Lewis: Solar;
Anderson: Planha, Eriau, Temporal etc.
We do not read a single word of the Time Patrol language, Temporal, although another time traveler speaks one sentence in Latin:
"Es tu peregrinator temporis?"
-see here.
Blog Central Analysis Of That Sentence
(i) Because "es" is a second person singular verb, it already means "thou art" and need not be preceded by the pronoun except possibly for emphasis.
(ii) A question would be asked not by changing the word order but by adding "-ne" to the verb. Thus:
"Esne Peregrinator temporis?"
However, an English-speaking time traveler might follow the English language practice of changing the word order.
Later: In fact, Anderson has:
"'Loquerisne latine?'"
-Poul Anderson, "Delenda Est" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 173-228 AT p. 183.
("Do you speak Latin?")
Kaor, Paul!
ReplyDeleteAnd of course we see Latin being used as a lingua Franca by the Polesotechnic League!
I also thought of the Latin/Roman acronym: "S.P.Q.R.", meaning literally "Senate and People of Roman." "The" would have been added in English to make "The Senate and People of Rome."
Sean
Sean: "Romanus" would translate as "of the Romans" -- Latin used the definite article and indicated possessives differently from an analytical language like English.
ReplyDeleteKaor, Mr. Stirling!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I sit corrected. So, "S.P.Q.R." is best translated as "The Senate and People of the Romans" (despite me thinking that looks a bit odd)?
Sean
Both,
ReplyDeleteI think that it is "The Roman Senate and People," with "Romanus" as an adjective, not a genitive noun.
Paul.