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Monday, October 20, 2014

Et tu, Adama?

Anyone parlez vous Latin?

There are a couple of scenes in Book Five wherein Tiberian soldiers are speaking and I don't want the other characters to know exactly what they're saying.

Here, without context or the intended English*, is that dialogue in Latin as best as I could make it thanks to a secondhand Latin textbook I bought and Google Translate:

Et succidat me!

Liberos non video.

Nec filios occidere.

Iis imperata essent.

Quid?

Nulla.

Vos?

Deinde scopum eamus.

Audistin quid?

Cur?

Ego feci.

Please, let me know how I did.

* - I didn't include the English because I want you to be able to figure it out.

10 comments:

  1. As a Latin teacher, it seems a bit hard to make out. It seems to be a conversation about children and orders to kill. I can give you a more detailed breakdown if you want. Let me know.

    Jason T.

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    Replies
    1. Well, three years of German and a year each of Greek and Hebrew will do that to your Latin.

      I'm glad to see that I wasn't horribly far off.

      He cut me!

      I don't see any children.

      I don't want to kill children.

      Those are our orders.

      Anything?

      No.

      You?

      Let's go to the next target.

      Did you hear something?

      Why?

      I did.


      If you give me a 'D,' I'll understand.

      Delete
    2. Haha! Pretty good for a long absence. Still better than some of my students who have taken it for 2 years. Here is how you would typically see that conversation written.

      ille me succidit!

      liberos non video. (spot on with that one!)

      nec liberos/filios (your choice) occidere nolo.

      ea sunt mandata nostra.

      quicquid?

      minime.

      tu (singular) or vos (plural)?

      deinde secundum scopum/destinatum (destinatum might get across the idea you are going for a little better) eamus.

      audivistine aliquid?

      cur?

      ego aliquid audivi. (Latin is funny with its affirmatives. It often requires repeating the original statement. Using feci has the connotation of making or doing something.)

      Take it or leave it, but I am happy to help. Really enjoyed all of your BSG books!

      Delete
    3. Oh, I'm taking it. Thank you very much.

      Delete
    4. Wait, "minime"? Is there an alternative that doesn't conjure images of Verne Troyer?

      Delete
    5. Sure. You could use non vero, which is an emphatic "no."

      Delete
    6. Jason,

      Another Latin question for you.

      If I want to have an important tradition/principle called "Sanctity of the Soil," how would I render that?

      My research tells me "Sanctitas Soli," but Google translate is telling me that "soli" is "only." (Though "solum" means "soil.") I'd prefer to have something alliterative, but that's not a deal breaker.

      Any help you can provide would be appreciated.

      Delete
    7. Jason,

      Another Latin question for you.

      If I want to have an important tradition/principle called "Sanctity of the Soil," how would I render that?

      My research tells me "Sanctitas Soli," but Google translate is telling me that "soli" is "only." (Though "solum" means "soil.") I'd prefer to have something alliterative, but that's not a deal breaker.

      Any help you can provide would be appreciated.

      Delete
  2. Sanctitas soli is good. "soli" can also mean alone, but only as an adjective. In this case it is clear that it is being used as a noun, so it works well. Any other words for soil would not give you the alliteration.

    Jason

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