Axiomata XII Nostra Ad Latinitatem Intellegendam
| Axioma I | Latin is a Language and Latin authors communicate in Latin — or TRoDiKE (The Romans Didn’t Know English)
Every Latin sentence carries a Message. The Message is not conveyed by just the grammar and vocabulary of the sentence: it also depends on the context around the sentence, the choice of words in the sentence, and their placement. The Message is the master served by the grammar and vocabulary (not vice versa). Cave laqueum! (TRAP WARNING) A Latin sentence cannot be encoded English words in a mixed-up order. TRoDiKE! Writing English words above a sequence of Latin words is not reading Latin. TRoDiKE! |
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| Axioma II | To understand the Message, we must always read Latin from left to right.
Every new sentence or passage should be read through completely in the order Latin expects — from left to right — several times if necessary, so as to see all its words in context. Recognize the way in which the sentence is structured — its main clause(s), subordinate clauses and phrases. Read them in sequence — from left to right — to achieve this recognition and reread the sentence as often as necessary, until you grasp its structure and Message. |
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| Axioma III | The ending of a word is important and signals the role it plays in its clause.
As you read, register mentally the ending of every word so as to recognize how the words in the sentence relate to one another. You might engage in pre-reading by marking your text with symbols that illustrate structure and guide you towards the Message. |
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| Axioma IV | Every word is a *signpost* for the meaning of other words.
Every word creates expectations for other words and satisfies or closes off expectations created by the words around it. If you reread a sentence you will have more sense of these expectations and possibilities, which will help you recalibrate your understanding of the Message. Cave laqueum! Never begin by searching for an English meaning for each separate Latin word, as though accumulating separate words in English will eventually produce the Message of the Latin sentence. This method mistakes Latin communication as encrypted English. TRoDiKE! |
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| Axioma V | Word-Groups can be as important to Message as individual words.
Phrases, subordinate clauses, and main clauses are all Word-Groups. The order of words within a Latin Word-Group is always purposeful. Always. The order of Word-Groups in a sentence is also always purposeful. Always. The arrangement of Word-Groups in a sentence is crucial to the Message. You can learn to recognize how the patterns of word order in Word-Groups are fundamental to the full Message of the sentence. This is how Romans sight-read Latin. (It is also how we sight-read English…and eventually Latin too!). |
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| Axioma VI | Two Word-Groups are never indiscriminately mixed.
A Word-Group (or phrase or clause), once begun, must be syntactically completed before the writer can continue with the rest of the sentence. [This statement illustrated this] For the same reason, a sentence must be grammatically completed before the next one can start. If ever one main clause embraces a second, the embraced clause has to be an aside or parenthetical. In prose, the only exception to the integrity of Word-Groups is when one Word-Group ‘embraces’ another one. But embracing Word-Groups are not really an exception to the axiom because the content of an ‘embraced’ Word-Group is part of the Message of the embracing Word-Group. A subordinate clause can ‘embrace’ a phrase: ut Romam multis post annis iterum videret A phrase can ‘embrace’ a subordinate clause: urbe, postquam Remus interfectus erat, condita |
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| Axioma VII | Latin style favors balance and economy.
In general, Latin favors the balanced construction of Word-Groups, clauses, and sentences. If you spy two nouns and two adjectives in a clause, there is a good chance that you have two balanced pairs (not 3/1). Latin also avoids wasting time with words that add little to the Message of a thought, even if it is a word as syntactically important as the subject or the main verb, especially if the superfluous word was just mentioned or is self-evident from the other signs. |
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| Axioma VIII | A Word-Group diminishes in emphasis left to right.
Every word group necessarily begins with a prominent or syntactically crucial word and usually ends with another prominant word. In between, words and Word-Groups appear in decreasing order of emphasis or importance but all the words in between contribute to the overall Message, including those forming an embraced or dependent Word-Group. |
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| Axioma IX | In analytical and descriptive sentences the order of phrases and clauses serves the Message or emphasis.
The sequence of thought is signposted by the placement of Word-Groups and key words. |
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| Axioma X | In narrative sentences semantic units usually follow the order in which they occurred.
Vēnī Vīdī Vīcī! |
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| Axioma XI | Violating norms can create poetic or rhetorical effects.
In poetry it is common to interlock two Word-Groups (but not more than two). This is known as synchysis and often appears as adjective.A adjective.B noun.A noun.B (perhaps with a verb in betwixt). |
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| Axioma XII | We can only translate a thought understood, not a word or Word-Group read.
Translation is not the first step towards understanding. If translating, do so only when you have read and reread the sentence, striving to the best of your ability to understand how the entire sentence works and what it means through the process of reading. |
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