X-Message-Number: 17145 Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 21:24:10 -0500 (CDT) From: Eivind Berge <> Subject: Avoiding death in Latin Kennita Watson asks: > Would the proper [Latin] translation of "Avoid death." be "Evit > mortem.", "Evite mortem.", or something else? You are right to make "mortem" accusative, since it is the direct object, but the verb is wrong. Singular present active imperative of "evito," a verb of the first conjugation, is identical to the present stem, and the plural is formed by adding -te to this. So the imperative would be "evita mortem" (singular) or "evitate mortem" (plural; used when addressing more than one person). However, it might be more proper to use the subjunctive mood here, thus expressing the wish that people avoid or shun death, rather than giving them an order. Present subjunctive of first conjugation verbs is formed by changing the stem vowel from -a- to -e-, followed by the usual indicative personal endings: evites mortem = may you avoid/shun death evitetis morem = may y'all avoid death evitet mortem = may he/she/it avoid death evitemus mortem = let us shun death evitem mortem = let me avoid death evitent mortem = let them avoid death This is known as the "jussive" (or "hortatory") subjunctive, which is one of the few cases where the subjunctive is employed in an independent clause rather than a subordinate clause. It is rarely used in the second person, however, so the imperative might not be so inappropriate there after all. And speaking of immortalist quotes in Latin, here's one by Horace: "non omnis moriar" = I shall not altogether die If you on the other hand are a deathist, here's one for you by Petronius: "abiit ad plures" = he's gone to join the majority This isn't Latin, but too cute to leave out. It turns out John Donne was a cryonicist: "One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; Death thou shalt die." Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=17145