Verbum sapienti sat est

[Juniper]

The Latin motto Verbum sapienti sat est is commonly expressed in English as "a word to the wise is enough". This translation seems to group verbum sapienti together as though it were shorthand for "a word spoken to the wise":

[a word to the sage] [is enough]
[verbum sapienti] [sat est]

An alternate translation I see on The Oxford Reference is "a word is sufficient for a wise person", cited as a variant of Plautus' Dictum sapienti sat est, translated as "A sentence is enough for a sensible man".

[a word] [is sufficient for the sage]
[verbum] [sapienti sat est].

These two meanings are quite distinct: whether the dative case generates "a word to the sage" or "is enough for the sage".

Would those of you fluent in Latin usage please offer an opinion as to which translation seems more true to the grammar or more likely a meaning?

(Yet another approach would be to consider sapienti as ablative, not dative, suggesting "a word from the sage is enough", but this might be too implausible a use of the ablative.)

Thanks!

 

[Pacifica]

Would those of you fluent in Latin usage please offer an opinion as to which translation seems more true to the grammar or more likely a meaning?

The second interpretation, "enough for a wise person", is much more natural. It would be uncommon for a noun like verbum to be modified by a dative. You'd need to add a verbal thing like a participle—e.g. verbum sapienti dictum, "a word said to a wise person", or something like that.

(Yet another approach would be to consider sapienti as ablative, not dative, suggesting "a word from the sage is enough", but this might be too implausible a use of the ablative.)

That is totally impossible. The ablative of sapiens as a noun is normally sapiente, and you would definitely need the preposition a(b) before it. And it would also be somewhat unlikley (though admittedly not quite impossible) for the prepositional phrase to directly modify the noun verbum (you'd sooner expect verbum a sapiente dictum or so).

In the Plautus version, sapienti could go with dictum, since dictum is originally a past participle and therefore a verbal thing that could take a dative (dictum sapienti could be literally "a thing said to a wise man"). But it's still more likely to be going with sat est.

 

[Juniper]

Thanks.

Apropos of grammatical cognition, when you begin to read the sentence Verbum sapienti sat est and reach the second word, do you initially figure that sapienti modifies verbum and then revise your assessment once you read sat est? Or have you learned to expect of Latin grammar that whatever sapienti modifies will come after?

 

[Pacifica]

I expect whatever sapienti modifies to come after.