"Speaking with the Dead"

Latin Learning Latin
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Salvete! A friend of mine has requested my help. He’s writing a story involving a set of instructions for speaking with the dead. He’d like to give these instructions a good Latin title. I’ve taken five years’ worth, but I’ve not really done anything with the language in two years, in which time I’ve lost almost everything but my dictionary. “Rusty” doesn’t even begin to describe it. So.

I’m thinking I want the dative gerund form of “dico” – “dicendo,” “(for) speaking,” as they are instructions, well, for speaking.

As for “with the dead,” I know that’s going to be an ablative form. But I’m not sure which. It’s not an Ablative of Means, like “i filled the hole with dirt,” it’s not an Ablative of Instrument like “I stabbed him with my knife…” I’m thinking I’m making it too hard, and that it may just require the regular ablative ending plus a preposition, probably “cum”… Unless, of course, it doesn’t need a preposition…

Then, given that “the dead,” “mortui -orum,” is a mass noun, it’s a second declension plural… for which the ablative ending would, I think, be “mortuis…” …right?

As far as I can tell, I’ve got it narrowed down between Dicendo Cum Mortuis and Dicendo Mortuis. Is this even halfway right? It would also be fine if the literal translation were more like “(On, About, or Concerning) Speaking with the Dead.”

The storyline implies that these instructions have been passed down and re-copied many times; there’s some leeway in that somebody down the line could have made a mistake. But I’d still like something as close to accurate as I can get…

This is no urgent thing; thanks in advance for any input you can offer!

~Eris D.

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Welcome. I believe a noun for “speaking” would be better than a gerund in this case, something like “cum mortuis colloquium” or “de colloquio…”. You would definitely not want to use an ablative of means, so a preposition may be necessary. The sort of dative of purpose (dicendo) you are suggesting is much rarer in Latin than in English and would be covered best by a preposition such as de or in. As far as I know, the word dico, dicere is not normally used with cum, but sometimes the dative. loquor, loqui would be a better choice for “to have a conversation, converse” which is what you mean, than dico which is closer to “to tell/speak”.

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Since it’s a title I’d suggest thinking along the lines of

Tractatus de …
Or maybe: Ars cum mortuis loquendi
Liber artis cum mortuis loquendi

Browse a bibliography that contains titles of medieval Latin instruction books for good ideas. Going for strictly classical Latin may not be touch that’s needed.

Also experiment with some compounds of loqui–and even synonyms–for a spookier, more arcane and spiritual tone (alloqui, colloqui…).