Considering the original phrase:
The king who all citizens love is happy.
(Portuguese: Feliz é o rei a quem todos os cidadãos amam.)
Here is a proposed Latin translation:
Felix est rex is quem omnes cives amant
Is the pronoun "is" necessary?
Not sure where you got that is from. The original phrase, which seems to be from a 1845 book of Latin exercises, does not has it. For instance, see here.
In any case, is as pronoun means "he", or as demonstrative, "this/that", so maybe the phrase with the is could be translated as
Happy is he the king who all citizens love
or
Happy is this/that king who all citizens love
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1Appreciated. The translation to latin I got is from someone who translated from the portuguese version. But any way, I couldn`t found a reason as well. – ryuichi Jul 26 '18 at 7:37
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1It could easily be a happy king is he whom all citizens love with felix fronted for emphasis. – Anonym Jul 26 '18 at 19:04
The best of Latin: the best of English: happy is the king; he (is), whom (quem) all citizens love. To omit "is" may be acceptable; but, the assertion becomes sloppy. Guys with the erudition of Cicero would not thank you.
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I don't get this argument at all. The antecedent of the relative clause is rex.. Why does it need a demonstrative in apposition? What's sloppy about omitting it? – Colin Fine Jul 29 '18 at 21:40
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@Colin Fine: Here, "king" is being emphasised (possibly for a dramtic effect); HE, whom...Omit "si", which you may do, the emphasis is reduced; assertion is weakened. – tony Jul 31 '18 at 9:11
