From La: optō, -āre [1]: wish
We’ll begin again
with some lines from the student song Gaudeāmus igitur. This is what the
students wish to happen.
Vīvat Acadēmia, │ May the Academy live
[= long live the Academy]
Vīvant professōrēs, │ May the professors live
[= long live the professors]
Vīvat Acadēmia,
Vīvant professōrēs,
Vīvat membrum quodlibet, │ May each member
live
Vīvant membra quaelibet, │ May all members
live
Semper sint in
flōre! │ May they always be in bloom!
Semper sint
in flōre!
Alternative
versions have the following lines:
Pereat trīstitia, │ May sorrow perish,
Pereant ōsōrēs, │ May the haters perish,
Pereat diabolus, │ May the devil perish,
[1] The optative
subjunctive is used to express wishes or hopes.
In English,
statements such as May he rest in peace or May all your wishes come
true can be expressed in Latin using the present subjunctive, for example:
Requiēscat in
pāce│ May he rest in peace
May you learn the
optative subjunctive from the King!
Vīvat
rēgīna / rēx │ Literally: May the Queen / King live = Long live
the Queen / King
From the
coronation of Charles III and the Queen Consort (with a real OMG! Look on her
face) in Westminster Abbey; Anglicised / English ceremonial Latin pronunciation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxMTI1YbAxw
The construction
is most often used with utinam (if only):
Utinam veniat
│ If only he would come; the present subjunctive expresses a wish for
the future i.e. wishing that something would happen
Utinam mīlitēs
vincant │ If only the soldiers would win.
Utinam fēlīx sīs
│ Literally: if only you would be happy; would that you may be
happy > I hope you may be happy
[2] The negative
optative is formed with nē (although it sometimes can be found with nōn):
Utinam nē hoc
accidat │ If only this would not happen
[3] Translations
may vary from the ‘model’ above, but they still all express the idea of wishing
or hoping.
From Plautus:
Dī immortālēs, utinam
conveniam domī Periphanem │ By the immortal gods, if only I could
meet Periphanes at home
Utinam mea mihi modo auferam, quae adtuli,
salva │ If only I might just carry off my own things, which I
brought, safe
Utinam audīre nōn queās │ If only you
couldn’t hear
Utinam nunc stimulus in manū mihi sit. │
Literally: If only an ox goad would be in my hand now = Oh, if I
could only get hold of an ox goad now!
From Cicero:
Utinam illum diem videam │ If only I
may see that day / Would that I may see that day
Utinam quidem Antōnium conveniam │ If
only / I wish I could meet Antony
Utinam prōficere possim │ If only I
could make progress
Utinam modo cōnāta efficere possim │ If
only I could just accomplish what I’ve attempted
Atque utinam
continuō ad complexum meae Tulliae, … possim currere │ And I only
wish I could run straight to the embraces of my Tullia
Quamquam dē ipsā
Siciliā utinam sit vērum │ However, I do hope the news about
Sicily may prove true
Atque utinam
ipse Varro incumbat in causam! │ If only Varro himself were to
/ I only wish Varro himself would throw his weight into my cause
Utinam … Cotta Sardiniam teneat │ I
only hope Cotta may hold Sardinia
Utinam īdem maneat Hortēnsius │ If only
Hortensius may stay the same [in context: … may keep the same mind]
Atque utinam potius
per populum agat quam per senātum │ And if only he would act
through the people rather than through the Senate
Take a second look
at the Cicero quotations above: all of them use the present subjunctive
and all of them refer to Cicero’s hopes / wishes for something in the future.
[2] A common
phrase on a holiday postcard is “Wish you were here” i.e. English
uses ‘were’ to express a situation that the speaker / writer wants to exist now
in the present.
Latin does the
same: it uses an imperfect subjunctive to convey a wish for something to
be happening now, but isn’t; in grammar this is sometimes referred to as an unreal
or hypothetical present.
Utinam hīc nunc essēs, mī amīce. │ If
only you were here now, my friend
Utinam mē intellegere posset. │ Would
that he could understand me!
Utinam rēs melior esset. │ If only
the situation were better
Utinam nōs līberī essēmus! │ If only we
were free!
Utinam nē vērē scrīberem! │ If
only I were not writing truthfully!
Utinam rēx Eumenēs, utinam Asiae omnēs cīvitātēs
adessent (Livy) │ If only King Eumenes, if only all the
cities of Asia were present.
From Plautus:
Homō
hic ēbrius est, ut opīnor. │ The man is drunk, I do believe
Utinam
ita essem. │ I wish I was [ = literally: If only I were (now)]
Utinam
lēx esset eadem quae uxōrī est virō │ Would that the law were
the same for the woman as it is for the man / If only the law were / would
be the same for the wife as for the husband.
From Cicero:
Utinam meō sōlum
capite dēcernerem (Cicero) │ Literally: If only I were deciding with my
head alone = Would that I had only to decide for myself
Utinam ulcisci possem
(Cicero) │ I wish I could take my revenge
Iterum dīcō
“utinam adessēs” (Cicero) │ I repeat, I wish you were here [ = if
only you were here].
Quod utinam
ita esset! (Cicero) │ And if only that were true / so
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