2

I am writing a blog and I want to have the title in Latin. It's a personal blog and I want to share about my personal experiences, the thing to do when there is no one else to share it with ;) I want to name it in Latin (don't know why I want to, but that's not the point, I like Latin), and the title in English would be "A life, mine!"

Can you please help to translate this to Latin?

I tried Google Translate but since obviously I do not know Latin, it's better not to risk being a butt of jokes using a strange translation by Google.

Improve this question
1
  • 2
    Welcome Dan! You've asked a basic translation question, which is fine, but we'd appreciate it if you put a bit more effort into it first. Doing so not only encourages others to answer, but also helps ensure that the answers you get are useful to you. Here are some tips – English-Latin dictionaries will provide helpful insight into the meaning of various translations of the key words in your phrase ("life" and "mine"), and you don't need to speak any Latin to use them. Tell us which word(s) you think fit, to help improve the translation.
    – Nathaniel is protesting
    Commented Jul 9, 2016 at 2:31

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
5

Given that this is a blog, I would take some of the excellent ideas in the above answers and use the preposition de.

The most obvious suggestion:

De Vita Mea

If you are trying to put emphasis on "mine" by your (otherwise slightly awkward) English phrasing, then a fluid way of doing this would be:

Mea De Vita

I also like @jon's suggestion if you are emphasizing that this is not someone else's life:

De Vita Propria

As a somewhat far-fetched suggestion, you can also take a line from John Henry Newman (an excellent Latinist if ever there was one) and call it:

Apologia Pro Vita Sua

In this above example, there is a little distance created by abandoing the first person and using the reflexive pronoun.

Either way, in my opinion the inclusion of "de" is best.

Improve this answer
1
  • 2
    An interesting medieval Franciscan (though one not well known to non-specialists) by the name of Angelo Clareno has a work titled Apologia pro vita sua. (Edited in Victorin Doucet, “Angelus Clarinus ad Alvarum Pelagium Apologia pro vita sua,” Archivum franciscanum historicum 39 (1948): 63–200.) I wonder if Newman knew of this work..? Also +1 for the de, but you might want to explain to the OP why the de makes sense since he professes not to know the language at all.
    – jon
    Commented Jul 12, 2016 at 2:24
4

The most literal translation would be Vita, Mea. You could also do Mea Vita (My Life), or Quaedam Vita, Mea (A Certain Life, Mine). Latin does not have articles, so "a/an" does not translate very well. Other words that could be used, but aren't as perfect are:

Life: lux, lumen, spiritus, caput, & anima

Mine: meus, mea, meum (masculine, feminine, neuter)

You would have to adjust mea to match the gender of the noun "life" depending on what translation you use. The gender is indicated in dictionaries.

Improve this answer
6
  • Looking at the evolution of Latin into (western?) romance languages, I think that a valid way to force the feeling of an indeterminate article where there is space for ambiguity (like here) is using the numeral one, as in vita una, mea.
    – Rafael
    Commented Jul 9, 2016 at 21:22
  • @Rafael "Unus" doesn't have quite the same meaning. It usually means "one, a single, or some." It certainly sounds like "a/an," but it is grammatically different. "A/An" is an article, while "unus" is an adjective, and doesn't serve the same purpose.
    – Sam K
    Commented Jul 11, 2016 at 1:15
  • @SamK I know. My guess is, given that many romance languages evolved the indet. article from the number one, maybe either 1) the link has some (Medieval) Latin ground (in the same sense that illa evolved into la etc.) or 2) the association wouldn't sound so forced to a native Latin speaker.
    – Rafael
    Commented Jul 11, 2016 at 16:08
  • @Rafael You're probably right. I'm guessing that Medieval Latin merged gave "unus" an indefinite article purpose because of the similarities between the meanings. Medieval and Church Latin are always messing everything up...
    – Sam K
    Commented Jul 11, 2016 at 16:40
  • @TKR, perhaps "mi" was meant to be an abbreviated form of mihi?
    – brianpck
    Commented Jul 11, 2016 at 17:02
4

Another possibility:

Vita propria

Although it has a horrible ring to it (to me), the adjective proprius, -a, -um may capture the 'mine!' better. The adjective has the meaning (Lewis & Short, q.v.):

not common with others, one's own, special, particular, proper

It can also have the sense of:

peculiar, special, characteristic, personal

It's antonym is communis (common, shared, etc.). If a thing is proprium, it is meum (mine) and not tuum (yours).

@SamK's point about quaedam stands here as well. But Quaedam vita, propria (A [Certain] Life, my own!) just seems like a locution to be avoided.

... But, de gustibus non est disputandum.

Improve this answer
2

Depending on what exactly you're writing about, Cicero's lost poem offers a nice translation:

De Temporibus Suis

Which is translated as:

On His Own [Life &] Times

It was composed after Cicero returned to exile and was meant to exult the man for his triumph over it, as well as his achievements over time.

This has the effect of referencing a real work in Latin, so you have authentic Latin, but where the English still technically means what you want it to me.

You could even think of it as Title: Subtitle:

De Temporibus Suis: A Life, Mine.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.