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: 13th 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.
