French: Marquez: Madame Ivette est morte cette nuit

[gerases]

Found this in a story by Marquez: "Madame Ivette est morte cette nuit." Can't quite figure this one out.

 

[Matthaeus]

Re: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Well, this isn't even Latin, but French, meaning "Miss Ivette has died tonight."

 

[gerases]

Re: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Well, this isn't even Latin, but French, meaning "Miss Ivette has died tonight."

That's pretty funny! :roll: Here's the whole paragraph leading to that phrase. You'll understand my confusion:

... The rector had given him permission to make use of his private library and he often stayed for hours and hours (especially on Sundays) absorbed in the reading of some yellowed books smelling of old, wood, with annotations in Latin in the tiny, angular scrawl of the rector. One Sunday, after he had been reading for the whole day, the rector entered the room and rushed, shocked, to pick up a card which evidently had fallen from the pages of the book he was reading. He observed his superior's confusion with discreet indifference, but he managed to read the card. There was only one sentence, written in purple ink in a clean, straightforward hand: Madame Ivette est morte cette nuit.

It's good you know French!

 

[Iohannes Aurum]

Re: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Close enough. The OP confused French with Latin. This may be because French was derived from Latin.

 

[Matthaeus]

Re: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Close enough. The OP confused French with Latin. This may be because French was derived from Latin.

Yeah, thanks for the clarification. I hadn't figured that out yet.

 

[Bitmap]

Re: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

 

[Chamaeleo]

Re: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

To me, it’s weird to speak of English, French and Latin in the context of García Márquez, and not mention a word of Spanish! To make amends, here is the actual passage in question:

El rector lo había autorizado para hacer uso de su biblioteca particular y él permanecía durante horas y horas (especialmente los domingos) sumergido en la lectura de unos libros amarillos, olorosos a madera envejecida, y con anotaciones en latín hechas con los garabatos minúsculos y erizados del rector. Un domingo, después de que había leído durante todo el día, entró el rector a la habitación y se apresuró, azorado, a recoger una tarjeta que evidentemente se había caído de entre las páginas del libro que él leía. Presenció la ofuscación de su superior con discreta indiferencia, pero alcanzó a leer la tarjeta. Sólo había una frase, escrita a tinta morada con letra nítida y recta: Madame Ivette est morte cette nuit.

Close enough. The OP confused French with Latin. This may be because French was derived from Latin.

Well, it’s more because the text says there were notes in Latin.

Well, this isn't even Latin, but French, meaning "Miss Ivette has died tonight."

It can also be ‘Miss Ivette died that night’. French is fuzzy with its demonstratives.