170 



THE POPULAB EDUCATOE. 



LESSONS IN LATIN. XXX. 



CONSTRUCTION DEPONENT VERBS (continued). 

 I AM about to use the words construction and construed, and 

 will first explain them. Construction (from cum, with, and 

 struo, I pile) refers primarily to the putting together of the 

 parts of a building. Hence, in application to composition, it 

 is the putting together of the parts of a sentence. But that 

 putting together in Latin depends on the usages of Latin 

 authors. Those usages we ascertain from their works. Ac- 

 cordingly, a statement of those usages gives the construction, 

 or the proper way of putting words together, in any given case. 

 The construction of hortor is the particular kind of words 

 which it takes in connection with itself, and the conditions 

 under which they are to appear. Thus, hortor requires its 

 object to be in the accusative case. Consequently, we say that 

 hortor is construed with the accusative. This is the appli- 

 cation of the word with which we have to do. Another appli- 

 cation is, that when to construe is used in the sense to translate, 

 translation, or putting the sense of a passage from one language 

 into another, is called construing, because, in order to translate, 

 you must first ascertain what words are to be taken together, and 

 know how, and according to what rule, they depend on one another. 

 It is the office of Syntax to give systematic instructions in 

 construction. But the way may be smoothed, and the advan- 

 tages of repetition gained, if we begin now to supply individual 

 instances. 



CONSTRUCTION OF " HORTOR." 



Aliquem ; aliquem ad, in aliquid ; ut, ne, with the subjunctive ; 

 de aliqua re, aliquid ; with the infinitive. 



The terms and forms here employed must be explained. This 

 explanation will serve once for all. Aliquem means that hortor 

 takes an accusative case as its object : for example, hortor 

 aliquem, I encourage some one : aliquem ad aliquid means that, 

 if occasion require, you construe liortor thus : hortor aliquem 

 ad virtutem, I encourage some one to (strive after) virtue. Where 

 observe that aliquid is added to show that an accusative case 

 must come after the preposition ad. Again, aliquem in aliquid 

 means that you may use in instead of ad : for example, hortor 

 te in prselinm, J encourage thee towards (for) the Jight. The ut, 

 and ne mean that with Jwrtor these particles are employed, of 

 course, in their proper moaning 1 , and that they require the 

 verb which is dependent on them to be in the subjunctive 

 mood. The rest of the " Construction " will now be readily 

 understood, and I place before you instances. 



Hortor with the accusative of the person (aliquem) : 



" Hffic eo spectant ut te horter et suadeam." Caesar. 



Literal Translation : " These things thither look that thee I may 

 encourage and persuade." 



Idiomatic Translation :" I say these things in order to encourage 

 and persuade thee." 



Hortor with ad or in, accusative of the thing : 



" Multffi res ad hoc consilium Gftllos hortabantur." Cicero. 



Lit. Trans. : " Many things to this counsel Gauls encouraged." 



Id. Trans. . " Many things encouraged the Gauls to take this course." 



" Etparibus Messapum in prselia dictis hortatur." Virgil. 



Lit. Trans. : " And with equal Messapus to battle words he en- 

 courages." 



Id. Trans. :" And with similar words he encourages Messapus to 

 battle." 



This sentence affords an example of the way in which a literal 

 translation may be converted into an idiomatic (correct English) 

 translation, by merely altering the position of the words'. In 

 place, paribus and dictis are wide apart. In matters of this 

 kind, the Latin language gave its writers great latitude. Of 

 this latitude the poets made a free use, as is seen in the line 

 before us. While paribus and dictis are wide apart in place, 

 they in sense go together; and in making an idiomatic trans- 

 lation, you must put them together. In order to exhibit this to 

 you, I will indicate, by figures, the order in which the words 

 must be taken. 



16 34572 



Et paribus Messapum in preelia dictis hortatur. 



12 567 34 



These two lines of figures intimate that you may construe the 

 words in either of two ways ; as 



1. " Arid he encourages Messapus to battle with such words." 



2. " And with such words he encourages Messapus to battle." 



You now have before your eyes an English instance of in- 

 version. In the second of these translations with such words is 

 placed early in the sentence, whereas in the first they stand at 

 its close. The first sentence is therefore said to be an inverted 

 sentence, or to have an inversion in it. In English the latitude 

 of inversion is small. It is great in Latin, as is exemplified in 

 the distance at which the adjective paribus stands from the 

 noun dictis which it qualifies. 



'If you will compare together my literal translations and my 

 idiomatic translations, you will ascertain that in the second 

 there is often a departure from the construction observed in 

 the first. The construction observed in the first is necessitated 

 by the construction of the Latin : were not the former strictly 

 to follow in form and order the latter, it would not answer the 

 purpose I have in view ; namely, first, to show you in English 

 words Latin sentences rendered exactly as they are, or as 

 nearly as may be ; and secondly, to lead you, by your com- 

 paring the two together, to see how the idioms of the two 

 languages differ. You never can put Latin into English, or 

 English into Latin, with correctness, until you know the pecu- 

 liarities of the Latin and English idioms, and know also how 

 the one stands relatively to the other. In some cases you 

 will find the idioms of the two languages similar, in others 

 they differ greatly. When the difference is great, great is the 

 difficulty of making a good translation. You will be much 

 assisted in the attempt if you follow the plan I here follow ; 

 that is, first make a literal translation, and then make an 

 idiomatic translation. Be sure you compare the two carefully 

 together, and mark how they agree and how they differ. In 

 making the idiomatic translation, observe this rule : keep to the 

 Latin construction as nearly as the English idiom will allow ; 

 depart not from the Latin construction unnecessarily ; a good 

 translation has two qualities, it is idiomatic, it is close to the 

 original. I now take up the remainder of the construction of 

 hortor. 



Hortor with the de and the ablative : 



" Maudat ut Libonem de concilianda pace hortetur." Ccesar. 



Literal Translation : " He gives orders that he may encourage Libo 

 concerning conciliating peace." 



Idiomatic Translation : " He directs him to put Maulius on obtain- 

 ing peace." 



Hortor with ut and ne : 



" Ille illam hortabitur ut eat, ut properet." Terence. 



Lit. Trans. : " He her will exhort that she may go, that she may 

 hasten." 



Id. Trans. : "He will exhort her to go, to hasten." 



" Hortatur ne sui in perpetuum liberandi occasionem dimittant." 

 Ccesar. 



Lit. Trans. -." He exhorts that not of themselves in perpetuity of 

 liberating opportunity they may lose." 



Id. Trans. : " He exhorts (them) not to lose an opportunity of gain- 

 ing perpetual liberty." 



Hortor with an accusative of the person and of the thing, 

 two accusatives ; or simply with an accusative of the thing : 



" Sin tu (quod te jamdudum hortor) exieris." Cicero. 



Lit. Trans. :" But if thou (what thee now a long while I advise) 

 shalt go out." 



Id. Trans. : " But if , as I have now long advised thee, thou shalt 

 quit the city." 



"Me miseram ! Cupio non persuadere quod hortor." Ovid. 



Lit. Trans. : " Me wretched ! I desire not to persuade what I 

 advise." 



Id. Trans. . " Wretch that I am ! I desire not to succeed in the 

 advice I give." 



Hortor takes also an infinitive mood : 



" Dedit oscula nato, hortaturque sequi." Ovid. 



Lit. Trans. : " He gave kisses to (his) son, and exhorts (him) to 

 follow." 



Id. Trans. . " He kissed his son, and exhorts him to follow." 



If you look back on these translations, you will find that 

 I have rendered hortor by different words : as, encourage, 

 advise, exhort. These words, however, resemble each other in 

 signification. They all agree in the root-meaning of the verb 

 hortor ; which root-meaning is, I stir up some one to some deed, 

 I impel, urge. Thus agreeing, the one or the other may be 

 employed according as the English idiom, a regard to pro- 

 priety, a regard to sound, or as your own taste may suggest ; 

 but observe that whatever word you prefer, it must, at least, in 



