Reference list: each of the correlatives will be covered in depth with explanations and examples in this and the subsequent posts:
Reference list:
[i] et … et … | both … and …
[ii] aut … aut … | either … or …
[iii] vel … vel … | either … or …
[iv] nec (neque) … nec (neque) … | neither … nor …
[v] nōn sōlum / tantum / modo … sed etiam … | not only … but also …
[vi] modo … modo … | now … now …; at one moment …. at
another (moment) …
[vii] sīve (seu) … sīve (seu) … | whether … or …
[viii] (nōn) tam … quam … | (not) as / so … as …
[ix] tot … quot … | as many … as …
[x] tantum … quantum … | as much … as …
[xi] totiē(n)s … quotiē(n)s … | as often … as …
[xii] eō … quō … | the more … the more …
[xiii] tantō … quantō … | the more … the more …
[xiv] tālis … quālis … | of such a sort … as …
Introduction
[1]
He is both honest …
She is either Italian …
They are neither on holiday …
The three statements above give ‘half the story’; both,
either, and neither signal that there is a second part to the
sentence which is related to the first and completes the entire statement.
He is (1) both honest (2) and kind.
She is (1) either Italian (2) or Spanish.
They are (1) neither on holiday (2) nor at home.
[2]
both … and…
either … or …
neither … nor …
These are known as correlatives and are used to form correlative
pairs i.e. two related statements.
[3] Latin uses correlatives in the same way, but note the
following general remarks:
(1) Correlatives may be formed with identical words, for
example:
et … et …
modo … modo …
(2) They may be formed with different words, for example:
nōn sōlum … sed etiam …
totiēns … quotiēns …
(3) They may reverse the order of the two parts, for example:
eō … quō [or: quō … eō]
tantō … quantō [or: quantō … tantō …]
(4) These posts deal with the most commonly occurring
correlatives although Roman authors may at times use different combinations.
(5) It is important to note that dictionary translations of
correlatives do not always neatly adapt to English renderings of the
original Latin text; flexibility and creativity may be needed to convey the
idea of the Latin correlative in a fluent way.
In this post we will focus on:
[i] et … et …
[ii] aut … aut …
[iii] vel … vel …
[iv] nec (neque) … nec (neque) …
et: and
aut / vel: or
nec (neque): and not / nor
As individual words, they have their own meanings. We look
here at how the meaning changes when they are used in pairs:
[i] et … et … | both … and …
mihi enim perspecta est et ingenuitās et magnitūdō
animī tuī (Cicero)
- For I have clearly perceived both your integrity and the greatness of your spirit.
quod ad mē dē rē pūblicā scrībis, disputās tū quidem et amanter
et prūdenter (Cicero)
- As for what you write to me about the state, you argue both affectionately and wisely.
[ii] aut … aut … | either … or …
nōn dubitābam, quīn tē ille aut Dyrrachī aut in
istīs locīs uspiam vīsūrus esset (Cicero)
- I had no doubt that he would see you either at Dyrrachium or somewhere in those places.
nam ad mē … maximē pertinet nēminem esse meōrum, quī aut tē
nōn amet aut abs tē nōn amētur (Cicero)
- For it concerns me very much that there is no one of my people who either does not love you or is not loved by you.
[iii] vel … vel … | either … or …
fuit omnīnō difficile nōn obsequī vel amīcissimō hominī
Lentulō, vel Metellō (Cicero)
- It was altogether difficult not to comply either with the very friendly man Lentulus or with Metellus.
nusquam facilius hanc miserrimam vītam vel sustentābō vel,
quod multō est melius, abiēcerō (Cicero)
- Nowhere will I more easily either endure this most wretched life or — what is much better — cast it off.
[iv] nec (neque) … nec (neque) … | neither … nor …
nec mihi cōnsilium nec
cōnsōlātiō dēesset (Cicero)
- I would lack neither counsel nor consolation
atque in eō neque auctōritāte neque grātiā
pugnat (Cicero)
- and in that matter he fights with neither authority nor influence
neque mē tibi neque quemquam
antepōnō (Cicero)
- I place neither myself nor anybody else before you
The following example contains an emphatic double negative:
nam cētera nōn possunt habēre eandem neque vim neque
venustātem (Cicero)
[Lit: *cannot have … neither … nor …*]
In English such a construction has to be reworked so that one
of the negative expressions is cancelled out and becomes positive:
- For the other things cannot have either the same force or charm.
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