Ad flumen ivimus ubi magistrum navis invenimus cui te ad Italiam nuntium mittere cupere nuntiavimus
We went to the river where we found the captain of the ship for whom you sent a message to Italy ?..we announced.
cui nuntiavimus
------------------te cupere
------------------------------mittere nuntium ad Italiam
…to whom we announced that you desired to send a message to Italy. Correct? Te refers to a person addressed in the previous sentence. This sentence looks like a phrase within a phrase within a phrase. Is there a proper term for this?
Correct. As for the second question, since English is my second language, I’m not 100% sure. Maybe you could say we have a chain of subordinate clauses.
Notice also how the clauses are structured in the Latin:
cui te ad Italiam nuntium mittere cupere nuntiavimus
cui te ad Italiam nuntium mittere cupere nuntiavimus
cui te ad Italiam nuntium mittere cupere nuntiavimus
It’s interesting how the clauses are “bracketed” one inside the other.
Maybe the best way to describe this in English is nested subordinate clauses. The Latin nest is the best. 