Tu delenda est
Brad Johnson
some argument over its translation has appeared in their newsgroup.
Anyone want to point out the grammatical errors and better wordings?
bradj. BLS '94
nullus oppidenda est (yes i know it's wrong)
Ari Sadarjoen
[ re: "tu delenda est" ]
>should be "es" ('are', 2nd person). The verb "delenda" is in an obscure
>form called the supine, which shows that the action of the verb must be
>carried out. "Tu," of course, is 'you' (singular).
Almost correct, but "delenda" is a gerundivum.
(or dou you call it a gerund in English?)
Vale,
--
Ari Sadarjoen
Delft Univ. of Technology TU Delft
Computer Science Dept. Fac. Technische Informatica
P.O. Box 356 Julianalaan 132, Kamer 2.336
Oscar den Uijl
: "Tu delenda est" appears in the popular mac computer game Marathon, and
: some argument over its translation has appeared in their newsgroup.
: Anyone want to point out the grammatical errors and better wordings?
'Delenda es' would be better. Its translation would be "You must/should be
detroyed', 'You' being a female. 'Tu es' means 'you are', but 'tu' is
rarely used. 'Es' for 'you are' is enough, except when you want to stress
the 'you'-bit. 'Delenda' would literally translate into 'in a state of
having to be destroyed', supposing it is Latin after all, of course 8-).
--
******************************************************************************
* Oscar C.R. den Uijl * And therefore, whoso list it nat yheere, *
* o...@xs4all.nl * Turne over the leef and ches another tale. *
******************************************************************************
LanguagFan
> "Tu delenda est" appears in the popular mac computer game Marathon, and
> some argument over its translation has appeared in their newsgroup.
> Anyone want to point out the grammatical errors and better wordings?
If memory serves me well, it looks like this is a take-off of an ancient
Roman motto: "Cartago delenda est," which means, 'Carthage must be
destroyed.' It was their motto during the Punic wars.
The Marathon version is evidently intended to mean "You must be
destroyed." However, the verb "est" ('is', 3rd person) is incorrect; it
should be "es" ('are', 2nd person). The verb "delenda" is in an obscure
form called the supine, which shows that the action of the verb must be
carried out. "Tu," of course, is 'you' (singular).
Happy conjugating,
Paul Stevenson
Robert Bononno
Supine? Delenda looks like a gerundive from what I remember of Latin.
Robert Bononno
/Techline/
bon...@acf2.nyu.edu
Ben Pearlman
writes:
Actually, "delenda est" is a passive periphrastic -- the future passive
participle (a.k.a the gerundive) plus the verb "to be," showing an action that
must be done. If you want to argue what the Marathon writers meant, I would
say that "You have been destroyed" would be much more appropriate than a phrase
which implies that the action hasn't been carried out yet -- "Tu deletus es,"
in Latin. Also, "delenda" assumes that the "you" is feminine -- I believe
someone else pointed this out earlier.
---
"Nunc est bibendum." -Horace, Odes I.37
Ben Pearlman
University at Buffalo
Department of Classics
Paul Stevenson
writes:
>
>In <3omtge$5...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, langu...@aol.com (LanguagFan)
writes:
>>bgjo...@news.amherst.edu (Brad Johnson) wrote:
>>> "Tu delenda est" appears in the popular mac computer game Marathon,
and
>>> some argument over its translation has appeared in their newsgroup.
>>> Anyone want to point out the grammatical errors and better
wordings?
>>
>>If memory serves me well, it looks like this is a take-off of an
ancient
>>Roman motto: "Cartago delenda est," which means, 'Carthage must be
>>destroyed.' It was their motto during the Punic wars.
>>
>>The Marathon version is evidently intended to mean "You must be
>>destroyed." However, the verb "est" ('is', 3rd person) is incorrect;
it
>>should be "es" ('are', 2nd person). The verb "delenda" is in an
obscure
>>form called the supine, which shows that the action of the verb must
be
>>carried out. "Tu," of course, is 'you' (singular).
>
>Supine? Delenda looks like a gerundive from what I remember of Latin.
>
>
> /Techline/
> bon...@acf2.nyu.edu
A professor of classics said something similar in another post (I also
seem to remember him using the phrase "periphrastic future"). I am glad
to receive any corrections. My Latin is rather rusty.
Vale,
Paul Stevenson
Roger L. Nelson
sada...@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl (Ari Sadarjoen) wrote:
>In article <3omtge$5...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>,
>
>[ re: "tu delenda est" ]
>
>>form called the supine, which shows that the action of the verb must be
>>carried out. "Tu," of course, is 'you' (singular).
>
>(or dou you call it a gerund in English?)
I recall that in Latin there are two forms the gerund and the gerundiv
but I don't know the difference. Is the gerundiv simply the name for the
gerund inflection when conjugated as in a present progressive (English)
case?
_____________________________________________________________________
______________ Roger Nelson rne...@mail.wsu.edu
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Ari Sadarjoen
>>[ re: "tu delenda est" ]
>I recall that in Latin there are two forms the gerund and the gerundiv
>but I don't know the difference. Is the gerundiv simply the name for the
>gerund inflection when conjugated as in a present progressive (English)
>case?
Gerundiet {r ett substantiv, och dess b|jning beror bara p} kasus.
Gerundivet {r faktiskt ett adjektiv, och dess b|jning beror p} kasus,
numerus och genus.
>\ | | State | You may reply in English, French, Esperanto, Swedish
> | // University | Danish, Norwegian, Italian or Spanish
Det f|rs|kte jag allts} g|ra!
Hoppas att det inte finns f|r m}nga fel...
Hejd},