Questions tagged [style]
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Relative clause VS present participle [duplicate]
I think that virum ambulantem video and virum qui ambulat vidéo are grammatically correct and semantically equivalent.
So is there any stylistic reason one should use one rather than the other?
- 491
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To what extent is Seneca's style in "De Ira" clumsy?
I'm currently reading "Précis de Littérature Latine" ("Handbook of Latin Literature") by Magalie Diguet and I am surprised by the following quotation:
Le De ira, écrit en 41, est ...
user12055
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Ranking the Difficulty of Latin Authors
Has there been a rigorous study of ranking the difficulty of ancient Latin authors? You often see (and, from personal experience, feel) the increase in difficult going from Caesar to Tacitus or Vergil ...
cmw♦
- 50.7k
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On the birth of Latin language
This is my first question here, and though my native language derives from Latin, I, unlucky, didn't get a change to study much Latin at school.
Two questions that have often crossed my mind are:
Is ...
- 321
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Are all of Cicero's writings considered models?
When translating into Latin or writing in Latin, is there a hierarchy between Cicero's writings?
For example, if one construction is used in one of his letters and another in one of his speeches, can ...
- 81
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Quid tertiā persōnā dē sē scrībere connotat?
What connotation does writing about oneself in the third person carry in Latin?
In English, it usually connotes that the author is astoundingly arrogant, perhaps to the point of insanity.
But Caesar ...
- 15.8k
5
votes
2
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Omitting a verb when it is the same for both parts of the sentence
The grammar book I'm studying translates the following sentence like this:
English: The death is certain, uncertain is the day of death.
Latin: Mors certa, dies mortis incerta est.
However, I'd ...
- 307
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Why is Cicero considered the best Latin prose author?
Marcus Tullius Cicero is often considered as the best Latin prose author (and sometimes as the best orator, see Encyclopaedia Britannica).
What is so special about his style to support such a claim? ...
user10593
3
votes
1
answer
415
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"Once upon a time"
The English phrase "once upon a time" at the beginning of a story immediately sets the genre and style to a great extent.
Is there a similar device, possibly a phrase, in Latin?
It does not ...
- 110k
6
votes
1
answer
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Use of the chiasmus in Latin
Was the chiasma common in Latin? Or an uncommon figure of speech?
(Words in a sentence with the pattern ABBA or ABBCBBA, etc...)
Where could we meet the greatest amount of chiasma? In poetry? In ...
- 1,746
9
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Garden path sentences in classical Latin
A garden path sentence is a sentence that leads the reader astray and forces them to reanalyze.
The obvious first interpretation when one starts reading is a red herring and it comes clear that the ...
- 110k
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Was Classical Latin syntax complex on purpose?
Whenever I see Classical texts, the syntax of almost every sentence is really complex. On the other hand, medieval or Renaissance texts seem to have a word order that is more similar to modern Romance ...
- 1,127
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A representative work of Ovid
I am considering reading some Ovid(ius), possibly with some colleagues.
I don't want too much due to time limitations; perhaps something on the order of a single book of Metamorphoses should be ...
- 110k
3
votes
1
answer
388
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tense fluctuation in Latin narrative
Are there any guidelines for the fluctuation between past and historical present tense in Latin narrative other than "it's used for vividness"? I'm writing my first multi-scene narrative and so I'm ...
- 16.4k
6
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1
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About Spinoza's Latin
As Spinoza wrote in post-Renaissance times, I would imagine that his Latin was inspired by that of the humanists, which in turn was inspired by that in which Cicero himself wrote.
Is my logical ...
- 982
13
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1
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Usage of nihil and nihilum
I know that nihil is an irregular noun, being undeclinable and used only in the nominative and accusative cases. I know that nihilum is a more regular 2nd-declension neuter word, with all the usual ...
- 621
11
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542
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Help translating an Estee Lauder quotation to Latin
I am trying to translate one quote from Estee Lauder, that goes as following:
I have never dreamed about success. I worked for it.
Google translator returned this result:
Numquam viderat elit. ...
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Should you repeat the same verb twice in a ὁ μὲν ... ὁ δέ construction?
Let's say you want to translate the following English sentence to Attic Greek.
We believed that they were good friends, for whithersoever this one went, that one also went.
The first clause calls ...
- 11.9k
9
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1
answer
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which of these two translations is in better Latin?
I've gotten a couple Latin translations of Herodotus, and I'm trying to figure out which one has better Latinity. I'm confident they're both grammatically correct, but which one is stylistically ...
- 16.4k
14
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3
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Descriptive example of Cicero's style
Cicero has produced quite a lot of Latin prose in what is considered excellent style.
I would like to find ways to demonstrate briefly what Cicero's style is all about.
If you had to demonstrate ...
- 110k
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2
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Stereotypical Foreign-ness
In English writing, there are certain conventions for representing foreign accents. For example, a French character could replace all of zeir TH's wiz Z's, while an Italian might-a add-a short-a ...
- 64.6k
18
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Can "si etiam" have the same meaning as "etiam si"?
As is well known, "etiam si" is a Latin conjunction that means "even if." Are there any examples in Classical or Medieval Latin in which reversing the word order and saying "si etiam" preserves the ...
- 1,022
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Conflict between form and content in ancient literature
I am looking for examples in ancient literature with conflict between form and content.
I believe such conflict is typically satirical, but there may be other reasons as well.
I would like to know in ...
- 110k
13
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2
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How does the Latin of these two translations of The Little Prince compare?
There are two translations of The Little Prince into Latin, one by Auguste Haury and one by Franz Schlosser. I'm trying to get a sense of the relative merits of their Latin.
Here's the dedication of ...
- 16.4k
10
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2
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How is Hyginus's Latin problematic?
Theoi.com avers that
The poor quality of [Hyginus's] works lead most to believe they are either wrongly attributed to this distinguished scholar or are a later abridgement of his works composed by ...
- 16.4k
11
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Why are *De Bello Africo* and *Hispaniensi* not believed to have been written by Julius Caesar or Hirtius?
De Bello Africo and De Bello Hispaniensi are the two final entries in the series of military commentaries initiated by Julius Caesar's De Bello Gallico. However, according to Wikipedia, neither ...
- 11.2k
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Would it be good Classical Latin style to always use the preposition "ab" and never "ā"?
I understand from Lingua Latina per se Illustrata (chap. 6) that the prepositions ā and ab are equivalent, except that ā is used only before words beginning with consonants, while ab can be used ...
- 11.2k