What am I?

[Trethiwr]

This isn't for me, but it sort of is now because my curiosity is piqued.
A friend on Facebook had used ... g***le and was given the result "Quld?"
As he explained, to clarify, that is a single word "Q U L D"
He was more interested to know if QULD was even a word than his original translation.
I confess, I am curious too.

I would also like to know what the right translation of the phrase is because most seem to be suggested "Quid sum" but I can't help thinking that isn't right, although I haven't the faintest idea why.

 

[Pacifica]

Quid sum? is correct.

Quld isn't a Latin word, but it's obviously a typo for quid, meaning "what".

 

[Trethiwr]

Quid sum? is correct.

Quld isn't a Latin word, but it's obviously a typo for quid, meaning "what".

Yep, we all pretty much thought, for sure, quld is not a word in Latin, or indeed any language.
I realise my ignorance of Latin is quite profound but I sort of assumed "quid sum" would be more naturally "what I am?"
(following Cogito ergo sum - I think therefore I am.)
Of course word order in English is word order in English.
I just thought there would be some inflection in Latin to clarify the meaning intended?

 

[Pacifica]

No, sum can just translate to "I am" or "am I" as required by the context. If it's in a declarative sentence as in cogito ergo sum, it will (most of the time) be "I am", and if it's in a direct question, it will be "am I" to conform to English rules, but the Latin word sum doesn't change.

 

[Pacifica]

However, "what I am" would translate differently anyway — it can basically translate two different ways depending on context — but this would be long to explain.