As promised, here’s this week’s rundown of my Latin studies. I’ll try to go through everything I did, but it was a lot, so I might miss a few things. First, I will give a general rundown, then I’ll go into more detail.
On Monday, I had my usual reading group. Instead of Familia Romana however, we read a very interesting text about a Mongolian drink, which is called Cosmōs in Latin, kumisz in my tongue, and is a fermented drink made of milk. Not an easy text, and there was a lot to explain, but we chewed ourselves through the first version out of three.
Tuesday, I had the Harrius Potter reading group. I still don’t understand a lot, but I get the gist of the story. Is it comprehensible input? Maybe not as much as it should be. But I’m enjoying myself.
Wednesday there was the conversation group which I attended. I don’t always do, but this week I actually didn’t miss it.
Thursday was the Zoom chat, where I met new people, yay. Of course, the regulars (we’re really like pub regulars) also attended, and we had a great talk.
I don’t remember what I did on Friday. I probably ended up in some Latin voice chat, and I checked out Forcellini, a Latin-Latin dictionary.
Saturday was the day of our first Among US session entirely in Latin, which I have streamed on Twitch. It was an awesome gaming session, and a less awesome stream because of some technical difficulties. You can read a summary of that here.
Sunday was a bit calmer, but I still attended Latin voice chat for a little while.
So now that you have a general rundown of how much I usually talk in Latin a week, let me go into the details which will actually be useful for your Latin learning.
DE POTIONE TATARORVM
As I mentioned, we’ve read a text about Cosmōs. Let me just insert the whole page here:
There were a lot of interesting constructions, such as iumentīnum, but emunctor was also hard to explain. Iumentīnus (should actually be iūmentīnus) is the adjective form of iūmentum, which refers to all the animals we use to carry things or people with, such as horses, donkeys, cows, mules, camels, and the rest.
Emunctor (should actually be ēmunctor) I’m still unsure about. Ēmungō means to blow one’s nose, but ēmunctōrium refers to a metal instrument that is used to remove fungi from an oil lamp. My guess is that an ēmunctor lactis is a tool used to extract milk from the horse.
Pungitīvum refers to a taste which is pungent in English. It was also a word that was hardly found anywhere else. And the last word pictured word, amygdala, refers to almonds, not nuts in general.
This was actually the text I had to read when I attended a SALVI reading this summer. At the time, I didn’t understand a lot of things, but the teachers were very helpful in explaining everything. It’s good to see how much better I understand the same text months later, now that I have some grasp on the Latin language.
HARRIVS POTTER
There isn’t a whole lot I would like to share about Harrius Potter, save for a glossary for the first few pages. I have been working on this on-and-off, and eventually I plan to do this for the whole book, so that I can learn every word, and then reread the book. The list was written for myself, because the end-goal would be to give Latin definitions to all of these words, so it has some notes for myself, but I think you’ll find it useful anyways (on smaller screens, scrollable sideways):
- gestātiō, -nis f - in modern sense: drive (a street) - ligustrum, -ī n - privet (a kind of shrub) - superbia, -ae f - pride, haughtiness, snobbishness (from superbus) - spernō, 3, sprēvī, sprētum - to despise, scorn - terebra, -ae f - in modern sense: drill (electric) - mystax, -cis m - moustache - saepēs, -is f - hedge, fence - porrigō, 3, porrēxī, porrēctum - to hold forth, extend, reach out, present; stretch - fīnitimus, -a, -um - here refers to: neighbour(ing) - simulō, 1, simulāvī, simulātum - to pretend - horrēscō, 3, horruī, / - to become terrified - arceō, 2, arcuī, arcitum - to shut up, to keep quiet about sth - expergīscor, 3, experrēctus sum - to awake, to wake up (bestir oneself) - haudquāquam - by no means whatsoever - ōminor, 1, ōminātus sum - to forebode, prognosticate - ēveniō, 4, ēvēnī, ēventum (impersonal in passive) - to happen, occur - bombiō, 4, /, / (where is this word from) - to buzz, hum - fascia - in modern sense: necktie - hebes, 3 - blunt, dull - idōneus, -a, -um - proper, suitable, apt - garriō, 4, garrīvī, garrītum - to chatter - cōgō, 3, coēgī, coāctum - to drive together to one point, to collect, compress, crowd (P.S. I found out more things about this word later on) - lūctor, 1, lūctātus sum - to struggle, wrestle, fight - strix, -gis f - here owl - thēca chartārum, -ae f - I guess modern coinage: envelope (of letters) - bāsium, -ī n - kiss - gena, -ae f - cheek - impingō, 3, impēgī, impactum - to push, strike, drive at/into, thrust, dash against - tumultuor, 1, tumultuātus sum - to make a disturbance, cause an uproar - cereālia, -ium n - in modern sense: cereal - furcifer, -ī, m - rascal, rogue - cachinnō, 1, cachinnāvī, cachinnātum - laugh loudly, immoderately - ēgredior, 3, ēgressus sum - to step out, disembark - autocinētum, -ī n - modern coinage: automobile, car - angulus, -ī m - corner - mōtus, -ūs m - movement - maculōsus, -a, -um - spotted (plēnus maculārum) - fallō, 3, fefellī, falsum - to deceive, trick, cheat, disappoint - cōnīveō, 2, cōnīvī, / - to close or shut (especially eyes, from light/fear/etc.), to blink - invicem - "reciprocally" (in turn) - intueor, 2, intuitus sum - to look at, look upon/towards; regard with wonder - concutiō, 3, concussī, concussum - to shake (violently), agitate, terrify/alarm - summoveō, 2, summōvī, summōtum - to send or drive off, remove, dispel - induō, 3, induī, indūtum - to put on (clothes); don - discernō, 3, discrēvī, discrētum - to separate, set apart, divide; discern, determine - susurrō, 1, susurrāvī, susurrātum - to mutter, whisper - smaragdinus, -a, -um - emerald - incidō, incidere, incidī, / - in + cadō - dolus, -ī m - trickery, deceit from Greek δόλος - corrogō, 1, corrogāvī, corrogātum - in this sense (rare): to collect (money) - tangō, 3, tetigī, tāctum - to touch - intentus, -a, -um - mindful, attentive; but also intent on (something) - sēdēs, -is - seat, chair; but also where one stays - praetervolō, 1, praetervolāvī, praetervolātum - praeter + volō = to fly by - versō, 1, versāvī, versātum - frequentative of vertō to turn - festīnō, 1, festīnāvī, festīnātum - to hurry, make haste - hiō, 1, hiāvī, / - to open (the mouth in particular) - plērīque - most of them/most people - attineō, 2, attinuī, attentum - ad + teneō but in third person: pertain to, belong to; to concern - mātūtīnum, -ī - morning
LVCERNA ALADDINI
The second half of the week, I started reading the book called Fābellae Dīvālēs by Avellānus, which really is a compulsory reading for me, since Avellānus was Hungarian. The book is a bunch of fairy tales translated into Latin. It has stories like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, but also some Hungarian folklore. Anyways, the first story is Aladdin’s Lantern, or Lucerna Aladdīnī (or Aladdinī, I’m not sure, actually).
The story is divided into two parts, and I read about half of the first part this week. Of course, I was checking all the words like the diligent student I am, so it took a while. Compared to Harrius Potter, the text has much better Latinitās, and I really liked Aladdin as a child, so it’s fun to reread it in Latin.
Shortly after I’ve written my word-list for the first five pages, I was introduced to Forcellini. It’s a Latin-Latin dictionary, which has also been digitalised. I can finally learn words in Latin! Glosses are good for notes like the above list I gave, but they’re never true definitions.
With that said, here’s a glossary of the first five pages of Lucerna Aladdīnī:
- quondam - in this case: "once" (as in once upon a time) - vidua, -ae f - widow - ōtiōsus, -a, -um - idle, unemployed (literally plēnus ōtiī) - inficētus, -a, -um = infacētus - coarse, blunt, unmannerly - sustentō, 1, sustentāvī, sustentātum - frequentative: sustineō hold up/upright, uphold, support, sustain - neō, 2, nēvī, nētum - spin - cōgō, 3, coēgī, coāctum = co- + agō - collect, assemble together; with ACI, ut, ad, or absol. to urge, force, compel - accēdō, 3, accessī, accessum - here: approach - affor, 1, affātus sum = ad + for - speak to, address - sartor, -is m - mender, patcher - abripiō, 3, abripuī, abreptum - take away by violence, drag away, tear off or away stronger than synn. - aegrē - uncomfortably, hardly, painfully - crumēna, -ae f - a small money-purse or bag (if verbum hodiernum can mean wallet) - indicō, 1, indicāvī, indicātum = in + dicō - point out, indicate, show, disclose - patruus, -ī m - paternal uncle, a father's brother - postrīdiē - = posterī diē, locative of posterus and diēs on the following day/next day - opiparus, -a, um - richly furnished, rich, splendid, sumptuous - agnātiō - a blood relationship on the father's side; consanguinity on the father's side - nēquam, ind. from nē-aequam < aequus - here wretched, vile, etc. - egeō, 2, eguī, egitūrus - seen this already somewhere but need, lack with abl. or gen. - comparō, 1, comparāvī, comparātum compār + -ō - couple together in the same relation, pair, match; here to retreive, "buy", get - thēsaurus, -ī - here treasure vault - potior, 4, potītus sum - seen this but obtain, acquire governs the ablative, sometimes genitive in "become master of" meaning, can be seen with accusative but not in Cicero - deōsculor, 1, deōsculātus sum - very rare kiss warmly, affectionately - frātria, -ae - sister-in-law - opificium exercēre - to work (a job/trade) - pendeō, 2, pependī, / - herehold (his head with his hand because he's tired) - spondeō, 2, spopondī, spōnsum - promise, pledge one's self; promise for another, become security, guarantee - prōprius, -a, -um - not common with others, one's own, special, particular, proper - īnstruō, 3, īnstrūxī, īnstrūctum - here prepare (for), provide (for) -> īnstrūctus, -a, -um - equipped - stabiliō, 4, stabilīvī, stabilītum - here establish - indūmentum, -ī n - garment, robe - comes, -itis m - companion - suburbium, -ī n - suburb - ibīdem - in that very place / at that very instant - cernō, 3, crēvī, crētum - here see in a distuingishing way, to sift - pedetentim = pedetemptim pes + temptō + -im - step by step - sylvestris = silvestris - of or pertaining to a forest; forested, grown with trees - ephēbus, -ī m - youth (18-20) - prōcēdō, 3, prōcessī, prōcessum - seen but proceed, advance - sarmentum, -ī n - usually in plural twig(s) - suscitō, 1, suscitāvī, suscitātum - stir up, awaken, wake up - accendō, 3, accendī, accēnsum - seen it but was unsure about vowel length to light (a fire) - suffīmentum, -ī n - incense - superīniciō, 3, /, / - to throw on or above, to cast over or upon poetic, post-Augustan, as written at Latīnitium, still, Avellānus uses it as super + iniciō, which does have a perfect stem - iniciō, 3, iniēcī, iniectum = in + iaciō - to throw, cast, in, into, on, upon, over, or at - exorior, 4, exortus sum = ex + orior - come out forth - mussitō, 1, mussitāvī, mussitātum - here mutter, murmur - pandō, 3, pandī, passum - extend, unfold, expand - aereus, -a, -um - copper, bronze - revēlō, 1, revēlāvī, revēlātum = re + vēlō - show, uncover, reveal - pavor, -is m < paveō - tremble with fear - the act of trembling, quaking, panting with fear; fear, terror - aufugiō, 3, aufūgī, / = ab + fugiō - flee, run away, escape - tentō, 1, tentāvī, tentātum - here try, test - cēlō, 1, cēlāvī, cēlātum - hide (sth from smn), cover, keep a secret, conceal - obtemperō, 1, obtemperāvī, obtemperātum - comply (with), conform (to), obey - sublevō, 1, sublevāvī, sublevātum = sub + levō - lift up or raise (from underneath)
I’ve also been rewriting the book with macrons, so if you want to read something, here are the first five pages with macrons:
Vīxit quondam in Sēribus paupercula vidua quae ad sē, fīliumque suum ōtiōsum et īnficētum sustendandum, gossypium nēre cōgēbātur. Nōmen fīliī erat Aladdīnus. Quōdam diē, quum hīc in viā lūsitābat, peregrīnus aliquis ad eum accessit.
“Puerule mī,” affātur eum peregrīnus, “nōnne pater tuus fuit Mustapha, sartor ille?”
“Ita, fuit,” respondit Aladdīnus, “sed ille iam dūdum mortuus est.”
Hōc audītō peregrīnus Aladdīnum amplexātus est.
“Eheu!” inquit ille, “sērō itaque vēnī. Etenim ego frāter sum patris tuī, et ad vīsendum eum ē longinquō vēnī. Morte eum abreptum esse aegrē ferō. Adī, obsecrō, mī fīlī, mātrem tuam; affer illī hanc crumēnam pecūniae; indicā, sīs, mihi ubi ipsa habitet, velīsque eī nūntiāre mē vīsum eam adventūrum.”
Aladdīnus cūnctā haec perfēcit. Māter sua magnopere mīrābātur puerī relātā quum audivisset, quod nesciēbat ūllum frātrem marītī suī in vīvīs esse; attamen quum pecūniam ab eō missam cōnspēxisset, iam nihil dubitāvīt eum Aladdīnī patruum esse, itaque postrīdiē caenam opiparam eī parāvit.
At vērō, ut mox repertum est, peregrīnō illī cum Aladdīnō nūlla omnīnō fuit agnātiō, sed nēquam erat magus Africānus, quī ope egēbat alicuius ad comparandōs thēsaurōs, quibus ipse potīrī nequībat.
Igitur magus vēnit ad caenam, deōsculātus est viduam, vōcāvit eam frātriam, multaque mūnuscula eī dōnāvīt. Quaesīvit dein, quodnam opificium exercēret, quum vērō puer pendente capite fessus esset sē prōrsus nūllam artem exercēre, magus spopondit sē factūrum ut puer in prōpriā tabernā īnstrūctā stabilīrētur. Hoc prōpositiō puerum novīs indūmentīs dōnāvīt, eumque in urbem sēcum comitem, ad aliōs mercātōrēs conveniendōs, dēdūxit. Praetereā eum etiam in suburbia addūxit ut ibīdem pulcherrimōs hortōs cerneret, ac pedetentim eum procul ab urbe abdūxit.
Dēnique in vallem, mediocrēs inter montēs sylvestrēs patentem pervēnērunt, ubi magus ephēbum sīc allocūtus est:
“Modo nōn longius prōcēdēmus, sed hīc tibi aliquid mīrī ostendam. Interim age, quaere et collige aliquantum sarmentī, et ignem suscitēmus.”
Quum ignis accēnsus erat, magus aliquid suffīmentī superiniēcit. Āter inde fūmus exoriēbātur; tum aliquot verba ignōta mussitat. Terra tremere incipit, ad pedēs suōs magnō hiātū panditur, lapidemque plānum, cum annulō aereō in mediō revēlat.
Aladdīnum pavor ita perculit, ut aufugere tentāret; sed magus apprehēnsum eum verberāvit.
“Hīc manēbis,” inclāmat eum magus. “Sub eō lapide ingēns thesaurus cēlātur, dīmidium cuius, sī mihi obtemperāverīs, tuum erit. Prehende itaque ānulum, lapidemque sublevā!”
There you have it. The way I went about practising these words was three-fold. First, I hopped onto the voice chat and asked someone more knowledgeable about almost all of them. In Latin, of course. Then I tried writing these mini-stories about what was going on around me, incorporating many of these words. That turned out to be very useful, since there was one word, cōgō, which I sort of misunderstood.
Cōgō‘s gloss was given as compel, but it really means something like make-do (which compel includes but is not limited to). For example, it made her spin cotton, in the text. She was “forced” or compelled to make clothes or something to sustain herself and her son.
The third thing I did was to actually discuss the words with someone else, writing example sentences along the way. That was also very helpful, since now I had to make these words clear for someone other than me.
I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the story.
INTER NOS
The highlight of this weekend was our first Among Us session, done entirely in Latin. This wasn’t my idea, but I helped in organising it, and seven of us actually attended, which made for a very fun game. I’ll just quote my small opusculum I’ve written about it on Reddit:
Salvēte,
After the success of the first play session (there were 7 of us, yay!), we have decided to schedule some more Among Us. But first, let me tell you a bit about my experiences, and about the game for those that never played it.
We were in the Discord voice chat for about two hours in total, we might’ve played for about 90 minutes. For many of us, this was our first time playing Among Us so we had some difficulties figuring out what to do. The first rounds were very straightforward, either we lost instantly or won very quickly. Later on, the game became more interesting. But how is it played?
This game is about a few astronauts on a malfunctioning spacecraft. The goal of the game is to do all the tasks assigned to you in order to repair the ship. But, and here’s the catch, there are some impostors among us. Some, who want to see us fail. In truth, the range of impostors is between 1-4. We played with two first, then reduced it to one. The task of the impostor is to break things in the ship and to kill everyone. If a body is found, the finder can report it, and that means the end of the round. One can also call an ’emergency meeting’ if they find out who the impostor is. Then a window pops up where, using the voice chat, people can discuss who they suspect, and then vote to eject someone into outer space. The game ends when all the tasks are completed, or when all the impostors are found and ejected, or when all but one crewmate died. (If there is one crewmate, they’d automatically lose the next turn since they’d have no way to protect themselves.)
And as I said, the first few games were rather uneventful, us running around trying to figure out what the tasks were, where we could actually do them, while the impostor was freely killing us. That, or we immediately figured out who the impostor was, since we lacked the familiarity with the game space to do cunning stuff.
During the second half of our session, things became more interesting, as impostors were trying to come up with alibis, defending themselves, and we were also figuring things out. For example, an impostor can kill someone and then report the body themselves! Tricky, but can be pulled off. However, I expect much more clever plays in the following sessions.
The whole stream can be watched , but it didn’t really go as planned, there were a lot of skipped frames and the names of the players weren’t shown, so from a spectator’s perspective, it’s kind of difficult to tell who is who.
So, what did we learn? We learnt that playing Among Us in Latin is extremely fun, we learnt the game’s rules, and we learnt how to solve some technical difficulties, regarding announcing the game, fixing the stream’s quality, and some other details.
And with that said, I would like to announce our next session, which takes place at 7pm CET, Tuesday, and let me also share an invite link to a we have created, where we will meet instead of the general Latin server in order to not clog up the voice chat.
Finally, if you can’t or don’t want to play, you can still watch. Just to get the announcement for the stream.
That is all, and I hope to see you on Tuesday!
Conclusion
I hope this article gave you some ideas about how you can practise your Latin. For me, this was a very productive week Latin-wise. But let me throw the ball to you. What did you do last week to practise Latin? What do you find useful, what less so? What did you like about the article, and what did you miss? What can I do better? What could you do better? Answer any or all of these questions.