Si complexitas

[Phillip David Weaver]

--
Read De Meditatione in Latin and English
http://home.hawaii.rr.com/philippo/index.html

Si complexitas Latinae Anglice posset fingi id certe qvalitercvmqve
facerem.
If the complexity of Latin covld be reprodvced in English I wovld
certainly do it in
whatever manner. Sed qvemadmodvm possis demonstrare Anglice nomen formam
mvtare provt vsvs grammaticvs svvs mvtetvr avt adiectivvm cvm nomine
casv
nvmero genereqve congrvere avt alia verba accvsativvm casvm alia
patricvm alia
deniqve ablativvm adsvmere avt verbvm plervmqve clavsvlam sententiam
periodvmve terminare avt verba apposita priorem casvm retinere. Bvt how
covld
yov demonstrate in English that the novn changes form according as its
grammatical vse changes or that the adiective agrees with the novn in
case nvmber
and gender or that some verbs take the accvsative case while others take
the
genitive and others yet the ablative or that the verb vsvally ends the
clavse or the
sentence or the period or that words in apposition retain the prior
case. Id qvod ad
vos scripsi persimplex est avtem lingvae antiqvitas ervditio svpra
Anglicam
principatvs mirabilia svnt. That which I have written to yov is very
simple bvt the
antiqvity of the langvage and the ervdition and the svpremacy over
English are
amazing. Itaqve Latine non loqveris statim atqve os aperveris sed primvm
tibi svnt
rationes tvae ordiendae. Conseqvently yov do not open yovr movth and
immediately speak Latin bvt first yov mvst order yovr thovghts. Latina
aliqvantvm
simpliciter dicta est sed qvam acriter scripta qvod mvlto acrivs qvam
Anglica est.
Latin was spoken rather simply bvt it was written as powerfvlly as
possible which
is mvch more powerfvlly than English. Commemoradvm etiam est temporibvs
illis
ignorantiam signvm certvm servitvtis esse sed ervditionem dominationem
svbgerere. It mvst be remembered also that in those times ignorance was
a certain
sign of slavery bvt ervdition svggested mastery. Ob qvam rem pleriqve
omnes vt
lingva pvblica potirentvr ardentissime nixi svnt non facile fvit. For
that reason
nearly everyone ardently exerted himself to acqvire proficiency in the
official
langvage and it was not easy. Si Latine locvtvs es certvm fvit te vero
id meritvm esse.
If yov spoke Latin it was certain that yov had really earned it. Si
liberos haberes
speravisti solvm eos versatvros esse ante qvam annorvm qvadraginta nati
essent. If
yov had children yovr one hope was that they wovld be conversant before
the age
of forty. Illi qvi Latine ante annvm vicesimvm loqverentvr cvm Amadeo
Mozarte
mvsicae svae comparandi svnt. Those who spoke Latin before their
twentieth year
mvst be compared with Amadevs Mozart for his mvsic. Tales fvervnt Cicero
Caesar Seneca Qvintilianvs Varro qvorvm libri in tabvla mea linea recta
hodie
stant. Svch were Cicero Caesar Seneca Qvintilian Varro whose books stand
side by
side today on my shelf.