[bksvol-discuss] Re: Is this is?

  • From: "Pratik Patel" <pratikp1@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2005 16:25:39 -0500

Hello all,

I have not yet departed for CSUN.  I'm actually planning to get there
Tuesday afternoon.  

1.  The "moritori" should, in fact, have been "morituri."  My usual sense of
"perfection," as Cindy terms it, is marred by my dismal fingers, not being
able to obey my brain's commands.

2.  Latin, unlike English, often gives the word order a secondary
consideration to sound and meaning.  As a result, "morituri te salutamus,"
"te salutamus morituri," and "salutamus te morituri" have the same exact
meaning.  However the original phrasing, "morituri te salutamus" sounds much
more fluid and was used by gladiators.  The verb often ends up being at the
end of the sentence.

3.  The correct translation is "we, who are about to die, salute you!"
Cindy, the phrase you found "morituri te salutant," while grammatically in
order, has a different meaning.  The conjugated form "salutant" implies a
third person plural subject; and, as the phrase was used by the gladiators
themselves, it cannot be the correct one.  The correct translation for that
phrase is "they, who are about to die, salute you."  There is a second
reason why that phrase would not have been used.  Most of the gladiators
were slaves and would simply not have refered themselves as "they."  I'm
afraid that particular source did not do his/her homework correctly.

There goes my idea of leaving you something to do so that you don't cause
trouble.  Maybe I should think of something else.

Prat


Pratik Patel
Interim Director
Office of Special Services
Queens College
Director
CUNY Assistive Technology Services
The City University of New York
     ppatel@xxxxxx
 
-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Cindy
Sent: Friday, March 11, 2005 11:12 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Is this is?

Sue, I think he made a mistake. I, too, did some
research. The Las Vegas Gladiators seems to have Te
Salutimus Morituri! as its motto, and someone names
starmoth (do you think it's a pseudonym of Prat's) has
published a list of 13 books about death, Favorite
Books about Death, and he uses Prat's phrase, 
morituri te salutimus . But what you found is closest.
What I found was "Morituri te salutant," "we who are
about to die salute you" used by gladiators to salute
the Emperor. So not only did Prat give us the wrong
spelling of morituri (he reckoned with google -- he,
he,he--), but his, or Las Vegas', syntax is wrong. 

The correct phrase would make sense, seeing that's
he's using it before going off to the wild (even
without Guido?) csun conference. (grin).

Cindy

-- siss52 <siss52@xxxxxxx> wrote:



> 
> "To those about to die we salute you."
> 
> Did you type moritori instead of morituri?
> Prat's gone so what do you think, Cindy?  Kellie? 
> If he didn't trick us
> with a wrong letter, then I am way off.  <lol>
> 
> Sue S.
> 
> 
> 
> 




                
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