X-Message-Number: 17157 Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 02:22:44 -0700 From: Kennita Watson <> Subject: Re: Avoiding death in Latin References: <> > From: Eivind Berge <> > > 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). Thanks for the analysis -- my Latin is pretty old. I came up with "evite mortem" as a back-construction from "carpe diem"; Is it "evita" because the verbs are different conjugations? -- May you live long and prosper, Kennita -- Kennita Watson | Way Cool Internet Radio: http://www.live365.com | http://www.kennita.com | I eschew arthropods -- so don't bug me! Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=17157