26.08.24: Ora Maritima 8[4]; notes

The numbers refer to notes after the text.

In numerō amīcōrum meōrum sunt duo puerī. Mārcus, puer quattuordecim annōrum, [1] mihi praecipuus amīcus est. Prope Dubrās nunc habitant, sed ex Calēdoniā oriundī sunt. [1] Nōbīs puerīs fēriae nunc sunt; nam condiscipulī sumus. [2] Inter fēriās līberī sumus scholīs. Amīcī meī mē saepe vīsitant, et ego amīcōs meōs vīsitō. Magna est inter nōs amīcitia. Ūnā ambulāmus, ūnā in undīs [5] spūmiferīs natāmus, cum nōn nimis asperae sunt. [3] Quantopere nōs puerōs lūdī pilārum in arēnā dēlectant! [4] Ut iuvat castella contrā undās spūmiferās aedificāre!

[1] Note the uses of the dative in these sentences:

 Marcus ... mihi praecipuus amicus est. │Marcus is ... a special friend to me.

Nōbīs puerīs fēriae nunc sunt. │ We boys now have holidays [= are on holiday]; literally: to us boys are now holidays.

[2] Inter fēriās līberī sumus scholīs. This is an example of the ablative of separation used without a preposition; it implies that a person or thing is separated from something else, but not in a literal / physical sense:

Inter fēriās līberī sumus scholīs. │ During the holidays we are free from lessons.

An example of this was in an earlier text:

Nunc mīlitiā vacat. │ Now he is free (retired) from the military.

[3] Quantopere nōs puerōs lūdī pilārum in arēnā dēlectant! A more natural way of translating this sentence would be: How much we boys love / We boys really love ball games on the sand! Note, however, how Latin expresses the idea:

quantopere: how greatly

[i] lūdī pilārum ¦ in arēnā: ball games ¦ on the sand

[ii] dēlectant: delight

[iii] nōs puerōs: us boys

i.e. lūdī is the subject of the sentence: games, and those games delight (dēlectant) the boys (puerōs: accusative plural).

How greatly ¦ ball games on the sand ¦ delight ¦ us boys.

[4] Ut iuvat castella contrā undās spūmiferās aedificāre!  Iuvat is the 3^rd person singular of iuvō, -āre [1] (help) but, like dēlectat, it can be used as an impersonal verb meaning ‘delight’ or ‘please’:

Ut iuvat castella contrā undās spūmiferās aedificāre!     │ Literally: How it pleases to build castles against the foaming waves! [= How much fun it is to ...]

[5] spūmifer, -a, -um: foam-bearing; foaming

The suffix -fer (bearing; carrying; bringing) is used in a number of words in Latin. Below are some examples:

• frūgifer, -a, -um: bearing fruit i.e. fruitful
• morbifer, -a, -um: bringing disease
• mortifer, -a, -um: bringing death i.e. deadly; fatal
• pācifer, -a, -um: peace bringing i.e. peaceful
• pestifer, -a, -um: bringing disease i.e. destructive
• aquilifer, -ī [2/m]: standard-bearer i.e. the one who carries the eagle
• signifer, -ī [2/m]: standard-bearer
• Lūcifer, -ī [2/m]: bringing light from Gk. φῶς (phôs, “light”) +‎ -φόρος (-phóros, “bringing”) i.e. the morning star; (Bibl.) Lucifer

Illustration of Lucifer in the first fully illustrated print edition of Dante's Divine Comedy. Woodcut for Inferno, canto 34. Petrus de Plasiis, Venice, 1491.