amazing past. I have sought Old Spanish, but it seems that its learning documents are rarely
Sincerely yours,
Huynh Trong Khanh
Hello testsuda,
Old Portuguese is usually called Galician-Portuguese. It’s the earliest attested form of the language, originating in Galicia and Northern Portugal. It was a language of culture in the Iberian peninsula during the Late Medieval period, and there is quite a substantial corpus of poetry surviving. It’s by and large an Iberian reception of Provençal poetry, while adding a a few genres (the Cantigas de Santa Maria, by Alfonso the Wise, are written in it).
Hope that helps!
Dear Miguel,
Thanks so much for your enthusiasm. Could you explain me more:
[1] Beside poetry, how about the prose? Cause if I have enough condition to learn the Galician-Portuguese I will focuse on prose, cause my interest is mythology/ legend/ history and I think that Prose is always easier than poetry. In my experience: one can take few months to read fairly prose, but it must be years to master the poetry
[2] Is there any document/ website that I can learn Galician-Portuguese by English?
Sincerely yours,
It’s fairly similar to Modern Portuguese. There are of course some differences, but I would be at a loss if I had to point something for English speakers with no Portuguese. It would be like teaching someone Middle English without them knowing Modern English.
The only tip I can give is that European Portuguese will get you much closer to Galician-Portuguese (also called Old Portuguese) than the Brazilian variant.