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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Avoiding ambiguity in Latin
In Latin, if one wished to write ' they set free the slaves because they feared the gods', how would one distinguish between both 'theys'? How does one express 'because they feared the gods' if it is (a) those who are doing the setting free are also fearing the gods and (b) the slaves (the object of the first clause) who are fearing the gods in the second clause?
Help would be appreciated!
Help would be appreciated!
Top answer
Hi, You need a Latin Forum, not an English Forum. Can you write these two ideas unambiguously in English? Clive
- Hi, You need a Latin Forum, not an English Forum.
- Can you write these two ideas unambiguously in English?
- Clive
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2 Answers
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Even in English, it is ambiguous whether the second "they" refers to the first "they" or the "slaves".
The easiest way would be to explicitly mention the subject of the causal clause. quod/quia + indicative is for a cause the author knows is a fact, while the subjunctive is used for a cause according to others. You could also alter the word order to the causal clause in front:
"
The easiest way would be to explicitly mention the subject of the causal clause. quod/quia + indicative is for a cause the author knows is a fact, while the subjunctive is used for a cause according to others. You could also alter the word order to the causal clause in front:
"
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