What case for titles?

[Shay H.]

I mean titles specific to a person. I'm not sure if my Google-foo is just weak today or what, but I'm having a hard time finding anything I'm understanding.

Examples:
English: John Smith, Medic (in/of) Clan California, Member (of the) Folsom Pack, Born (a Werewolf)

for Medic, the closest I found in the Latin Dictionary I'm looking at is medicus and they provide the case endings, but I'm not sure which case to use.

for "Member of" I'm liking sodalis, but would it be appropriate for a feminine pack member?

And for "born", there are "changed" and "incarnated" werewolves (incarnation because it means they've gone through a kind of purification rite that restores their youth at the expense of some mental and emotional maturity, as well as a full physical reinvention)

In that context, I'm looking at natus for "born", mutatus for "changed" and incarnatus for "incarnated", but - again - I'm not sure how to figure out the case.

 

[Pacifica]

Hi,

The case would, as always, depend on context. If the context is simply implying "this person is...", then it will be nominative. But please do explain how exactly this is to be used.

 

[Shay H.]

Hi,

The case would, as always, depend on context. If the context is simply implying "this person is...", then it will be nominative. But please do explain how exactly this is to be used.

In most cases, the latin words are used as internationally recognized titles, so they get mixed into whatever the common tongue is for a region (English in the US, German in Germany, etc.) The titles would be used mostly for personal introductions or as a reference to specific person(s), like:

"John and Kate are Sodales Kingsley pack."
"I call upon the Sodales of Bear Creek to witness this rite of passage"

I, Peter Doe, Orator [*] pro Clan California, make known to this august body John Smith, Medicus Clan California, Sodalis Folsom Pack, Natus.

>> this one might actually need to be fully translated


* Orator pro [group] being used as a stand in while I consider how I want to designate the appointed diplomats for each group. (I was using bellus, as in beautiful/charming, but have since been corrected).

 

[Pacifica]

Ah, so the titles are to be incorporated into English sentences (for now, until you make up your mind about the one that "might" need to be fully translated)? In that case, they will always remain in the nominative. That's the usage in English with such borrowings.

If it were all translated into Latin, the first and third sentences would require the nominative because the titles refer to the subjects of the verbs; in the second sentence, it would be accusative because it would be the direct object of a verb like advoco. (Though in practice, this particular word sodales wouldn't need changing since the form can be accusative as well as nominative.)

 

[Pacifica]

the first and third sentences would require the nominative

Well, the third would require the nominative for orator and the accusative for medicus etc. Sorry, I failed to read the whole sentence the first time.

 

[Shay H.]

Thank you!

Just to be clear, with sodalis being listed as a "masculine noun, 3rd declension", is it appropriate to use for a female "friend/companion/member"?

 

[Pacifica]

Just to be clear, with sodalis being listed as a "masculine noun, 3rd declension", is it appropriate to use for a female "friend/companion/member"?

Yes. Sodalis, like a whole range of common-gender nouns, is masculine by default (i.e. if you're speaking of a sodalis without knowing their gender, it will be treated as masculine) but can be made feminine when applied to a female.

 

[Shay H.]

thank you!