Re: MR: Latin pigs

[Stephanie Malone Thorson <smt2@st-andrews.ac.uk>]

Poster: Stephanie Malone Thorson <smt2@st-andrews.ac.uk>

Says Alanna:

> Gentle Nobles:
> 
> In recent postings, the esteemed Baron Storvik has ended his missives thusly:
> 
> >===============================================================================
> >   Corun MacAnndra   | Porcellus fori; Porcellus domi; Porcellus carnivorus;
> > Dark Horde by birth |    Porcellus non voratus; Porcellus plorans domum.
> >   Moritu by choice  |  				Mater Goose
> >
> >=======================================================================
> 
> Fellow scholars, I will admit that my study of Latin was many years ago in a
> far kingdom, but it seems to me that an error has gone overlooked in the
> above verse.  Should not the final 'Porcellus' be in fact 'Porcellissimus'?

Only if that last piggie is the littlest pig of all.  Yes, I know the last
toe is the smallest, but the verse I know says only that all piggies are
little, and does not assign any special smallness to the last.  I think
one could also argue that "porcellissimus" will not scan, either - not
that the rest of it does very well, but maintaining the final "porcellus"
lends a certain balance to the whole thing. 

In my own defence, the translation above is not my own, but was submitted
by another (in a moment of extreme sillyness) to a professional list I
read.  In its defence, it was not proffered as a nursery rhyme, but as a
proposed set of Latin names for the toes (as there are Latin names for all
the fingers).  I forwarded it to Corun for his amusement and he put it in
his .sig.  And that, my friends, is the whole sordid story. 

--Alianora
(who spent the morning in the Patrologia Latina and is tired)
*****************************************************************************
Stephanie M. Thorson			*  SCA: Lady Alianora Munro
University of St Andrews		*  
St Andrews, Scotland			*  Clan White Wing
email smt2@st-andrews.ac.uk		*  Tarkhan, Khanate Red Lion
*****************************************************************************

=======================================================================
List Archives, FAQ, FTP:  http://sca.wayfarer.org/merryrose/
            Submissions:  atlantia@atlantia.sca.org
        Admin. requests:  majordomo@atlantia.sca.org