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Lord_Gareth
2010-04-13, 10:40 AM
Okay, so it's not an emergency, but it got you into the thread, didn't it? :p

I'm working on a novel, and I could use a Latin translation real quick (English to Latin, that is). A recurring phrase that I want to use is "S/he died the death," or "S/he has died the death," and I'm about as proficient with linguistic dictionaries as I am with a Shaolin whip-chain. Help? Please?

Syka
2010-04-13, 11:06 AM
First, do you want it to be he or she? It will affect the translation. Also, it'll likely end up being "He/she died death" since Latin doesn't have articles (a, the, etc.) like Greek and English has.

Which is depressing. I like articles. They make translations soooo much easier.


Sorry I wasn't much other help. If you still need it later tonight, I can look it up in my dictionaries (I've got like 3 Latin dictionaries).

Lord_Gareth
2010-04-13, 11:09 AM
I'll need to know both translations; the phrase itself is used to identify one vampire to another in an introduction (as in, "Tyler has died the death," or ("This is my wife. She has died the death.") Thanks for offering to help!

Capt Spanner
2010-04-13, 11:48 AM
Been a while since I did Latin, but I think:

"Morit letum"

Morit = third person past tense of "to die".
Letum: death, ruin, annihilation.

Alternatively:

"Morit excessum"

excessum : departure, death, digression.

Djinn_in_Tonic
2010-04-13, 11:53 AM
...and I'm about as proficient with linguistic dictionaries as I am with a Shaolin whip-chain. Help? Please?

And here I was under the impression that you were a Shaolin whip-chain master. Way to ruin all my hopes and dreams, Gareth. :smalltongue:

Sorry I can't actually help...if it were Greek, sure, but...well...Latin. Uck.

Lord_Gareth
2010-04-13, 11:56 AM
Greek may actually see some use; for the longest time, Greek was considered a language of enlightenment and education, and it may be used for more formal occasions or introductions.

Kneenibble
2010-04-13, 12:03 PM
Mori is deponent, arkady. That'd be moritur. That's present, anyways, and the op has asked for perfect tense.

I don't think that's the right word though for its implications with mortality and human life. That's the word for a human or an animal to die. These are vampires. I would go with a less literal word like obire like Lucretius is always using.

You could say, "Ipsam mortem obit."
There's a number of ways you could translate the sense of the death that you want (since as Syka stated there's no articles), but ipsam is an intensifier: he/she has gone over into death itself, into very death, into the same death, that kind of thing. The death.

You don't need a pronoun for the subject, i.e. he or she. It's not necessary. You'd say, "Haec mihi uxor est. Ipsam mortem obit." (This is my wife. (She) has died the death.)

Lord_Gareth
2010-04-13, 12:11 PM
Link to another discussion on the story this will be for. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148917)

Djinn_in_Tonic
2010-04-13, 12:15 PM
Greek

αυτός ὁμόνεκρος -- He is a companion in death.

αυτή ὁμόνεκρος -- She is a companion in death.

I'm pretty sure this is correct, but you might want to double check it with someone just to make sure. I'm slightly rusty.

Kneenibble
2010-04-13, 12:25 PM
(Djinn, I would use οὗτος ὁ ὁμόνεκρος or αὗτη ἡ ὁμόνεκρος... because doesn't αυτός/αυτή mean 'the same' without an article? - and needs to have a finite verb in the nominative to function as a pronoun?)

Djinn_in_Tonic
2010-04-13, 12:27 PM
(Djinn, I would use οὗτος ὁ ὁμόνεκρος or αὗτη ἡ ὁμόνεκρος... because doesn't αυτός/αυτή mean 'the same' without an article? - and needs to have a finite verb in the nominative to function as a pronoun?)

Ah-ha! I knew there was something I was missing. :smallbiggrin:

Thanks.

Lord_Gareth
2010-04-13, 12:35 PM
...Is there a way I can type that with English characters? Or get the ALT-NUM coding to make them?

If nothing else, this has seriously demonstrated how inexact an art translation is to me. All this over one freaking sentence >.<

Djinn_in_Tonic
2010-04-13, 12:41 PM
Closest in English characters would be "Outos o omonekros" and "Aute e omonekros," but that's not really accurate at all. I'd honestly recommend just copy-pasting, although, if you're using Word, you can access the symbols through the symbol insertion library.

Kneenibble
2010-04-13, 12:42 PM
I use this (http://www.typegreek.com/). You put any accents or breathing marks or what have you after the letter they're supposed to go on, and when you type the next character they automatically smoosh. The alphabet key is in the lower right hand corner. It's made my life a lot easier, I'll tell you.


If nothing else, this has seriously demonstrated how inexact an art translation is to me. All this over one freaking sentence >.<

If you go with Latin, just use mine. It's the best you'll get. :smalltongue:

Fan
2010-04-13, 12:46 PM
I use this (http://www.typegreek.com/). You put any accents or breathing marks or what have you after the letter they're supposed to go on, and when you type the next character they automatically smoosh. The alphabet key is in the lower right hand corner. It's made my life a lot easier, I'll tell you.



If you go with Latin, just use mine. It's the best you'll get. :smalltongue:

The man speaks truth, I took two classes, and his latin is innanely better than mine.

Lord_Gareth
2010-04-13, 01:01 PM
Alright, so would that phrase be used by itself? I mean, grammatical accuracy may not be entirely necessary for slang, but it'll irk readers if I'm doing it wrong. For example, would it be acceptable to say, "Jacob, this is Tyler. Ipsam mortem obit." For that matter, how would I shift that to, "I have died the death."?

Kneenibble
2010-04-13, 01:06 PM
Yes that would be acceptable. The phrase stands by itself.

Change the last word to obii for I have died the death.


The man speaks truth, I took two classes, and his latin is innanely better than mine.

Hello, dear. :smallsmile: Thank you.

Lord_Gareth
2010-04-13, 01:13 PM
Thank'ee kindly for all the help. Mind if I shoot you a PM sometime if my Latin needs extend further?

Kneenibble
2010-04-13, 01:16 PM
Please do. :smallsmile:

Fan
2010-04-13, 01:48 PM
Yes that would be acceptable. The phrase stands by itself.

Change the last word to obii for I have died the death.



Hello, dear. :smallsmile: Thank you.

No thanks needed, but your welcome none the less.:smallsmile:

Syka
2010-04-13, 01:51 PM
*nostalgic sigh* For the second time in a month, my Classicist's heart is warmed by the fact that Latin and Ancient Greek are still very much alive. :smallsmile:

(FEH! to all those who scoffed at my degree. Useless it may be for getting a job, but wonderful it is for dinner conversations and stories. :smallwink:)

Djinn_in_Tonic
2010-04-13, 02:01 PM
(FEH! to all those who scoffed at my degree. Useless it may be for getting a job, but wonderful it is for dinner conversations and stories. :smallwink:)

Damn straight! We may be destined to live in boxes all our lives, but we've got the stories and knowledge to at least make it an interesting time!

We're like the Virtuous Heathens of the business world, only instead of a wonderful abode on the first layer of hell, we have a cardboard box town in the streets. :smalltongue:

Syka
2010-04-13, 02:04 PM
Damn straight! We may be destined to live in boxes all our lives, but we've got the stories and knowledge to at least make it an interesting time!

We're like the Virtuous Heathens of the business world, only instead of a wonderful abode on the first layer of hell, we have a cardboard box town in the streets. :smalltongue:

I'm attempting not to live in a box, since I'm getting my MBA, but I LOVE the looks of confusion upon peoples face when they ask my undergraduate degree.

"Classics."

"Huh?"

"Ancient Greek and Latin."

"Oh...well, uh...what could you do with that?"

"Nothing, that's why I'm getting my MBA. :smallbiggrin:"


Apparently, this switcheroo wasn't a horrible idea after all. I'm hoping to get in to marketing, and both professors and professionals I've spoken with seem to be under the impression that having such a non-businessy degree is a boon for a marketer.

The Rose Dragon
2010-04-13, 02:33 PM
I'm considering getting a PhD in Linguistics after I get a PhD in my undergrad major, just so I won't fear languages any longer.

After that one? Psychology, philosophy and economics!

Djinn_in_Tonic
2010-04-13, 02:35 PM
I'm considering getting a PhD in Linguistics after I get a PhD in my undergrad major, just so I won't fear languages any longer.

After that one? Psychology, philosophy and economics!

Going for broke, eh?

Classics and Philosophy major here. Ah, St. John's College...what a wonderful little school. :smallbiggrin:

The Rose Dragon
2010-04-13, 02:38 PM
Going for broke, eh?

Classics and Philosophy major here. Ah, St. John's College...what a wonderful little school. :smallbiggrin:

No, that is after I hit it rich with my molecular biology and genetics major. :smalltongue:

Lord_Gareth
2010-04-13, 02:40 PM
Biology frustrates my vamps to no end. They don't conform to its commonly known laws, to the point where the few scientists who are continuing those avenues of research have the nickname "Necrologists". Poor bastards.

Keld Denar
2010-04-13, 03:25 PM
There is a saying "You don't have to pay off student loans while you are in school, so go to school for the rest of your life!"

Not sure how this works legally, and I'm sure at some point they'll come after you for your house/car/clothes/soul, but it also fits in with another saying: "Live hard, die young".

ForzaFiori
2010-04-13, 07:20 PM
There is a saying "You don't have to pay off student loans while you are in school, so go to school for the rest of your life!"

Not sure how this works legally, and I'm sure at some point they'll come after you for your house/car/clothes/soul, but it also fits in with another saying: "Live hard, die young".

As long as your in school, you don't have to pay them. Even if you've been in school for 70 years. If you die while in school, I'm not sure if they come after your family though.

Moff Chumley
2010-04-16, 12:47 PM
On an only vaguely related note, anyone know where I can get a PhD in Sound Recording Technology? :smallwink: