29.11.25: Level 3; indefinites [12] quīdam [ii] examples

The first four examples of quīdam are from the Mediaeval text Gesta Rōmānōrum, more of which we’ll look at later in the group. In that text, it is used frequently to introduce stories, and employed to keep names and places vague.

Examples: singular

Imperātrīx quaedam erat, in cuius imperiō erat quīdam mīles │ There was a certain empress in whose empire was a certain soldier

Perrēxit ad quendam philosophum │ He went to a certain philosopher [some philosopher i.e. it doesn’t matter which philosopher]

tibi habeō sēcrētum pandere quoddam │ I have a certain secret to reveal to you

Accidit quōdam diē, ut, cum fīlius piscātōris cum pilā quādam lūderet … │ It happened on a certain day, when the fisherman’s son was playing with a certain ball …

modo quandam vidi virginem hic viciniae miseram suam matrem lamentari mortuam (Terence)

Ac mihi repetenda est ¦ veteris cuiusdam memoriae ¦ … recordātiō (Cicero) │ And now I must bring back to mind the recollection ¦ of a certain old story (one translation gives this simply as “an old story”)

dedī mercātōrī cuidam, quī ad illum dēferat (Plautus) │ I gave (them) to a certain merchant who was to carry them to him

Examples: plural; the first two examples from [i] Comenius, and [ii] the Codex Buranus show that the translation can simply be expressed as a vague some (pupils / people)

[i] 18.11.24: Comenius; in a 17th century school [1]; text and translation

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/09/181124-comenius-in-17th-century-school.html

the Master │Praeceptor

sitteth in a Chair │ sedet in Cathedrā

the Scholars │ Discipulī

in Forms (on benches) │ In subsellīs

he teacheth, they learn│ Ille docet, hī discunt

some things (certain things) │ Quaedam

are writ(ten) before them │ Praescrībuntur illīs

with Chalk on a Table │ Crētā in tabellā

Some (certain ones) sit │ Quīdam sedent

at a Table, and write, │ ad Mēnsam, & scrībunt,

he mendeth their Faults, │ ipse corrigit Mendās,

Some stand and rehearse things │ Quīdam stant, & recitant

committed to memory, │ memoriae mandāta,

Some talk together, │ Quīdam cōnfābulantur,

and behave themselves wantonly │ ac gerunt sē petulantēs

and carelessly; │ & negligentēs

[ii] In tabernā quandō sumus (Codex Buranus: 13^th century); the song is certainly not going to name the drunks, the ‘indiscrete’ chaps, and the guys who lose the shirt off their backs in dice playing!

Quīdam lūdunt, quīdam bibunt, │ Some (certain ones) play, some drink

quīdam indiscrētē vīvunt. │ Some behave loosely

Sed in lūdō quī morantur, │ But those who / the ones who linger in the game [ = keep on gambling]

ex hīs quīdam dēnūdantur │ Some of them are stripped bare

quīdam ibi vestiuntur, │ Some are dressed (‘adorned’) [ = win their clothes] there

quīdam saccīs induuntur. │  Some are dressed in sacks

Ibi nūllus timet mortem │ There no-one fears death

sed prō Bacchō mittunt sortem │ but they throw the dice in the name of Bacchus

Plural examples (all from the Vulgate apart from [vi])

[i] trahēbant Jāsonem et quōsdam frātrēs ad prīncipēs cīvitātis │they dragged Jason and some (of the) brethren before the city council

[ii] ibi vīdimus mōnstra quaedam fīliōrum Enach │ There we saw certain monsters of the sons of Enac

[iii] Singular and plural in the same sentence; note how the King James version reflects the translation of quīdam:

Quaestiōnēs vērō quāsdam dē suā superstitiōne habēbant adversus eum, et dē quōdam Jēsū dēfūnctō, quem affirmābat Paulus vīvere. │ But they had certain questions against him concerning their own superstition and of one Jesus [i.e. a certain Jesus, somebody who they know about, but their knowledge is vague], who was dead and whom Paul affirmed to be alive.

[iv] quōrundam hominum peccāta manifēsta sunt │ Some people's sins are evident

[v] … ā quibusdam quia Iōhannēs surrēxit ā mortuīs ā quibusdam vērō quia Heliās appāruit │ … by (according to) some that John was risen from the dead: but by some (others), that Elias had appeared

[vi] Celsus:

Sūdor etiam duōbus modīs ēlicitur, aut siccō calōre aut balneō. Siccus calor est et harēnae calidae … et quārundam nātūrālium sūdātiōnum, ubi terrā profūsus calidus vapor aedificiō inclūditur. │ Sweating also is elicited in two ways, either by dry heat, or by the bath. The dry is the heat of hot sand… and of some natural sweating places, where hot vapour exhaling from the ground is confined within a building.