Dog Latin

Last updated
Broken "Latin" inscription in Fishguard Dog-Latin^ - geograph.org.uk - 577822.jpg
Broken "Latin" inscription in Fishguard

Dog Latin or cod Latin is a phrase or jargon that imitates Latin, [1] often by what is referred to as "translating" English words (or those of other languages) into Latin by conjugating or declining them, as if they were Latin words. Dog Latin usually is a humorous device mocking scholarly seriousness. Also, it can mean a poor-quality attempt at writing genuine Latin. [2]

Contents

History

Examples of this predate even Shakespeare, whose 1590s play, Love's Labour's Lost , includes a reference to dog Latin:

Costard: Go to; thou hast it ad dungill, at the fingers' ends, as they say.
Holofernes: O, I smell false Latine; dunghill for unguem. [3] [4]

Thomas Jefferson mentioned dog Latin by name in 1815:

Fifty-two volumes in folio, of the acta sanctorum, in dog-latin, would be a formidable enterprise to the most laborious German. [5]

Examples

Patres conscripti took a boat, and went to Philippi;
Boatum est upsettum, magno cum grandine venti.
Omnes drownderunt qui swim away non potuerunt.
Trumpeter unus erat, qui coatum scarlet habebat;
Et magnum periwig, tied about with the tail of a dead pig. [7]

Insofar as this specimen can be translated, it is as follows:

The conscript fathers [i.e. Senators] took a boat and went to Philippi.
The boat was upset by a great hailstorm of wind.
All drowned who could not swim away.
There was a trumpeter, who had a scarlet coat,
and a great periwig, tied about with the tail of a dead pig.

The meter uses Latin vowel quantities for the Latin parts, and to some extent follows English stress in the English parts.
Another variant has similar lines in a different order:

Stormum surgebat et boatum oversetebat
Excipe John Periwig tied up to the tail of a dead pig. [8]

The meaning here is "The storm rose up and overturned the boat" and "Except for John Periwig", etc.

Caesar adsum jam forte
Brutus aderat
Caesar sic in omnibus
Brutus sic in at

which, when read aloud using traditional English pronunciation of Latin, sounds like the following:

Caesar 'ad [had] some jam for tea
Brutus 'ad a rat
Caesar sick in omnibus
Brutus sick in 'at [hat]

but which means in Latin

I, Caesar, am already here by chance
Brutus was present
Caesar thus in all things
Brutus thus in but

camera necessaria pro usus cookare, cum saucepannis, stewpannis, scullero, dressero, coalholo, stovis, smoak-jacko; pro roastandum, boilandum, fryandum, et plumpudding mixandum, pro turtle soupos, calve's-head-hashibus, cum calipee et calepashibus.

In English, this is:

A necessary room for the purpose of cooking, with saucepans, stewpans, scullery, dresser, coalhole, stoves, smoke-jack; for roasting, boiling, frying, and mixing plum pudding, for turtle soups, calves'-head hashes, with calipee and calipashes.

Amo, amas, I love a lass,
As a cedar tall and slender;
Sweet cowslip's grace is her nominative case,
And she's of the feminine gender.

Chorus:
Rorum corum sunt divorum,
Harum scarum divo;
Tag rag merry derry, periwig and hatband,
Hic hoc horum genetivo.

Can I decline a nymph divine?
Her voice as a flute is dulcis;
Her oculus bright, her manus white,
And soft when I tacto her pulse is.

(Chorus)

O how bella my puella
I'll kiss sæcula sæculorum;
If I've luck, sir, she's my uxor,
O dies benedictorum.

See also

Related Research Articles

Pig Latin is a language game, argot, or cant in which words in English are altered, usually by adding a fabricated suffix or by moving the onset or initial consonant or consonant cluster of a word to the end of the word and adding a vocalic syllable to create such a suffix. For example, Wikipedia would become Ikipediaway. The objective is often to conceal the words from others not familiar with the rules. The reference to Latin is a deliberate misnomer; Pig Latin is simply a form of argot or jargon unrelated to Latin, and the name is used for its English connotations as a strange and foreign-sounding language. It is most often used by young children as a fun way to confuse people unfamiliar with Pig Latin.

<i>Julius Caesar</i> (play) Play by William Shakespeare

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar (First Folio title: The Tragedie of Ivlivs Cæsar), often abbreviated as Julius Caesar, is a history play and tragedy by William Shakespeare first performed in 1599.

Hyperbaton, in its original meaning, is a figure of speech in which a phrase is made discontinuous by the insertion of other words. In modern usage, the term is also used more generally for figures of speech that transpose sentences' natural word order, and it is also called anastrophe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner</span> Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon characters

Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical short Fast and Furry-ous. In each episode, the cunning, devious and constantly hungry coyote repeatedly attempts to catch and eat the roadrunner, but is humorously unsuccessful. Instead of using animal instinct, the coyote deploys absurdly complex contraptions to try to catch his prey. They comically backfire, with the coyote often getting injured in slapstick fashion. Many of the items for these contrivances are mail-ordered from a variety of companies implied to be part of the Acme Corporation. TV Guide included Wile E. Coyote in its 2013 list of "The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time".

Publilius Syrus, was a Latin writer, best known for his sententiae. He was a Syrian from Antioch who was brought as a slave to Roman Italy. Syrus was brought to Rome on the same ship that brought a certain Manilius, astronomer - not the famous Manilius of the 1st century AD, and Staberius Eros the grammarian. By his wit and talent, Syrus won the favour of his master, who granted him manumission and educated him. He became a member of the Publilia gens. Publilius' name, due to the palatalization of 'l' between two 'i's in the Early Middle Ages, is often presented by manuscripts in corrupt form as 'Publius', Publius being a very common Roman praenomen.

Sic semper tyrannis is a Latin phrase meaning "thus always to tyrants". In contemporary parlance, it means tyrannical leaders will inevitably be overthrown. The phrase also suggests that bad but justified outcomes should, or eventually will, befall tyrants. It is the state motto of Virginia.

<i>Et tu, Brute?</i> Latin phrase made famous by Shakespeares Julius Caesar

Et tu, Brute? is a Latin phrase literally meaning "and you, Brutus?" or "also you, Brutus?", often translated as "You as well, Brutus?", "You too, Brutus?", or "Even you, Brutus?". The quote appears in Act 3 Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, where it is spoken by the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, at the moment of his assassination, to his friend Marcus Junius Brutus, upon recognizing him as one of the assassins. Contrary to popular belief, the words are not Caesar's last in the play, as he says "Then fall, Caesar" right after. The first known occurrences of the phrase are said to be in two earlier Elizabethan plays: Henry VI, Part 3 by Shakespeare, and an even earlier play, Caesar Interfectus, by Richard Edes. The phrase is often used apart from the plays to signify an unexpected betrayal by a friend.

The Latin phrase sanctum sanctorum is a translation of the Hebrew term קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים, literally meaning Holy of Holies, which generally refers in Latin texts to the holiest place of the Ancient Israelites, inside the Tabernacle and later inside the Temple in Jerusalem, but the term also has some derivative use in application to imitations of the Tabernacle in church architecture.

"Ubi caritas" is a hymn of the Western Church, long used as one of the antiphons for the washing of feet on Maundy Thursday. Its text is attributed to Paulinus of Aquileia in 796. The traditional melody probably also stems from the late 8th century. It is now and then sung at Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and has for a long time been part of the Holy Thursday evening liturgy. The current Roman Catholic Missal reassigned it from the foot-washing mandatum to the offertory procession at the Holy Thursday evening Mass of the Lord's Supper. It also is found in current Anglican and Lutheran hymnals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assassination of Julius Caesar</span> 44 BCE murder of the Roman dictator

Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of senators on the Ides of March of 44 BC during a meeting of the Senate at the Curia of Pompey of the Theatre of Pompey in Rome where the senators stabbed Caesar 23 times. They claimed to be acting over fears that Caesar's unprecedented concentration of power during his dictatorship was undermining the Roman Republic. At least 60 to 70 senators were party to the conspiracy, led by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, and Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus. Despite the death of Caesar, the conspirators were unable to restore the institutions of the Republic. The ramifications of the assassination led to his martyrdom, the Liberators' civil war and ultimately to the Principate period of the Roman Empire.

Marcus Favonius was a Roman politician during the period of the fall of the Roman Republic. He is noted for his imitation of Cato the Younger, his espousal of the Cynic philosophy, and for his appearance as the Poet in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar.

De analogia is a lost book in two volumes of grammatical work on the Latin language written by Julius Caesar and dedicated to Cicero. Only a few fragments from this important work have survived. Suetonius mentions that Caesar wrote De analogia while he and his army were crossing the Alps.

Homophonic translation renders a text in one language into a near-homophonic text in another language, usually with no attempt to preserve the original meaning of the text. For example, the English "sat on a wall" is rendered as French "s'étonne aux Halles". More generally, homophonic transformation renders a text into a near-homophonic text in the same or another language: e.g., "recognize speech" could become "wreck a nice beach".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The dogs of war (phrase)</span> Common phrase

The dogs of war is a phrase spoken by Mark Antony in Act 3, Scene 1, line 273 of English playwright William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war."

Latin syntax is the part of Latin grammar that covers such matters as word order, the use of cases, tenses and moods, and the construction of simple and compound sentences, also known as periods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">In taberna quando sumus</span> Medieval Latin poem; part of the Carmina Burana

"In taberna quando sumus" is a medieval Latin Goliardic poem, part of the collection known as the Carmina Burana, written between the 12th and early 13th centuries. It was set to music in 1935/36 by German composer Carl Orff as part of his Carmina Burana which premiered at Frankfurt Opera on 8 June 1937. Within Orff's Carmina Burana, this drinking song is the 14th movement in section 2, In Taberna. The poem is largely in trochaic tetrameter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Last words of Julius Caesar</span>

The last words of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar are disputed. Ancient chroniclers reported a variety of phrases and post-classical writers have elaborated on the phrases and their interpretation. The two most common theories – prevalent as early as the second century AD – are that he said nothing or that he said, in Greek, καὶ σύ, τέκνον.

A temporal clause is an adverbial clause of time, that is to say, a clause which informs the reader about the time when the action of main verb of the sentence occurred. So in a sentence such as "after I had said this, he went out", the first clause is a temporal clause. The name comes from the Latin word tempus, genitive temporis, 'time".

References

  1. Brewer, E. Cobham (1898). Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Dog-Latin. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2022 via Bartleby.com.
  2. OED s.v. "dog," compounds C3a
  3. Love's Labor's Lost5.1/77–80, Folger Shakespeare Library
  4. "What's the origin of pig Latin?". The Straight Dope. 1 June 2004. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  5. Letter to John Adams, 08/10/1815, Gutenberg.org
    I had supposed them defunct with the society of Jesuits, of which they were: and that their works, although above ground, were, from their bulk and insignificance, as effectually entombed on their shelves, as if in the graves of their authors. Fifty-two volumes in folio, of the acta sanctorum, in dog-Latin, would be a formidable enterprise to the most laborious German.
  6. S.O.M.A., Soma's Dictionary of Latin Quotations, Maxims and Phrases, 2010, ISBN   1425144977, s.v.
  7. Notes and Queries. October 13, 1855. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  8. Percival Leigh (1840). The comic Latin grammar. London: Charles Tilt. p.  152 . Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  9. Willans, Geoffrey; Searle, Ronald (1953). Down with Skool!. London: Max Parrish. ISBN   9780141191683.
  10. George Alexander Stevens, Frederick Pilon (22 May 1802). "A Lecture on Heads". Printed by T. Bensley for Vernor and Hood [etc .] Retrieved 22 May 2022 via Internet Archive.
  11. "Roadrunner&Coyote". Home.ku.edu.tr. Retrieved 22 May 2022.