Hi, all. I am still doing some translational exercises out of the works of Plautus, which I am doing to gain a better idea of how Latin may be used colloquially. What I do, is try to translate a few lines from a play, and then check my translation against that found on the Perseus Project website. In so doing, I came across a new word for me: eccere. It is defined on Wiktionary as an exact synonym of ecce, the meaning given for both being "see!/behold!/look!", but in the translation I have been using on Perseus, eccere (which stands alone within the dialogue as an exclamation) is translated from the dialogue as: "Think of that now!" I confess to not quite understanding that translation, especially in view of the fact that Plautus uses ecce a couplet of lines later in the play, which is translated as one would expect: Ecce.../"See..." Since eccere involves both ecce and re, ablative of res, I would have thought that it would mean something like "Look at this!", or "See here!", and so be somewhat different in meaning from ecce, and truly do not understand why they are shown as synonymous on Wiktionary. So, are there any semantic differences between these two lemmas? Also, what are the differing situations within which one would want to use each?
ecce vs. eccere
- Thread starter Michael Zwingli
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Perhaps Latinitium might a better dictionary that Wiktionary.
I think we would translate it differently in modern English according to context.
Eccere, perii misera, quam tu mihi nunc navem narras? Perhaps W.T.F
eccere autem capite nutat: A David Attenborough "Note the nod of the head"
I think we would translate it differently in modern English according to context.
Eccere, perii misera, quam tu mihi nunc navem narras? Perhaps W.T.F
eccere autem capite nutat: A David Attenborough "Note the nod of the head"
All the references to the word occur in Plautus.
Ah, good. This is the first that I have heard of Latinitium. Thank you.
Sure, "note" is well within the semantic field of "see/look", but....
Haha, "W.T.F."...W.T.F.?
There is one attestation from Terence, but that seems to be all. One gets the idea that eccere was an Early Latin word, used often by Plautus (though curiously, it is not found in Ennius or Titinius), and that Terence used it in imitation of Plautus.
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Both are expressions that simply point to something ... there's a wide range of freedom in terms of understanding and translating them.
I see what you mean. Thinking about it, if ecce - re might mean "see this" or "look at that", then surely "think of that now" is well within reason.