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Re: Bestiarum Latin names translated
Posted By: gortex: devouerer of nooblets <gamerxxdudexx@aim.com>	Date: 2/26/08 7:38 p.m.
In Response To: Bestiarum Latin names translated (Fëanor) : Hey, folks. I did a little snooping earlier tonight on HBO and Bnet's forums, : as well as Google, and found that no decent effort had been made to : translate the Latin names of Halo's species as given in the Bestiarum -- : some poor, half-arsed ones (usually via online translator) were all I : could find. So, I've undertaken the task myself -- and here are the : results. Let me know what you think! : Bestiarum (Of Animals) : Brute - Servus Ferox (Wild slave) : This translation assumes that the Bestiarum transcribes the Jiralhanae's raw, : unbridled, martial sensibilities somewhat condescendingly -- an idea : backed up by its approval of the humans dubbing them 'Brutes', and the : unambiguously derogatory appellations it bestows on a couple of the other : species. Were the Bestiari tone more approbative, it might be rendered : 'Ferocious Servant', or similar; but that doesn't seem to be the case. : Drone - Turpis Rex (Ugly king) : The least interesting one. Pretty straightforward, though seemingly a bit off : grammatically -- had it been up to me, a more pleasing rendering would : have been 'Regis Turpis' (King of ugly). That's got a vervacious ring to : it, no? : Elite - Macto Cognatus (I honor my father's blood) : Not exactly a proper appellation, but there's little doubt as to the meaning. : Very cool -- my personal favorite. : Engineer - Facticius Indoles (Artificial nature) : I think there was a mix up on this one, because it doesn't really make sense. : The instantly obvious blunder is that the gender of the noun and adjective : disagree ('Indoles' is feminine). But even looking past that, it doesn't : come together for me. Were the grammatical i's and t's dotted and crossed, : the Latin would still read 'Artificial Nature' (as in 'Man-made Innate : Disposition'). I'd guess that they wanted to say something more like : 'Dextra ad Indoles', or 'Dexter Naturaliter' (Dexterous by nature). : Flood [Pure Form] - Inferi Redivivus (The renovated dead) : Some excellent diction here. 'Redivivus' very specifically refers to old : building materials that had been re-used in assembling something else. : Whether you take this to mean the host body being re-used as a prefab home : for the parasite, or as one small brick in the massive edifice that is the : Flood's collective conciousness -- it's very apposite. : Flood [Gravemind] - Inferi Sententia (The dead -- way of thinking) : Bungie's guilty of shoddy linguistics on this one. It doesn't make sense to : me, anyway -- two nouns in the nominative case. The literal English : translation seems to make sense, but that's incidental. The Latin doesn't. : The proper Latin to express what the English seems to want to would be : 'Inferorum Sententia' (The dead's way of thinking). : Grunt - Monachus Frigus (Cold monk) : I don't quite get this one. 'Frigus' is obvious -- Balaho is a cold place. : But 'Monachus'? I can't say for sure. The only parallels the Bestiari : description offers are the organizational attributes of 'Tribal' and : 'Pack' (implying communal living) and -- this one's a bit of a stretch -- : language. Monks in the ancient world were often linguists, and the Grunts : are said to have an affinity for such things. But their society is : matriarchal, and they're sure as heck not celibate. Anybody have better : ideas on this one? : Hunter - Ophis Congregatio (Serpent union) : Interesting wrinkle on this one -- 'Ophis' is Greek, not Latin. Maybe : intentional, maybe an oopsie -- we'll never know. Regardless, it describes : pretty accurately what's going on under that armor. : Jackal - Perosus Latrunculus (Hated little bandit) : Previous self-styled translators have failed to notice the diminutive form of : 'Latrunculus', apparently being unfamiliar with the root 'latro'. It's : fitting for its derisive connotation, as well as its factual description : -- despite its attitude, the Jackal just barely tops 5 feet and 100 : pounds. : Prophet - Perfidia Vermis (Worm of treachery) : No bones about this one. It doesn't make sense at all unless 'Vermis' is in : the genitive case (as opposed to the identical nominative) -- and given : that, there's no doubt of the exact rendering here. Obviously it's quite : fitting. : Reclaimer - Homo Sapiens Augeous (Wise man -- ?) : Another snafu. 'Augeous' is not a proper Latin word, as far as I'm aware. : Seemingly they were wanting to take off on 'Augeo' (to grow, increase), : but I'm not aware of any conjugation that would render it '-ous'. My best : guess is that it's supposed to mean something like 'Enlarged human' -- in : which case it would best read 'Homo Sapiens Auctus', making use of the : comparative participle. : Well, there it is. I'll qualify all of it heavily by saying that I'm no : expert, just a lover of the language -- and if any other, more competent : Latinists want to add or detract anything, they're more than welcome to do : so. not ccriticizing, but i didn't quite understand some of that.

Message Index

Bestiarum Latin names translated	Fëanor	2/24/08 4:18 a.m.
Cool.	BlueNinja	2/24/08 4:56 a.m.
Re: Cool.	Fëanor	2/24/08 5:18 a.m.
Re: Cool.	SinisterSamurai	2/24/08 3:54 p.m.
Corrections	Fëanor	2/24/08 5:40 a.m.
Bookmarked	scarab	2/24/08 5:42 a.m.
Re: Bookmarked	Fëanor	2/24/08 5:52 a.m.
Seals	j41m3z	2/24/08 11:29 a.m.
Re: Bookmarked	Siber	2/24/08 2:30 p.m.
Re: Bookmarked	Fëanor	2/24/08 5:56 p.m.
Another Possible Correction	Fëanor	2/24/08 6:08 a.m.
Wait Engineers were 'made'? *NM*	spu7n1k	2/24/08 6:29 a.m.
Yeah.	BlueNinja	2/24/08 6:33 a.m.
Re: Yeah.	ActiveCamoElite	2/24/08 8:14 a.m.
Re: Yeah.	BlueNinja	2/24/08 8:47 a.m.
Re: Wait Engineers were 'made'?	Stephen L. (SoundEffect)	2/24/08 11:24 a.m.
I am a monument to all your sins.	scarab	2/24/08 10:19 a.m.
Re: I am a monument to all your sins.	Fëanor	2/24/08 10:35 a.m.
Re: I am a monument to all your sins.	scarab	2/24/08 11:37 a.m.
Re: I am a monument to all your sins.	elpolloguapo	2/24/08 11:41 a.m.
Re: I am a monument to all your sins.	scarab	2/24/08 12:36 p.m.
Re: Another Possible Correction	Fëanor	2/24/08 6:24 p.m.
Re: Bestiarum Latin names translated	elpolloguapo	2/24/08 9:19 a.m.
Yeh its not following the Linnean System *NM*	scarab	2/24/08 10:22 a.m.
Updated and abbreviated list, errors amended	Fëanor	2/24/08 6:49 p.m.
Re: Updated and abbreviated list, errors amended	Stephen L. (SoundEffect)	2/24/08 9:11 p.m.
Re: Updated and abbreviated list, errors amended	Fëanor	2/24/08 10:28 p.m.
Re: Bestiarum Latin names translated	Schedonnardus	2/25/08 8:52 a.m.
Re: Bestiarum Latin names translated	Fëanor	2/25/08 9:24 p.m.
Re: Bestiarum Latin names translated	Sep7imus [subnova]	2/25/08 10:34 p.m.
Re: Bestiarum Latin names translated	Fëanor	2/27/08 11:36 a.m.
Re: Bestiarum Latin names translated	Louis Wu	2/26/08 7:45 a.m.
Re: Bestiarum Latin names translated	yakaman	2/26/08 12:27 p.m.
Hostes aliengeni me abduxerent. Qui annus est? *NM*	Anton P. Nym (aka Steve)	2/26/08 12:44 p.m.
Re: Hostes aliengeni me abduxerent. Qui annus est?	Fëanor	2/27/08 11:37 a.m.
Re: Bestiarum Latin names translated	Fëanor	2/27/08 11:36 a.m.
Re: Bestiarum Latin names translated	xMixMasterx	2/26/08 9:54 a.m.
Re: Bestiarum Latin names translated	vlad3163	2/25/08 11:27 a.m.
Re: Bestiarum Latin names translated	gortex: devouerer of nooblets	2/26/08 7:38 p.m.
Re: Bestiarum Latin names translated	elpolloguapo	2/26/08 10:00 p.m.