Quid sum? (What am I?) Latin writing game

[KarlaUK]

Cogitare te puto de quodam fluvio Columbiano cui nomen datum est Caño Cristales (Britannice: Crystal Channel). Qui fluit per Montes Macarenenses qui Hispanice Serrania de la Macarena appellantur.

Correct, Agrippa.
I struggled with words for the new world (else I would have used the word for Columbia) and also constructions I wished to use. Two of the sentences are often used in riddles for rivers so I thought they were pretty obvious. I find riddles hard myself but didn't want to make it too simple for the experts.

Over to you!

 

[Bitmap]

Are you interested in corrections of your Latin?

 

[KarlaUK]

Are you interested in corrections of your Latin?

Oh yes! Please

 

[Bitmap]

I'll invoke @Pacifica

 

[Agrippa]

Over to you!

Well, I'll do my very best:

Sum verbum Latinum trium litterarum, sed significo duas res inter se diversas: quarum una generis humani societas firmatur, altera corpus humanum vescitur.

Quod verbum?

 

[Pacifica]

I'll invoke @Pacifica

You offer to provide corrections and then you summon someone else to do the job?

Saepe currēbam sed numquam ambulābam.

Now that I know the answer, I wonder why you used a past tense here. Doesn't it still apply to the present?

Populus rōmānus mē ignārus fuit

Me ignarus doesn't make sense. Should be mei ignarus.

Fāma sum et bellus.

Fama sum doesn't make much sense to me. "I am reputation/fame"? Didn't you rather mean something like famosus/clarus/nobilis sum, "I am famous"?

Prō eā multi mē vidēre ventitant.

I guess ea refers to fama but since the previous sentence didn't make sense maybe you'd have to change this as well.

Me videre ventitant is a somewhat unusual construction but you haven't yet learned the forms necessary to put it in a more usual way. It isn't exactly wrong, anyway, so it's good enough at this stage.

Ōs habeō sed nōn dicō numquam.

The second part here is a little odd. Did you mean "I never speak"? If so, the non is redundant, since numquam, meaning "never", already contains a negation. Also dicere isn't the best translation for "to speak", in general, but the right verb (loqui) belongs to a kind of verb you haven't learned about yet, so...

ā incolīs

Before vowels and H, the form is always ab, never a.

incolīs suī patriae

This doesn't make any grammatical sense and I'm not sure what you wanted to say. Maybe "the inhabitants of my country", incolis meae patriae?

vocor liquidum arcum

*liquidus arcus

This is not a direct object, but a predicative complement similar to what you've got with the verb sum.

Sum in americae austrālis.

Wrong case. It should be in the ablative, America Australi.

Parvus est

What are you talking about here? What is small? Did you mean sum?

aliōs mei similes in europā sunt.

Alios is in the wrong case. Should be nominative as the subject of sunt.

 

[Pacifica]

Well, I'll do my very best:

Sum verbum Latinum trium litterarum, sed significo duas res inter se diversas: quarum una generis humani societas firmatur, altera corpus humanum vescitur.

Quod verbum?

Ius te oportet esse.

 

[Bitmap]

You offer to provide corrections and then you summon someone else to do the job?

I didn't want to steal it from you. You already corrected the first part.
I didn't offer to provide them myself

And I gave you like!

 

[Glabrigausapes]

Ah, well... that was an accident.

Pretty slick.

 

[Agrippa]

Ius te oportet esse.

Equidem puto me, nisi illud verbum aequivocum abs te inventum esset, obstupefieri potuisse.

 

[Pacifica]

Quam pretiosum sum ego, quam splendidum! Nec vane glorior: quid non faciat homo mei impulsus fame? Dic, homo, quid sit mihi nomen.

 

[Bitmap]

Are you gold? (aurum)

 

[Pacifica]

Ita vero! Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, auri sacra fames?

 

[Bitmap]

Ah! Nice! From the Eneide.

 

[KarlaUK]

@Pacifica - Thank you

Saepe currēbam sed numquam ambulābam. Sum viridis rubri aurei nigri caeruleique coloris. Populus rōmānus mē ignārus fuit, ille enim in locum nōn navigavit sed nunc innōtuī. Fāma sum et bellus. Prō eā multi mē vidēre ventitant. Ōs habeō sed nōn dicō numquam. Nōnnumquam ā incolīs suī patriae vocor liquidum arcum. Sum in americae austrālis. Parvus est et aliōs mei similes in europā sunt. Tiberis fluvius parvus est.
Quid sum?

Now that I know the answer, I wonder why you used a past tense here. Doesn't it still apply to the present?

Yes but I thought habitual actions were in the imperfect. But they are is they are past actions and incomplete. My error.

Me ignarus doesn't make sense. Should be mei ignarus.

Noted: I see now. I meant to say of me...

Fama sum doesn't make much sense to me. "I am reputation/fame"? Didn't you rather mean something like famosus/clarus/nobilis sum, "I am famous"?

Yes. Can you also say fāmam habeō?

I guess ea refers to fama but since the previous sentence didn't make sense maybe you'd have to change this as well.

Noted

Me videre ventitant is a somewhat unusual construction but you haven't yet learned the forms necessary to put it in a more usual way. It isn't exactly wrong, anyway, so it's good enough at this stage.

Noted

The second part here is a little odd. Did you mean "I never speak"? If so, the non is redundant, since numquam, meaning "never", already contains a negation. Also dicere isn't the best translation for "to speak", in general, but the right verb (loqui) belongs to a kind of verb you haven't learned about yet, so...

I need to watch out for the number of negatives in a clause. Yep I saw loqui used a lot but wasn't sure how to use it.

Before vowels and H, the form is always ab, never a.

Better proofreading needed by me. I know this simple rule. Thanks for nudging me again.

This doesn't make any grammatical sense and I'm not sure what you wanted to say. Maybe "the inhabitants of my country", incolis meae patriae?

I did mean that. Thank you for given me a nice simple option.

*liquidus arcus

This is not a direct object, but a predicative complement similar to what you've got with the verb sum.

How would I say the inhabitants of my country call me "liquid rainbow'?

Wrong case. It should be in the ablative, America Australi.

Noted. I wasn't sure how things go with modern words.

What are you talking about here? What is small? Did you mean sum?

Yes. Dang. Basic mistake.

Alios is in the wrong case. Should be nominative as the subject of sunt.

Thanks

Semper currō sed numquam ambulō. Sum viridis rubri aurei nigri caeruleique coloris. Populus rōmānus meī ignārus fuit, ille enim in locum nōn navigavit sed nunc innōtuī. Fāmōsus sum et bellus. Prō eī multi mē vidēre ventitant. Ōs habeō sed loquor numquam. Nōnnumquam ab incolīs meae patriae vocor liquidum arcum. Sum in americā austrālī. Parvus sum et aliī mei similes in europā sunt. Tiberis fluvius parvus est.

 

[Pacifica]

Yes. Can you also say fāmam habeō?

Maybe, but I think I would add some adjective like, say, magnam.

How would I say the inhabitants of my country call me "liquid rainbow'?

In that case, it would be accusative because it would need to agree with the direct object it referred to:

Incolae meae patriae me (---> direct object) vocant liquidum arcum (---> phrase in agreement with the direct object).

Prō eī

Wrong case in ei.

Also, it would be more usual to say something like propterea, eam ob causam, quapropter, qua de causa...

vocor liquidum arcum.

*liquidus arcus

 

[KarlaUK]

Incolae meae patriae me (---> direct object) vocant liquidum arcum (---> phrase in agreement with the direct object).

Wrong case in ei.

Also, it would be more usual to say something like propterea, eam ob causam, quapropter, qua de causa...

propterea, eam ob causam, quapropter, qua de causa...

propterea, eam ob causam, quapropter, qua de causa... Noted for future. Not covered any of this yet.
Semper currō sed numquam ambulō. Sum viridis rubri aurei nigri caeruleique coloris. Populus rōmānus meī ignārus fuit, ille enim in locum nōn navigavit sed nunc innōtuī. Fāmōsus sum et bellus. Prō eōs multi mē vidēre ventitant. Ōs habeō sed loquor numquam. Nōnnumquam ab incolīs meae patriae vocor liquidus arcus. Sum in americā austrālī. Parvus sum et aliī mei similes in europā sunt. Tiberis fluvius parvus est.

 

[Bitmap]

The fama thing would probably be solved by an ablative or genitive of quality if you insist on using a noun, i.e. magnâ famâ sum or magnae famae sum. You could then join it in the next sentence by going propter eam.

Don't use pro. pro means 'front of' (with your back turned towards the thing you're in front of) or 'instead of'. It cannot mean 'because of'.

Prō eōs

Still the wrong case ... but as I said: Cut the pro idea entirely.

 

[KarlaUK]

The fama thing would probably be solved by an ablative or genitive of quality if you insist on using a noun, i.e. magnâ famâ sum or magnae famae sum. You could then join it in the next sentence by going propter eam.

Don't use pro. pro means 'front of' (with your back turned towards the thing you're in front of) or 'instead of'. It cannot mean 'because of'.



Still the wrong case ... but as I said: Cut the pro idea entirely.

I saw it meant, as a phrase, for this reason. Evidently the poster was incorrect.
The above hurts my brain tonight . I will mark for re-review in the near future. Thank you for the detailed answer.

 

[Bitmap]

I saw it meant, as a phrase, for this reason. Evidently the poster was incorrect.

I don't know where you saw that, but it's wrong. 'For this reason' is best rendered with the phrase Pacifica suggest: ob eam causam or qua de causa.