I had a hard time finding the news of the award. I did not receive any email and there were no updates on the website of the Certamen. I had to plumb the depths of the Miejskie Centrum Kultury website to find it.
W tym roku po raz szósty konkurs organizowany był w języku łacińskim. Na konkurs wpłynęło 9 zestawów. Jury w składzie: Marcin Loch (przewodniczący), Cecilie Koch, dr Catharina Ochman przyznało nagrodą w tej kategorii Stephano Victori z Włoch.
This year the competition was organized in Latin for the sixth time. 9 sets were submitted to the competition. The jury composed of: Marcin Loch (chairman), Cecilie Koch, Dr. Catharina Ochman awarded a prize in this category to Stefano Vittori from Italy.
Apparently only nine persons participated and, of course, Stefano won, so after all I am happy with the final result.
Today I just want to show one of the three poems I sent, because I think that it turned out well. It’s a translation in hexameters of Roy Batty’s iconic final words.
“Tears in rain” monologue
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe… Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion… I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain… Time to die.
Quae non vos homines possetis credere vidi:
Naves ardentes procul Orionis ab armo,
Caeruleos radios portam ad Tanhuserianam
Per tenebras atras fulgere. Ut fletus in imbre,
Nam moriendi hora est, haec tempore cuncta peribunt.
Orionis armus: the exact translation for shoulder of Orion would be humerus Orionis. It’s not clear whether it is the right shoulder (Betelgeuse i.e. α Orionis) or the left one (Bellatrix i.e. γ Orionis).
Radii caerulei: C-beams according to fans are either cutter-beams or caesium-beams. I opted for the second one. For metrical reasons I used caeruleus instead of caesius.
Tanhuserianus: Tannhaüser was a German poet who lived in the Middle Ages. His name in Middle High German is Tanhûser, which in Latin becomes Tanhuserus. Again, for metrical reasons I invented the adjective Tanhuserianus.
Mors in spatio
To be thorough I’ve discovered1 that in the elegy Mors in spatio vv. 55-68 (F. Bandini 2000) there’s a section that recalls Batty’s monologue.
Jampridem generi patuit Via Lactea nostro; Sidera nacti, hominum saecula multa, sumus. Stirps Adae vidit miracula Cassiopeae Astris implosis quae violenta rubet, Andromedae vidit nebulosa enormia pasci Priscae caelestis pulvere materiae Et somnurna velut phantasmata nare cometas Per Cephei vacuas horriferasque plagas. Nos in visceribus taetri gelidique planetae Ut talpae fossas incolimus latebras Jamque diu nostrae torpentes frigore naves Sub nivis aggeribus sub glacieque iacent! A Terra venit speratus denique jussus Tendere in ignotam praecipimurque Lyram.
Grātiās tibī agō! Subscrībe grātiīs ut novās epistulās accipiās et opus meum sustineās.
G. Furnari, “La poesia neolatina in Italia nell’ultimo trentennio: alcuni esempi”, L’Ulisse, 23, 2020, pp. 556-583 «Non è troppo peregrino credere che il titolo Mors in spatio sia una riformulazione di 2001: Odissea nello spazio di Stanley Kubrick o che l'anafora del verbo videre nel monologo del comandante (in particolare nei vv. 57-62) sia determinata dal richiamo a un altro celebre monologo, parimenti intriso di umanità, in cui si celebrava la visione di prodigi fra le stelle, cioè quello di Roy Batty in Blade Runner di Ridley Scott». It is no wonder that Gianluca Fornari was also the promoter of Certamen Poeticum Nubicentauricum.
Quōdam diē amīcus, cum scīret mē nōn fuisse discipulum īnfimum et in prōvinciā jūris canonicī, rogāvit ut huic quaestiōnī rēspondērem: sī puer peccāret abdūcendō hostiam cōnsecrātam, quae essent cōnsequentiae.
In prīmīs memorāre juvat tantum tenērī ā lēgibus merē ecclēsiasticīs baptizātōs in Ecclēsiā Catholicā vel in eandem receptōs, quīque sufficientī ratiōnis ūsū gaudent et, nisi aliud jūre expressē caveātur, septimum aetātis annum explēvērunt (can. 11).
Eucharistia est «augustissimum sacrāmentum» (can. 897), quod in maximō honōre ā Christifidēlibus habendum est (can. 898).
Can. 1382 (jam can. 1367 Franciscī PP. ante Cōnstitūtiōnem Apostolicam “Pascite gregem Deī” quā liber VI Cōdicis Jūris Canonicī refōrmātus est; can. 1442 CCEO) poenā excommūnicātiōnis lātae sententiae Sēdī Apostolicae reservātae eōs, quī speciēs cōnsecrātās, i.e. pānem et vīnum, et singulātim abjiciunt aut in sacrilegum fīnem abdūcunt vel retinent, afficit.
Hāc dē causā, i.e. periculī reverentiaeque, Catholicī, quī veterem sequuntur ōrdinem, arbitrantur sacrāmentum commūniōnis nōn in manūs, sed in ōs dandum esse. Utrumque tamen licitum est1.
Excommūnicātiō (can. 1331) est gravissima poenārum Ecclēsiae, quā Catholicī exclūduntur ab ūnitāte fidēlium propter dēlictum sīc pūnītum ex lēge canonicā. Excommūnicātus prohibētur sacramenta recipere et omnia officia mūneraque cujuslibet generis exercēre.
Excommūnicātiō lātae sententiae est sub anathēmatis poenā ipsō factō incurrere. Catholicī, quamquam excommūnicātī, numquam dēfugere officia fideī Christiānae possunt.
Sī remissiō excommūnicātiōnis lātae sententiae strictē reservātur Sēdī Apostolicae (can. 1354 §3), sōlum paenitēns in articulō mortis versāns ā quōque sacerdōte absolvī potest (can. 976). In concrētō (can. 130) Paenitentieria Apostolica dē forō internō et Congregātiō prō Doctrīnā Fideī dē forō externō prō Sēde Apostolicā jūdicia administrant. Vidēlicet forum internum esse illud cōnscientiae, forum autem externum illud coram jūdice et alterā parte2.
Iī, quī haec sex dēlicta perpetrant, pūniuntur excommūnicātiōne lātae sententiae reservātā Sēdī Apostolicae: quī vim physicam in Rōmānum Pontificem adhibent (can. 1370 §1), quī sacrum ōrdinem muliērī cōnferre et quae sacrum ōrdinem recipere attentāverint (can. 1379 §3), quī speciēs cōnsecrātās abjiciunt aut in sacrilegum finem abdūcunt vel retinent (can. 1382), sacerdōtēs quī absolvunt complicem in peccātō contrā sextum Decalogī praeceptum (can. 1384), cōnfessāriī quī sacramentāle sigillum dīrēctē violant (can. 1386 §1) et episcopī quī sine pontificiō mandātō aliquem cōnsecrant in Episcopum itemque quī cōnsecrātiōnem recipiunt (can. 1387).
Praetereā necesse est, ut pūniātur, esse graviter imputābilem ex dolō vel ex culpā (can. 1321). Propter errōrem aut ignōrātiōnem in objectō nōn pūniuntur3: quī speciēs cōnsecrātās prōfānant nescientēs aut arbitrantēs eās nōn esse, quī speciēs cōnsecrātās prōfānant quae nōn amplius recognoscī possunt.
Secundum commūnem opiniōnem doctōrum prōfānare speciēs cōnsecrātās hōc significat, abjicere vel spargere eās ad terram, in ignem, in latrīnam vel in aliud locum sordidum turpemve contemptiōne, proterviā, malitiā et quāque aliā causā4.
Abjicere lātō sēnsū est etiam conculcāre speciēs cōnsecrātās, eās vomere post sacramentum vel in eās spuere, in eās jacere stercus, sordēs vel lūtum et cētera, sed etiam animālibus eās objicere.
Finis sacrilegus hōc significat, specibus ūtī ad finem obscēnum, superstitiōsum, impium5, i.e. in orgiīs Bacchānālibusque, incantāmentīs et rītibus magicīs, in missīs Satanicīs.
Puerī vel nūllī poenae obnoxiī sunt quia nōndum sextum decimum aetātis annum explēvērunt (can. 1323 n. 1) aut eīs poena lēge vel praeceptō statūta temperārī dēbet vel in ejus locum paenitentia adhibērī, sī aetātem sēdecim annōrum explēvērunt (can. 1324 §1 n. 4).
Hīs dē causīs sī puer dolō vel culpā abdūceret hostiam cōnsecrātam, haud excommūnicārētur, sed nūllā aut, sī sēdecim annōs nātus, levī poenā vel paenitentiā castīgārētur. Ā fortiōrī ratiōne puer quī hostiam abductam ēdit, pūnīrī nōn potest, quia eam neque abjēcit neque retinuit in fīnem sacrilegum. Ubi tamen dēficit jūs canonicum, ibi viget jūs parentium!
Salvīs jūribus.
Grātiās tibī agō! Subscrībe grātiīs ut novās epistulās accipiās et opus meum sustineās.
P.S.
Ex epistulā lēctōris:
«Ubi tamen dēficit jūs canonicum, ibi viget jūs parentium!» Ē tuīs verbīs crēderēs tē tālēs poenās (corporālēs) tibi voluisse.
Male scrīpsī quod dīcere volēbam. Prō jūre parentium significābam jūs fīliōs increpandī, nōn verberandī.
S. Congr. prō Cultū Dīvīnō, Īnstr. Memoriāle Dominī, 29 Maiī 1969: A.A.S. 61 (1969), pp. 542-547; S. Congr. dē disciplīnā Sacrāmentōrum, Īnstr. Immēnsae caritātis, 29 Jānuāriī 1973: A.A.S., 65 (1973), pp. 264-271; C.E.I., Modalità per la distribuzione della santa Comunione, 15-19 maggio 1989 n. 56
Dē forō internō: C.M. Fabris, “Il foro interno nell’ordinamento giuridico ecclesiale”, Prawo Kanoniczne, 3, 2015, pp. 29-64; C.M. Fabris, “L’evoluzione della nozione di foro interno: dal can. 196 del CIC17 al nuovo can. 130 del CIC83”, L’Ircocervo, 1, 2017, pp. 94-106; G. Ferro Canale, “Foro interno e foro esterno”, Trāditiō canonica, filodiritto.it, 2022
V. De Paolis & D. Cito, Le Sanzioni nella Chiesa. Commento al Codice di Diritto CanonicoLibro VI, Urbaniana University Press, Città del Vaticano, 2000, pp. 305-306
I have seen many people in groups dedicated to Latin on Discord, Reddit and Telegram asking for the same question: «how can I render my name (and surname) in Latin?»
With this post I’ll try to outline some guidelines to do so. These people are oftentimes beginners, that’s why I’m writing in English.
One caveat: during the whole process remember to keep balance between linguistic purity and intelligibility.
Latin was spoken for centuries after it “died”, therefore it’s very likely that your name has already been translated into it. These are the resources that I recommend for this stage:
Lexicon Nominum Virorum et Mulierum, written in latin by Karl Egger, is your go-to place if you need to find the latin translation of names from Italian, French, Spanish, English or German.
If you can’t find your name in the lexicon, try the Wiktionary.
If you’re Italian, I suggest you to look for the meaning of your surname in Origine e storia dei cognomi Italiani by Ettore Rossoni. If you’re not Italian, any dictionary of surnames in your language should do the trick.
If you can’t find anything, don’t worry! It’s time to make an educated guess.
Step 2. Formulate your hypothesis
Latinization of names1 may be carried out this way: by adding a first or second declension suffix (-a or -us) to names ending with a consonant e.g. Abraham: Abrahamus, Jacob: Jacobus, Joseph: Josephus,Elisabeth: Elisabetha.
However there are some exceptions:
Names ending with l, like Samueland Joel,don’t change, because they’re modelled after Hannibal and Tanaquil, and are declined as third declension nouns.
Names ending with -as, -on, -e are treated as greek names e.g. Andreas (first declension), Simon (third declension), Hagne and Irene (fifth declension).
Latinization of surnames is more difficult. In my opinion if a word has been used once, it can be used again, given that there are no better ones available. Latin surnames are not epicene, therefore if your name is female, decline the surname accordingly (add -a instead of -us). If your surname has a nobiliary particle, just translate it to de.
Add the appropriate case ending (vd. supra) or leave the surname “untouched” if it can already be declined e.g. Senghor: Senghor (third declension) or Senghorus, Watanabe: Vatanabeus (even Vatanabe is fine), Nakamura: Nacamura.
Write the surname in Latin as it sounds and add the appropriate case ending e.g. Hermann: Arminius, Shakespeare: Shacsperus2.
Give the surname a latin form (or a latinified greek form) based on the etymological meaning e.g. Holtzmann: Xylander, Schwarzerd: Melanchthon, Lovecraft: Eratosthenes,Berlusconi: Biluscus. This type of Latinization poses a great problem of intelligibility, therefore it should be limited to basic surnames with an evident meaning (like occupational and descriptive surnames) which can be easily retranslated in the original language, unless there’s an attested precedent.
About the suffix -ius
Romans, in particular the members of the upper classes, had three names: praenomen, nomen and cognomen. The most important one was the nomen, because it identified a person as a member of a gens. The nomen gentilicium came into being directly by stem augmentation3 i.e. adding -i- to a given name of a real or mythic head of the house before inflection e.g. Aquilus: Aquilius, Cassus: Cassius, Claudus: Claudius, Julus: Julius, Marcus: Marcius, Tullus: Tullius. The nomen in fact is an adjective: Julius mensis, gens Julia, sidus Julium.
During Renaissance it was a common practice for members of the res publica litterarum to Latinize their names4. Many added indiscriminately the suffix -ius trying to sound as Latin as possible. However as Springhetti rightly noted we’re not bound by the Roman convention on gentile names. He also added that the same Romans would not translate foreign gentile names by adding -ius e.g. Barcas not Barcius, Calvus not Calvius. Therefore in my opinion all instances of -ius should be changed into the simple -us, unless it’s an old patronym (or matronym) that cannot be reduced to the [genitive of the father’s name] + filius scheme.
For example there’s someone called Mark Johnson, whose father’s name is Peter. Let’s Latinize Johnson. If we don’t decline it as a third declension word (Johnson -onis), the suffix -son has to be cut because it doesn’t belong to Latin, thus Johnsonus or Johnsonius are excluded. Then John should be retranslated into Johannes, but since it’s neither Mark’s or Peter’s name, Johannes and Johannis f. are excluded. This leaves us with Johannius (Johannes + ius) or to be more precise, since it’s a biblical Greek name, Johannides (Johannes + ides). The downside of this system is that surnames like Di Giovanni, Johnson, Johns and Jones, Mac John, Fitzjohn, Hanson, Johanns, Johannsen et cetera get the same translation (less intelligibility). On the other hand it’s just the beauty of walking on common ground.
Italian surnames
Surnames ending in -a should not be modified apart from ortographical adjustments e.g. Colonna: Columna, Mantegna: Mantinea, Spinola: Spinula.
Surnames ending in -e can be easily reverted to the Latin original e.g. Gentile: Gentilis, Mercuriale: Mercurialis.
For surnames ending in -i there are a couple of options. Old patronymics, that don’t represent the father’s name anymore, can’t be distinguished from gentile names. As I’ve written above, the best practice is to Latinize them by turning the vernacular -i into -ius. Otherwise you can turn them in notarial Latin de + [the plural ablative form of the surname] e.g. Alberti: Albertius or de Albertis. For other surnames just turn -i into -us.
Final -o and -io can be simply changed respectively into -us and -ius e.g. Bembo: Bembus, Filelfo: Philelphus, Tasso: Tassus, Boccaccio: Boccatius, Masaccio: Masaccius.
Spanish and Portuguese surnames
For surnames ending in -a same as above.
For toponymical surnames with de one solution is to Latinize them by using the proper case after the preposition. The other is to use the adjectival form of the toponym e.g. De Castro: Castrensis, De Escobar: Scobarius, De Torres: Turrianus.
Surnames ending in -es are declined as third declension nouns e.g. Morales, Vives, Valles.
Surnames ending in -ez apparently were regularly Latinized by direct substitution of -ius for the final -ez. There are some exceptions like Alvarez: Alvarus.
French surnames
They often need the change of a letter or two in the body of the word.
For surnames ending in -ier the -i- usually disappeared in the Latin form e.g. Champier: Champerius, Chartier: Charterius, Dacier: Dacerius.
Surnames ending in -on should be declined as third declension words.
Final -é and -ée was changed respectively into -eus and -aeus e.g. Budé: Budeus, Finé: Fineus, Strebée: Strebaeus.
Final -eau was changed into -aeus e.g. Brodeau: Brodaeus, Cotereau: Coteraeus.
Dutch, Flemish and German surnames
They were often supplanted by pseudonyms.
Final -e was changed into -ius, but it’s fine as it is.
Final -s (old patronymic) was changed into -ius e.g. Rubens: Rubenius.
English surnames
English surnames usually follow general rules.
Surnames ending with -ee were sometimes Latinized by direct substitution of -ea for the final -ee e.g. Dee: Dea, Free: Frea.
For old patronymics same as above. If you prefer intelligibility over classicalism Johnson -onis is a valid alternative, much better than the awful Johnsonius.
Other names and surnames
There are not many examples to draw general “rules” from.
Real patronymics and matronymics should be translated in Latin by the genitive of the parent’s name followed by filius or filia, as the Romans used to do.
For Slavic surnames ending in -ski/-cki/-dski one solution is to add -us e.g. Chmielnicki: Chmielnicius.
In the Arab world parents are sometimes addressed by their nickname: Abu or Um, which mean respectively father of and mother of, followed by the name of their elder son. This can be translated in Latin by the genitive of the son’s name followed by pater or mater. Sometimes the sound of Ibn (son) has been Latinized with Av- e.g. Ibn Sina: Avicenna, Ibn Rushd: Averroes.
Sometimes Chinese courtesy namezi has been Latinized with -ci- e.g. Kong Fuzi: Confucius, Mengzi: Mencius.
Step 3. Test your hypothesis
You have translated your name in Latin, but you don’t know if it is attested or not. My suggestion is to make a search in Google Books or in Vicipaedia. If you don’t find anything, you can ask for a second opinion in Latin groups online.
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Leave a comment below to let me know what you think about this topic!
Catullus, 22.9-11bellus ille et urbānus
Suffēnus ūnus caprimulgus aut fossor
Rursus vidētur.
II. Avis
Caprimulgus est etiam hōc nōmine avis nocturna (Graecē αἰγοθήλας, Italicē succiacapre, Hispānicē chotacabras, Anglicē goatsucker, Germānicē Ziegenmelker), quī terrās inter Eurōpam et Sinās plūs minusve incolit. Ejus nōmen fābulae priscae allūdit quā caprārum ūbera sūgit (vd. īnfrā). Opīniō haec exstitit quia caprimulgī saepe videntur noctū juxtā gregēs caprārum. Nōn tamen ad lactem, sed ad īnsecta trahuntur. Praetereā caprae obcaecantur ōvīs quae muscae, ut Oestrus ovis, ēdunt in oculīs eārum.
Dēnique caprimulgus sīve caprisūga2 (Hispānicē chupacabras) est animal commenticium sīve *cryptidēs, quī dīcitur pecus aggredī et ejus sanguinem haurīre mōre vampyrī. Ut Portudīvitēnsēs aiunt, quōrum in terrā fābula orta est, caprimulgus est quaedam serpēns et aliēna bestia dorsō spīnīs tectō tam magna quam parva ursa.
Rē vērā caprimulgus nihil aliud est quam scabiōsus Canis latrāns (coyote).
Grātiās tibī agō! Subscrībe grātiīs ut novās epistulās accipiās et opus meum sustineās.
«Quī dīcitur caprimulgus montāna avis est, merula paulō mājor, minor cucūlō. Itaque duo parit ōva, aut ad summum tria; mōribus molliōribus. Advolāns caprōs mulget, unde et nōmen. Aiunt, ubi mammam sūxerit, lac exhaurīrī et capram obcaecārī. Interdiū hebetius videt, sed noctū cernit».
17 May 2023, 18h57 Notes on the first prompt of Lovecraft's Commonplace Book
I have to start with a premise on language. For once I would like to write in English hoping that those of you who are here only for my Latin trifles won’t get too mad. First, I am at a strange moment of my life where I’ve written more things in Latin than English. Even my mother tongue, Italian, is a bit unused, if I consider only “poetry” (I’m more a versifier than a poet). Second, I want to prove to myself that I’m able to write something better and longer than the dry writing tasks I had to do for the IELTS test.
The idea for this post came to me after reading James Burton’s blog “Undead Author Society” where he presents his research concerning the fragments left by dead writers and poets and then reanimates the single stories. As far as I know his project halted in 2021 and I don’t know if he will keep writing these short stories in the future, but nevertheless I recommend you to give a look at his blog, because I enjoyed very much reading it. The project, as it currently stands, is entirely devoted to the exploration of Lovecraft’s Commonplace Book, which is, as the name suggests, a small book containing Lovecraft’s ideas for horror stories in the form of quotes and short phrases.
The first post in the series is about the first note of Lovecraft’s Commonplace Book.
Who is this Demophon who trembles under the sun as if it were cold?
James Burton thinks that the note is about Demophoon of Athens, son of Theseus and Phaedra, but unfortunately his «quick search on Wikipedia» led him astray. The myth of Demophoon is as follows according to Apollodorus (Epitomē XV.6.16). He was returning home from Troy, where he had fought with his brother Acamas to rescue their grandmother Aethra, and then he landed in Thrace and married Phyllis, the daughter of the King of Bisaltia. After a while he begged her to let him sail to Athens promising to return. Phyllis escorted him to Amphipolis (Ennea Hodoi) and gave him a chest containing something sacred to Rhea. She told him to open it when every hope to return to Thrace was lost. He never came back but settled in Cyprus instead. Phyllis after having waited for him in vain committed suicide. Then Demophoon opened the chest out of curiosity, went mad because of fear of what was inside and died falling from horse on his own sword. To be fair James Burton was fascinated by Demophoon’s madness and Rhea symbology, which fit the common Lovecraftian trope of going mad from experiencing something men are not meant to comprehend.
This myth inspired Ovid to compose the second letter of Hērōidēs. It’s very touching. For example here Phyllis asks herself if the tears of Demophoon were fake or real:
vv. 49-52
Crēdidimus blandīs, quōrum tibi cōpia, verbīs; Crēdidimus generī nōminibusque tuīs; Crēdidimus lacrimīs—an et hae simulāre docentur? Hae quoque habent artēs, quāque jubentur, eunt?
Coming back to the question of this post, I found a revealing passage from Thomas Moore’s prefatory letter on Irish music to the Marchioness Dowager of Donegal, which shows that the source of the quote about Demophon is Sextus Empiricus:
To those who identify nationality with treason, and who see, in every effort for Ireland, a system of hostility towards England, — to those too, who, nursed in the gloom of prejudice, are alarmed by the faintest gleam of liberality that threatens to disturb their darkness (like that Demophon of old, who, when the sun shone upon him, shivered!* [emphasis added]) — to such men I shall not deign to apologize for the warmth of any political sentiment which may occur in the course of these pages.
* This emblem of modern bigots was head-butler (τραπεζοποιός) to Alexander the Great. — Sext. Empir. Pyrrh. Hypoth. lib. I
Furthermore, we know that Lovecraft read Thomas Moore’s works and appreciated1 at least two poems: The Ring and Alciphron. Also from his note love of darkness means ignorance, therefore bigotry.
Sextus Empiricus was a Greek Pyrrhonist philosopher whose works are a major source of information about Pyrrhonism and other Hellenistic philosophies. In the fourteenth chapter of his Outlines of Pyrrhonism Sextus Empiricus says that there are ten “modes” that generate suspension of judgement. The second mode is based on the difference between human beings. As an example he talks about Demophon, the head-butler of Alexander, who used to shiver under the sun and in the bath, but felt warm in the shade.
