Well, that's sort of exactly why I use them—until I have a really solid knowledge of what words do and don't have them (which I obviously don't yet), I want to force myself to use them, continue to look them up, etc., etc.
@QPaysTaxes - we couldn't figure out why it had a downvote and a close vote. Maybe they thought it was too French? From my answer, though, it's clear that it's appropriate to this stack.
The macron is the standard way these days to mark long vowels:
ā ē ī ō ū
And the story is that we started using them once we stopped speaking Latin all the time and forgot where the long vowels were.
This actually isn't true. The Romans, even in classical times, used the apex:
á é í ó ...
@Joel Derfner: Another minor thing … The form Aeneia exists, but it’s an adjective (‘Aenean’, ‘related to Aeneas’). The ablative of Aeneas is Aenea. (ref. latin.stackexchange.com/a/247)
No one will be offended for criticizing Eutropius.
Yes.
Let me clarify, not making a super strong case for it. I think Historia Augusta or Life of Apollonius of Tyre or Aulus Gellius or Apuleius are all more interesting.
I first encountered Eutropius in LLpsi, where it was sandwiched in between chapters of Livy.
I imagine that if I'd first encountered him in isolation I might have had a different response.
But as it was I wrote a whole thing about how Eutropius wrote his Breviarii because he was in love with Justin but Justin wouldn't give him the time of day. In the piece, Justin kept getting his name wrong.
There was a whole thing about how his childhood was sad.
Then this (I just went and found it):
Deinde Juliánum cognoverat. Cum prímum imperatórem vídit, sícut fulmine ictus, omnium causam priórum intelléxit Eutropius suórum dolórum et gaudió carendí. Tam valdé, tam maximoperé, tam absolúté imperatorrem adamávit ut ad edendum, dormíendum, né sé quídem indúendum vírés nón habéret. Quam fórmósus erat homó! Quam lúcentulus! Quam præclárus! Neque máter neque pater neque uxor, némó umquam tam Eutropió cordí fuerat. Cum imperatóre cónsuétúdine gradátim júnctá autem crévit in diés félícítás Eutropií magna…et dolor etiam major, Juliánus enim nón eum inter vívós esse sciébat. Né nómen quídem s…
Part of Documents of Medieval Latin (page 14) states several differences between Classical Latin and Medieval Latin. One is
an increased use of prepositions where Classical Latin used a simple case of the noun, in particular the use of ad and the accusative instead of a simple dative, and ...
You're talking about Whitaker's Words? Whether they're accurate?
Nempe = "you mean to say," "that is to say"
From Wiktionary: "In addition to being used in statements and text, nempe is used in both questions and replies to clarify understanding."
It's not inaccurate—it's often a great first place to try. But if you're not sure about something it's not really the most reliable authority.
The dictionary definitions of the particles are all but hopeless.
It's not really the dictionaries' faults.
Like "quidem" corresponds in English to a certain tone of voice.
How the hell do you put that in a dictionary?
Same thing with lots of other particles.
Let's see. My brain is too fried right now to think of examples from literature, but quidem has essentially two "translations" into English.
The first is if you write me a letter in Latin and say, gosh, I think this is really bad Latin, but I did my best, I might write back, "Gratiás plúrimás tuæ epistulæ, quæ erat quidem Latíne."
Meaning, "Thanks very much for your letter, which WAS in Latin."
Right. "Magister quidem discipuli scit" implies that there's somebody else who might not know them.
Wait, what?
Ah, okay.
Equidem/ecquidem is the same thing, just about the first person. "I know the students (even if somebody else doesn't)."
Or "I do know the students (despite your implication that I don't)."
Umm . . . now that I think of it,
I think it's used less when the speaker is the subject,
and more with stuff like "meá ecquidem sententiá" (in my opinion).
But I could be wrong about that.
I probably am.
And yep. Two seconds with Google indicates that I am indeed wrong.
Discipuli equidem scio is fine Latin.
Dí immortálés! Duo igitur injúriæ jús nón faciunt—sed trés!
I thought it would remove some of the comments to this chat, but I guessed incorrectly.
Unfortunately.
@JoelDerfner Can I ask a favor? Can I ask you to unaccept my answer until, say, tomorrow evening? It's good practice to give it a day or two before accepting answers in hopes of attracting more answers. You never know what kind of perspective someone else will bring, but an accepted answer, sometimes, tends to limit further discussion.
From Area 51: "2.5 answers per question is good, only 1 answer per question needs some work. On a healthy site, questions receive multiple answers and the best answer is voted to the top."
Yep. That's why it doesn't take much to edit a question or answer.
I've generally refrained from answering if I don't have the complete answer or if I know the answer but can't back it up (i.e., it's just something I know but I can't remember where I read it or what the explanation was). Would it be better to give answers like these, understanding that a better one will probably come along?
Wrong answers can be deleted. Half answers can be improved upon. It's especially good if there's one really good answer with some answers as discussion.
This is especially important for us dedicated users, less so for those who will, hopefully, contribute to the bulk of the questions in the future.
[Wiktionary :] From Middle English with, from Old English wiþ (“against, opposite, toward”), a shortened form of wiþer, from Proto-Germanic *wiþr- (“against”), from Proto-Indo-European *wi-tero- (“more apart”); from Proto-Indo-European *wi (“separation”). [...]
[Etymonline, whic...
@JoelDerfner Yes, please post answers even if you're not completely sure of something or don't have all your facts. These partial or flawed answers often spur others to post an answer that finishes the job. Error is fruitful; silence is not.
The macron is the standard way these days to mark long vowels:
ā ē ī ō ū
And the story is that we started using them once we stopped speaking Latin all the time and forgot where the long vowels were.
This actually isn't true. The Romans, even in classical times, used the apex:
á é í ó ...
Part of Documents of Medieval Latin (page 14) states several differences between Classical Latin and Medieval Latin. One is
an increased use of prepositions where Classical Latin used a simple case of the noun, in particular the use of ad and the accusative instead of a simple dative, and ...
[Wiktionary :] From Middle English with, from Old English wiþ (“against, opposite, toward”), a shortened form of wiþer, from Proto-Germanic *wiþr- (“against”), from Proto-Indo-European *wi-tero- (“more apart”); from Proto-Indo-European *wi (“separation”). [...]
[Etymonline, whic...
