Latin query
Oct. 16th, 2007 05:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
For, lo, my Latin is woefully rusty, and I never really got the hang of either imperatives (especially in the negative) or the nuances of translating that handy little English verb "do":
How would you say "Don't do that!" in Latin? Ciceronian or medieval, I don't care which. "That" is the action of turning on the lights. Singular addressee, and I honestly don't know if it should be formal or familiar, since the speaker is a necromantic construct who has been stalking my protagonist and has designs on his body. ("Designs" as in "Oh what lovely and available real estate!" not as in carnality worthy of the Marquis de Sade.)
[Nota bene: Please, don't respond with links to English-to-Latin translators. I can do a Google search just as well as anybody else; the problem is that I don't trust the online translation engines to be correct. Likewise, please, don't respond with the results of putting "Don't do that!" into an online translator, unless you can then go on to testify from your own knowledge of Latin that the results are correct.]
How would you say "Don't do that!" in Latin? Ciceronian or medieval, I don't care which. "That" is the action of turning on the lights. Singular addressee, and I honestly don't know if it should be formal or familiar, since the speaker is a necromantic construct who has been stalking my protagonist and has designs on his body. ("Designs" as in "Oh what lovely and available real estate!" not as in carnality worthy of the Marquis de Sade.)
[Nota bene: Please, don't respond with links to English-to-Latin translators. I can do a Google search just as well as anybody else; the problem is that I don't trust the online translation engines to be correct. Likewise, please, don't respond with the results of putting "Don't do that!" into an online translator, unless you can then go on to testify from your own knowledge of Latin that the results are correct.]
no subject
Date: 2007-10-16 11:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-16 11:19 pm (UTC)Technically I have replaced "that" with "this": Nōlī hoc facere!
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Date: 2007-10-16 11:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-16 11:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-16 11:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-17 12:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-17 12:24 am (UTC)I'm going with noli facere, because this creature is much more likely to order than to request.
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Date: 2007-10-17 12:30 am (UTC)Cool. And very curious to read this story now!
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Date: 2007-10-19 07:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-17 12:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-17 12:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-17 12:16 am (UTC)If something awful is going to happen if someone turns on the light, I would be much more likely to use the imperative. If I was more concerned about being polite than about getting the person I'm addressing to cut it out, I would be more likely to use the (jussive) subjunctive. It's command versus request.
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Date: 2007-10-16 11:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-16 11:25 pm (UTC)Thus: Noli illud facere!
*This and that are hic and illud, respectively.
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Date: 2007-10-16 11:40 pm (UTC)Also ok would be "noli facere" alone if said urgently or in a situation where what you aren't supposed to do doesn't need to be emphasized. Putting the illud in is almost "don't do THAT!". I would almost use the hoc, though, instead, since hic and ille aren't exactly "this" and "that". Ille is the correct term for what you requested, but hic might better express something very close to the speaker and the addressee. I don't think the regular imperatives get used much outside of textbooks, though, because it's a bit rude to command like that, but it sounds about right for addressing a necromantic construct- zombies don't rate the subjunctive, I think.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-17 12:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-17 12:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-17 11:23 am (UTC)aleksandra.kleczar@uj.edu.pl
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Date: 2007-10-18 08:44 am (UTC)Which is to say i'm of no use whatsoever, but do yell if you ever want something said in Ancient Greek. That i could do.