Beginners: Meet Sir Aminadab!

An Anglo-Latin Bilingual Dialogue in School

igitur, tu es asinus.
—St. Thomas Aquinas.

Click here to read a long Note on How we Pronounce Latin, about why we pronounce Latin the way we do in this course, or just dive straight in and learn as we go along.

Abbreviation to learn: lit. literaliter, "literally."

Sir Aminadab's Useful Classroom Expressions

Sir Aminadab is hungry and it is almost time for lunch, prandium, as opposed to ientaculum which everyone has already had, and cena which is much later. But Sir Aminidab, the magister (mah-JISS-ter, whence "mister"), is the schoolmaster, or praeceptor (pray-CHEPP-tohr), preceptor. However, he just can't keep his mind off food.

A few quick notes before we get started:

Notice that Latin "g," like English, is "soft" before "e, i"--pronounced "j". "C" is soft before the same letters, but pronounced "ch," not "s" like soft-C in English.

Also, Latin is backwards from English in calling out letters: The Letter A is a, littera, pronounced "ah, LITT-er-ah". That is, Latin says "A, a letter" and not "the letter, A." Likewise with titles: Aminadab, Magister meaning "Aminadab, a teacher" not "the teacher, Aminadab" as in English.

Here are the Latin phrases you need to know to understand everything (and I mean everything) in the play. Be sure to learn how to say at least the ones in your lines for the play! If you get tired of reading these notes, feel free to jump ahead and read over the dialogue. It is easier to understand the phrases in context, and you can always come back to these notes later.

ad prandium; jam, jam, incipe / ahd PRAHN-dee-um

To lunch! (think: post prandial); enough already, begin! There is a bilingual pun here since jam, jam is pronounced yum, yum.

incipe / EEN-chee-pay

Begin!, a command form of the verb incipio, incipere, I begin, to begin. Latin verbs are given in two parts, called principal parts--the first is the "I" form, and the second the "to" form, also called the infinitive. Actually, there are four principal parts, but it will be a while before we get to the others. incipe is an imperative form, from impero, I command. The imperium is a special kind of command, the command of a Roman magistrate who can legally compel compliance by force. This is where we get words like Emperor and Roman Empire, Imperium Romanum. But imperative is used for everyday commands too.

Quae caceris chartis deseruisse decet / Kway KAH-che-riss KAHR-tees day-SAYR-vee-seh DAY-chett

I should tear the pages from your hide! In Latin, "u" and "v" are exactly the same letter, as are "i" and "j," so deseruisse could be spelled deservisse, which shows the relation to English "deserve" much more clearly. Usually, "v" is used at the beginning of the word, and "u" everywhere else. "V" is almost always used for capital letters. In modern texts, "v" is used when this letter has the consonant sound, and "u" when it is sounded like a vowel. This makes it easy on the students, but it is not how Latin was spelled, so the downside is it is harder for the students to read the texts when they get around to that. Let's learn how to spell right from the very first!

Mistriss Virga. Lady Willow-by / VEER-guh

A virga is a magician's wand, or a switch for spanking. "Spare the rod (virga) and spoil the child." A willow tree would make a good switch. Actually, the virga has an even longer history. A Roman official called the praetor (PREE-tohr), as in pretorian guard, was responsible for performing the ceremony that freed slaves. He had a long spear, called a virga. If you were a slave, one way to become free was to convince the praetor to perform the "ceremony of the praetor's wand." Your master would take you in hand (by the manus as if you were being mancipated, or made a slave by manu-captio [hand-capture]) and the praetor would wave his wand over you three times. Legally, if not magically, this would set you free.

This is why Lady Liberty is sometimes depicted carrying a "spear." You might think she is trying to teach us a lesson about Freedom requiring eternal vigilance and military power, somewhat like Lady Willow-by, Sir Aminidab's faithful assistant in the play. That might be a nice lesson, but that's not what the picture means. Sweet Liberty holds the magic wand that sets slaves free. The Founding Father's knew Roman Law, not just Latin and a bit of Caesar, and that's what they meant. Roman praetors needed their virga and their scales for various legal ceremonies. The Founding Fathers used powerful symbols of Justice, Equity, and Liberty--if you know Latin and know what the symbols mean. These symbols meant certain very specific things to bilingual Anglo-Latinists like you are going to become one day!

campis / KAHM-pees

the fields; playground. The word is campus, [which might remind you of another academic use of the word] but the boy puts it into the dative plural case, campis just as he should if he were fitting Latin right into the English sentence. This sort of "Lat-lish" is precisely what we mean when we say education was bilingual. The line between the two languages, Latin and English, was very fluid. Persons educated this way went back and forth between the two languages, borrowing and mixing, hardly conscious that they were moving between two languages at all, since they were comfortable with both--native one might say. Sometimes it is hard to tell whether we have a Roman (or maybe French) ethnic boy who has picked up a bit of Saxon, or vice versa. Some people complain that Latinate English is difficult to understand--full of allusions they don't know, with strange and forced sentence structures that just don't sound right to the least common denominator native ear. That's because Lat-Lish is ungrammatical--as "pure" English. So is Spanglish. Latin-English follows its own set of rules, and has, for its own sons and daughters, its own charm.

Campus means basically what we mean by an athletic field. The most famous one was of course the campus martis, the "Field of Mars," which might have been the Roman army's training grounds, but latter became the place where voting was done. Corrupt politicians would hire crowds of vulgar people to show up, vote for them, and scare anyone else off. This is the famous "Roman Mob." They didn't wander the streets breaking store windows and looting like an American mob might. When the Roman Mob went on a rampage it was--to vote.

Hic puer bonae indolis / EEK POO-ayr BOHN-ay EEN-doh-lees

This boy of good laziness. This is a somewhat idiomatic way of saying, "this fine, lazy, boy." Sir Aminidab is being a bit sarcastic of course. Note that in Latin the initial "H" is silent, although you would make no great mistake to pronounce it. Actually, Sir Aminidab probably did pronounce it See Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor, Act IV, Scene ii. for a boy who speaks Lat-lish very much like the boys in Sir Aminidab's classroom. There, the "h" is certainly pronounced. If so, it must have made a comeback, since even in 7th century St. Isidore of Seville was having to teach his monks that haud and aut are spelled differently, even if they are pronounced the same. Also, "h" is silent in French.

mus / pronounced MOOSE, even though it means "mouse".

a mouse, but it is pronounced "moose."

domus / DOH-muss

a house

pediculus / ped-ICK-oo-luss

a louse (singular of lice, a common parasite in schools.)

Tardè, tardè, tardè / TAHR-day

You're Late! Probably sung in sing-song after the manner of children. Note that final long "e" is marked with with a grave accent, as in French and Italian, which are Romance Languages derived from Latin. This kind of accent does not tell where the stress is, but tells us that the vowel is long. Sir Aminidab's students probably pronounced it "tardy," which is exactly where we get this word for the classroom context. In words of more than one syllable, stress will be in the second last syllable, or the third last. We'll learn the exact rule for which is which later.

Sed ubi sunt sodales? / sedd OO-bee soont soh-DAH-lays

But where are your school fellows? Latin uses sodales for companions, fellows, mates. It is the same word as solidarity, the sort of togetherness found in schools and universities among students.

Ubi est [Pipkin]? / OO-bee est?

Where is So-and-So? Latin questions start with a question-word, just like English.

diluculo surgere / Est saluberrimum / di-LICK-oo-loh SOOR-jerr-eh est sal-loo-BAYRR-ee-mum

a little earlier to arise / is best ... for all concerned, or at least for Pipkin! Don't forget to trill the "rr" in Latin. You should touch the roof of your mouth or the top of your front teeth twice, so that it has a bit of a "burr" like Scottish. Or flip your tongue against the roof of your mouth, as in Spanish, Italian, or French, or any other continental language. This proverb (diliculo surgere, etc. is a pat example sentence straight from the text book they are using (doubtless the Elizabethan standard one, by William Lily, as will be clear from later notes as well). Sir Aminidab quotes it with his own twist in mind as to what the natural consequence of not being saluberrimum might be.

dic mihi / dick MEE-kee

Tell me! or Speak to me! "h" between vowels is pronounced like "k" in (Medieval, Christian, Anglo-) Latin. dic could be pronounced deek since the vowel is long. Anglo-Latin is a bit inconsistent with vowel lengths for short, common words.

Huc Ades / OOK AH-dess

Here you are. The verb ad-es means "thou art present." ab-sum and ad-sum mean "I am absent" and "I am present". They are related to the verb sum, esse, "I am, to be." The first three forms of this verb, which must be learned from your very first lesson, are: sum, I am, es, Thou art, est, He is. Est also means "she is" and "it is." Just like English, "is" is used in all three phrases. During roll-call, answer Ad-sum! instead of "here" or "present" as in English.

Cur tam tardè venis? / KOOR tum TAHR-day VAY-niss

Why do you come so late?

Ubi fuisti? / OO-bee foo-EE-stee

Where were you? Fui, fuisti, fuit is the past tense of sum, es, est the first, second, and third person singular forms of the famous verb, to be

Magister, quomodo vales? / mah-JEE-ster, kwoh-MOH-doh VAH-lay-ss

How are you doing, Teacher? Pipkin decides to play it cool and say "Hi, Teach!"

responsio / ray-SPOHN-see-oh

an answer or response to a quaestio, a question. The Latin is a bit stronger than "response." Think, formal response such as a defendant might make in court.

untruss

the last step of clothing removal before being whipped.

Etiam certè / ETT-yum CHAYR-tay

Already certainly. "Sure enough". Pipkin is going to claim he has already answered the question, which is gutsy, but requires a mis-translation.

Quomodo vales / KWO-moh-doh VAH-lays

How are you? which Pipkin has already used. But here he is pretending that Quomodo vales is Latin for I was at the alehouse.

Quaeso, preceptor, quaeso

I beg you, teacher, I beg you. Quaeso, "I seek or ask," is not actually as strong as rogo or especially oro, which means literally begging. Related words are "Question," "query," and "quest". It is probably best translated please, and is used as a set idiom for that purpose. In Christian Latin, oro, orare is the standard word for "I pray, to pray."

Quid est grammatica? / Quidd est grah-MAH-tick-uh

What is grammatical? This might be a standard part of the lesson--"What is the grammar [rule] for this".

Grammatica est, that, if I untruss'd, you must needs whip me / grah-MAH-tick-uh est

The grammar rule Pipkin claims is that if the offense is grammatical,

upon them, quid est grammatica. / quid est grah-MAH-tick-uh

...so the punishment must be more grammar, not a whipping.

ad unguem / et condemnato / ahd OONG-gwem ett cohn-demm-NAH-toh

condemned [thoroughly damned], up to (his) finger nail up to his fingernail tips in guilt.

Propria quae maribus tribuuntur mascula, dicas / PROH-pree-uh kway MAH-ree-bus trib-WOON-toor MAH-scoo-lah DEE-kahs

Those things which pertain to males, are called masculine. This is one of the grammar rules in William Lily's Grammar, which was the standard (and in many schools was the government-mandated) Latin text in Tudor times. The first part of the text was in English, but then come grammar rules in Latin (actually small essays about Latin grammar). It was a common practice in the schools to have students construe and parse these sentences, so very often this would be the first real Latin sentence a student would learn. This particular one was so famous that it became a catch phrase. You can find it quoted in the New England Courant, for example, the paper printed by Benjamin Franklin's brother. More precisely, in the second number of the Courant, which is commonly called the Anti-Courant, since it contains a caustic reply by a Puritan Latinist who makes fun of an editorial in the first number of the series, written by an Anglican priest who had obviously overdosed on his Lily. Needless to say, Pipkin doesn't construe the sentence correctly.

expone, expone / eks-POH-nay, eks-POH-nay

Explain, explain The verb is actually "expound." Sir Aminidab wants Pipkin to construe the sentence. Construing a sentence meant giving the word meaning in English for each Latin word. After "construction" (as in strict or loose construction) of the sentence, the student might be asked to parse each word, or give the names for its form and describe how it functions in the sentence. This routine was very patterned and tedious. Pipkin, it seems, is a loose constructionist.

rostra disertus amat? / ROH-strah di-SAYR-tuss AH-maht

...

canis, rana, porcus / CAH-nees, RAH-nah, POHR-cuss

a dog, a frog, a hog Pipkin gets the words right, but the order is wrong.

Abeundum est mihi / ah-bay-UN-dum est MEE-kee

I'm outta here. Lit.: "To-must-go it-is for-me" The verb is ab-eo, ab-ire, "I go away, to go away".

Exit / EKS-it

He leaves. This is of course a standard stage direction, and found on English Exit Signs to this day. In Latin it is a verb, not a noun: He exits, not an exit

apis / AH-piss

a bee

genu / JENN-oo

a knee

Vulcanus / Vull-KAH-nuss

Vulcanus is the Roman god of volcanoes, and the (unlucky and handicapped) husband of Venus. Dr. John Dee was a famous philosopher and practicer of magic in the days of Queen Elizabeth. Why comparing him to Vulcanus might make a joke will be left undiscussed here.

Viginti minus usus est mihi / Vih-JEEN-tee MEE-nuss OO-nuss est MEE-kee

Could be a mistake for Viginti minus unus "I'm in for the twenty [lashes] minus one."

bonus, bona, bonum / BOH-nuss, BOH-nuh, BOH-num

a house

vitrum / VEE-trumm

glass

spica / SPEE-kah

...

tu es asinus / too ess ah-SEE-nuss

You are an ass [donkey]. This phrase is the traditional final sentence, in Scholastic philosophy and logic, for what we call an argument reductio ad absurdum (reduction to the absurd). If a contradiction can be found in one's assumptions, then a valid conclusion is anything at all. In argument, a good choice is to tell your opponent, "you are a donkey." igitur, tu es asinus is quoted several times by St. Thomas Aquinas, e.g. (Exemplum gratia, Latin "for example")

Precor tibi felicem noctem / PRAY-cohr TEE-bee FEHL-ee-chem NOHK-tem

I pray for you a happy [pleasant] evening. This is a set phrase similar in use to "have a good evening."

Claudite jam libros, pueri / CLOUD-ee-tay yum LEE-brohs, POO-err-ee

Close your books, already, boys. This is a set phrase in any classroom.

sat, prata, bibistis, / SAHT, PRAH-tah, bee-BEE-stees

you [all] have drunk enough [learning], prattlers. The -istis form is for addressing more than one person. Sat is short for satis and like Spanish or Italian basta is somewhat dismissive. In Latin, the vocative or form used to address the other person or persons, usually comes second in the sentence.

ubi fuistis / OO-bee foo-EE-stees

where you were. This is different from ubi fuisti which is the form for addressing one person ("2nd person singular"). When "you" means "you all" then you add the final "s", as in the note above.

rodix, podix / ROH-dicks, POH-dicks

These are obscure terms that will not be defined here. What Sir Aminidab means, however, is fairly clear enough from context.

This is where the pronunciations should be discussed.

Aminidab would be entitled to be called "Dominus" if he had a Bachelor's degree from a University, which he probably does. Anyone with a "B.A." is a "Dominus" in Latin, which is where we get the related titles "Dom" or "Oxford don." Perhaps we should call him Dom Aminidab. Like Don Quixote, Sir Aminidab is certainly quixotic. (There are plenty of other ways to be a Dominus--it is the title used by a freeborn husband and wife to refer to each other, not quite as formal as calling each other "Sir" and "Madam", but with essentially that same meaning). In Latin, in the Elizabethan period, a "real" knight would be designated "Dominus So-and-So, Miles" (DOH-mi-nuss ... MEE-lays), which means, "Sir So-and-So, a soldier"--as opposed to all the non-soldierly ways of being a Dominus.

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