statiō ferriviāria | the train station
[A]
Diāna
Salvē! Velim comparāre tesseram itinerāriam prīmae classis. |
Hello! I’d like to buy a first-class ticket.
Tesserārius | ticket agent / seller
Quō, quaesō? | Where to, please?
Diāna
In Californiam. | To California.
Tesserārius
Vīsne tesseram unīus cursūs an tesseram itūs reditūsque? | Do you
want a one-way ticket or a round-trip ticket?
Diāna
Tesseram itūs reditūsque. Quotā hōrā trāmen meum abscēdit?
| A round-trip ticket. At what time does the train depart?
Tesserārius
Hōrā ūndecimā. | At eleven o’clock.
Diāna
Ā quotā crepīdine trāmen abscēdit? | From which platform
does the train depart?
Tesserārius
Ā crepīdine quārtā, in orbitā decimā. | From platform 4,
on track 10.
Diāna
Estne trāmen dīrēctum? | Is it a through train?
Tesserārius
Minimē. Mūtābis trāmina in statiōne Chicāgiēnsī. | No. You will
change trains at the Chicago station.
____________________
[1] tessera, -ae [1/f]: (NL) ticket; (CL) [i] square, cube; [ii] die (also
six-sided and numbered for a dice game); [iii] ticket, voucher
Apart from the noun being used in playing games / gambling,
two terms, both attested in CL, refer to the noun specifically as either a
ticket or some form of voucher:
- tessera frūmentāria / nummāria: “a voucher or ticket given upon certain occasions by the magistrates to the poor, in exchange for which they received the quantities of bread, corn, wine, and oil, or sums of money inscribed upon it” (Thurston Peck)
- tessera theātrālis: “A ticket of admission to the theatre, or other place of public amusement … entitling the holder to a place at the representation. On it were inscribed the number of the seat, the division and row in which it was situated, and in some cases the title of the play performed.” (Thurston Peck)
[2] tessera itinerāria < itinerārius, -a, -um:
relating to a journey; the adjective makes it clear that a travel ticket is
being referred to
- itinerārium, -ī [2/n]: journey (rare: far more common is iter, itineris [3/n])
[3] tessera unīus cursūs: (NL) one way ticket; (CL) cursus, -ūs [4/m]: [i] running; [ii]
(here) way; journey; voyage
[4] tessera itūs reditūsque: (NL) return ticket, but
reflects how some other languages express a similar idea e.g. Fr. aller-retour;
Gmn. hin und zurück; Russ. tuda i obratno (туда и обратно), all
of which convey going there and coming back
- itus, -ūs [4/m]: going; departure
- reditus, -ūs [4/m]: return
[5] tessera prīmae / secundae classis: (NL) first /
second class ticket; (CL) classis, -is [3/f]: [i] group, rank, class; [ii]
fleet (of ships)
[6] tesserārius, -ī [2/m]: (NL) ticket seller; (CL)
[i] dice-player; [ii] the person who receives the “watchword” from the
commander
- tessera mīlitāris: A note / written order, with the ‘password’ which was often inscribed on a wooden tablet and given out by the officers to their soldiers, in order to distinguish friends from foes. It was also used to issue the the commander’s orders to different divisions of an army.
[7] statiō, -ōnis [3/f] ferriviāria [or: statiō
ferrātae viae]: (NL) railway station
The adjective ferriviārius, -a, -um is
a Neo-Latin coinage from ferrum, -ī [2/n]: iron + via, -ae
[1/f]: way; road, specifically referring to railways. The word is aligned with
certain other European languages that combine the terms ‘iron’ + ‘way’
e.g. Fr. chemin de fer; Gmn; Eisenbahn; Russ. zheleznaya
doroga (железная дорога), all three italicised words meaning ‘iron’ and all
three expressions literally meaning iron way or track. See also: via ferrāta
(below).
- tessera ferriviāria: (NL) railway ticket
[8] trāmen, trāminis [3/n]: (NL) train < trahō,
-ere [drag] + -men, the suffix used to describe the means by which
the action is performed; Engl. and Fr. train < Fr. traîner [drag]
trāmen directum: (NL) a direct train
trāmen ferriviārium: (NL) railway train
- also: hamaxostichus, -ī [2/m]: (NL) train; < Anc. Gk. ἅμαξα [hámaxa, “wagon”] + στίχος [stíkhos, “a row or file (of soldiers)” or “a line (of poetry)”]
Three nice examples of hamaxostichus in texts using
Neo-Latin:
(1) hamaxostichus, benzīnī exceptōria vehēns, exorbitāvit,
quod via ferrāta, magnīs pluviīs mollīta, cōnsēderat | a train carrying
tankers of gasoline derailed because the iron track, softened by
heavy rains, had subsided.
(2) nōnne hamaxostichus
Birminghamiēnsis advēnit? | Surely the Birmingham train has
arrived?
(3) dum loquitur ululātū māchinae vectōriae iuxtā crepīdinem
īnstrūctae sublātō hamaxostichus movēbātur | As she spoke, an engine standing
at a platform gave a loud wail, and the train began to move.
- via ferrāta: literally, a road covered with iron = railway
https://neolatinlexicon.org/latin/railroad_railway/
- exorbitō, -āre [1/f]: go off track; deviate
- māchina, -ae [1/f] vectōria: (NL) locomotive; (train) engine
- vectōrius, -a, -um: related to transport / carrying; tessera vectōria: an alternative Neo-Latin term for any form of travel ticket
https://neolatinlexicon.org/latin/locomotive/
[9] orbita, -ae [1/f]: (CL) a track or rut
made in the ground by a wheel; (NL) railway track
https://neolatinlexicon.org/latin/platform_track_in_train_station/
[10] crepīdō, -inis [3/f]: (NL) platform (in a train
station); (CL) [i] raised causeway, sidewalk; [ii] edge, embankment
Grammar Note
Quotā hōrā … / Ā quotā crepīdine … trāmen meum abscedit? | At what time /
from which platform does my train leave?
quot? (indeclinable): how many?; the question invites
a cardinal number and expects a plural answer:
Quot librōs habēs? | How many books do you have?
quotus, -a, -um? is used when a number as part of a
sequence is expected as the answer; English has no specific equivalent. The
closest English can come is in constructions such as: “What place did
you come in the race?”
The question quotā hōrā? is referring
to the Roman system of telling the time where the answers were given as ordinal
numbers:
Hōrā ūndecimā. | At eleven o’clock [literally: at the
eleventh hour]
Similarly, both questions below expect an answer in the form
of an ordinal number:
Quotus imperātor Nerō fuit? | Which
emperor was Nero? [i.e. was he the first, second etc?]
Quīntus. | the fifth
Ā quotā crepīdine …? | From which platform
[i.e. from the first, second etc?]
Ā crepīdine quartā | from platform four [literally: from the fourth platform]
