More help with Latin please

AlexBell · 08-28-2016, 06:16 AM

I'm struggling to do an annotated version of Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo for the MobileRead library. The annotations are mostly translations from Latin.

In Book Four Chapter Five there is the phrase 'the medical meetings at the stoup of Notre-Dame, ad cupam Nostroe Dominoe;...'

Searching Google et al gives variations 'on whiskey of Our Lady' for the Latin above, which makes no sense at all to me.

The source text is riddled with typos, so it's possible that the Latin might be 'ad culpam Nostrae Dominae' or some variation on that, but I can't find a translation which makes any sense.

Can anyone help, or point me to where I can find out what I should put as a translation?

HarryT · 08-28-2016, 06:50 AM

That seems fairly straightforward. A better translation from the French would be:

Quote:

in the congregations of physicians at the holy water font of Notre-Dame, ad cupam Nostroe-Dominoe.

Firstly, this is mediaeval Latin, not classical Latin, hence the strangeness.

The word "cupa" means "barrel" or "butt" (hence the English word "cooper" to mean someone who makes barrels) and is clearly referring to the "holy water font" mentioned previously.

"Nostroe-Dominoe" is a common mediaeval Latin construction where the possessive genitive is replaced by an ablative ending. Hence "of Our Lord" (not "Lady"!).

So I'd translate it as "to the font of Our Lord".

Canuck_in_Japan · 08-28-2016, 09:51 AM

That was awesome, Harry!

AlexBell · 08-28-2016, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

That seems fairly straightforward. A better translation from the French would be:

Firstly, this is mediaeval Latin, not classical Latin, hence the strangeness.

The word "cupa" means "barrel" or "butt" (hence the English word "cooper" to mean someone who makes barrels) and is clearly referring to the "holy water font" mentioned previously.

"Nostroe-Dominoe" is a common mediaeval Latin construction where the possessive genitive is replaced by an ablative ending. Hence "of Our Lord" (not "Lady"!).

So I'd translate it as "to the font of Our Lord".

Thanks so much, Harry, that makes a lot of sense.

08-28-2016, 06:16 AM	#1
AlexBell Wizard Posts: 3,413 Karma: 13369310 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Launceston, Tasmania Device: Sony PRS T3, Kobo Glo, Kindle Touch, iPad, Samsung SB 2 tablet	More help with Latin please I'm struggling to do an annotated version of Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo for the MobileRead library. The annotations are mostly translations from Latin. In Book Four Chapter Five there is the phrase 'the medical meetings at the stoup of Notre-Dame, ad cupam Nostroe Dominoe;...' Searching Google et al gives variations 'on whiskey of Our Lady' for the Latin above, which makes no sense at all to me. The source text is riddled with typos, so it's possible that the Latin might be 'ad culpam Nostrae Dominae' or some variation on that, but I can't find a translation which makes any sense. Can anyone help, or point me to where I can find out what I should put as a translation?

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08-28-2016, 09:51 AM	#3
Canuck_in_Japan Wizard Posts: 1,476 Karma: 14328611 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tokyo, Japan Device: Aura, Aura H2O, Kindle PW3	That was awesome, Harry!

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