Hoc Erat In Votis ? where do they get prayer from

Chance1234

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Apr 21, 2009, 7:33:54 AM4/21/09

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Was just wondering , when googling the above, it comes up as in my
prayers but isnt it

Hoc - This
erat - HE/SHE
IN - towards/for/
votis / he/dhe to vow promise

so

Vow to promise towards he/she ?

Ed Cryer

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Apr 21, 2009, 8:13:25 AM4/21/09

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"Chance1234" <Chanc...@googlemail.com> wrote in message
news:2f6f46c3-e557-4c5b...@n8g2000vbb.googlegroups.com...

Deus tecum, mi fratre. God be with you, my brother.

I was thinking this group was dying in the spring weather of the UK, and
that maybe I'd have to try and revive it somehow; but you've given us an
excellent posting to gather around.
Hoc - This
erat - was (3rd person singular imperfect of the verb "esse")
in - (+ ablative) in
votis - (ablative plural of "votum")

The quote seems very Christian somehow but comes from a famous pagan
poet of Augustan Rome; Horatius Flaccus, Horace to us.
Hoc erat in votis: modus agri non ita magnus,
This was what I prayed for; a piece of land, not so big. Very Epicurean!
All you need is enough land to raise cattle or a small crop-harvest.
That'll keep you alive. The rest comes from good estate-management, with
a bit of wine, women and song!

Ed

Johannes Patruus

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Apr 21, 2009, 8:19:26 AM4/21/09

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Hoc - this
erat - was
in - among
votis - (my) wishes (or prayers, desires, longings).

The saying is Horatian in provenance:
http://www.uah.edu/society/texts/latin/classical/horace/sermones206.html

Patruus

Chance1234

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Apr 21, 2009, 8:42:45 AM4/21/09

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I can see where i went wrong now, thought votis was the he/she/it of
voveo

thanks for the replies Ed and Patruus and also for the original
context

Ed Cryer

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Apr 21, 2009, 9:22:47 AM4/21/09

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"Chance1234" <Chanc...@googlemail.com> wrote in message

news:75878d15-227a-4a17...@q2g2000vbr.googlegroups.com...

****************

Voveo, vovere, vovi, votum. That's how I was taught Latin verbs.
Present, infinitive, perfect, supine.

It's the supines of Latin verbs that has most influenced modern
languages. We do get "vow" but we also get "vote". And the supines also
had great influence on Latin itself.
"Votum" was simply "a thing wished for"; part of the verb. And from that
it mutated into a noun proper.

Ed

P.S. Your posting is just what we need here to revive this group. Your
interest in Latin will help us. Give us any question or problem you
have. We'll help all we can.

Chance1234

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Apr 21, 2009, 10:09:18 AM4/21/09

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> P.S. Your posting is just what we need here to revive this group. Your
> interest in Latin will help us. Give us any question or problem you
> have. We'll help all we can.

you might regret saying that!

Will Parsons

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Apr 21, 2009, 6:09:21 PM4/21/09

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Ed Cryer wrote:
> Voveo, vovere, vovi, votum. That's how I was taught Latin verbs.
> Present, infinitive, perfect, supine.
>
> It's the supines of Latin verbs that has most influenced modern
> languages. We do get "vow" but we also get "vote". And the supines also
> had great influence on Latin itself.

Indeed, and the supine was apparently used as the basis for "frequentative"
derivatives of verbs. So, e.g., from _canere_, sup. _cantum_, is derived
_cantare_, which serves as the ancestor of the various Romance verbs
meaning "to sing". Such cases are quite common.

--
Will

Weland

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Apr 22, 2009, 1:55:48 PM4/22/09

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Indeed. I didn't think we really needed reviving, just typical ebb and
flow of discussion in spring, end of academic terms, etc.