Auxilium Interpretibus

Latin Specific Issues

Grammar Issues

• All islands are considered small, and therefore all use the locative case. This extends to towns and cities as well.

Style

We follow as much as possible 'Golden Age' Latin, that is the Latin of Caesar, Virgil, Horace, Cicero etc. This is in terms of grammar, since post-Classical Latin — Erasmus, Carmina Burana etc — is known by fewer people. In terms of style, we have no fixed rules, but there are some general consistencies that should be followed.

That does not include vocabulary, which must understandably be extended to words, if necessary, from all writing periods. For instead, because of its unit description, the Blood Bat is translated as Vespertilio Sanguineus, even though sanguineus is a poetic word and a favourite of post-Augustan poets (L&S).

Some pre-classical and post-classical touches will not be amiss in campaigns such as UtBS, TRoW and LoW where applicable. At the moment I (Deusite) and trying to translate LoW with some pre-classical words, particularly in story sections.

In the future Plautus/Terence might be used for colloquial or pre-classical language, perhaps for some humans, orcs and maybe dwarves.

Tone

Remember they are speaking Latin, not writing it...

• Elves: High and noble creatures, and therefore I (Deusite) try to make them use high-flown diction, supines, gerundives of purpose, somewhat poetical words — their usage is somewhat akin to Silver Age Latin, but less obscure.
• Orcs, Trolls, etc: I do not like to make them use bad Latin or incorrect grammar, since in the case of Latin it tends to look like a mistake, and in any case, I do not see how sentient beings would use incorrect Latin unless it is a foreign language. However, I keep the usage of the third-person in place of the first-person, and generally try to simplify their language. Short, common words, some redundant usage, and in the case of Orcs especially, a very rich military vocabulary.
• Humans: Humans should be the base-mark of our Latin, and it is the most similar to Golden Latin. Mage, the elite, and the educated however should use more refined language.
• Dwarves and similar: It is inadvisable to try to restore dwarvish accents (or any accents for that matter) into Latin for now. Instead, dwarves simply follow humans in their usage. This may change as we progress.

Prose

Prose, i.e. story text and narration, should use the most refined Latin in the game, with the possible exception of Elves. Remember that Latin prose wants to use connecting words at the start of every new sentence, which is possibly why sentences tend to be so long in Latin. Also feel free to use historical infinitives, historic presents, emphatic word order (which should of course be used in dialogue as well), alliteration, assonance and rhetorical devices when appropriate.

Technical Words

There is no general standard for such unknown technical words like server or debug. Do not accept our usage or coinage as set in stone, since we have to accommodate for concepts unknown in Classical Latin. However, we have been using Wikipedia in Latin as a helpful starting point.

Whenever a command such as "Exit" or "Save Game" appears, we translate it as a simple present infinitive, following other languages and Wikipedia in Latin. The idea is that the infinitive is used as a verbal noun, much like a gerund, but since the gerund has no nominative form, the present infinitive is used in its place, as it is in Classical Latin.

Verse

The poetry has recently all been translated by Deusite, as they stand in Sceptrum Ignis, and in the multiplayer map Caves of the Basilisk. Should anything else turn up, he is most likely the best person to translate them. They have been translated according to the rules of Classical poetry, that is they are scanned according to syllable length, elide, and use various metres. The metre for each poem is noted on GitHub, being Dactylic Hexameter, Hendecasyllables and an Alcaic Stanza. If there are any mistakes, do tell.

Scansion of coined words used:

• Drācŭlus
• Vesnŏtĭensis
• Tÿpărius

Using Old Latin

We are insane, and have therefore decided to use varying degrees of archaisms in Wesnoth, (for flavour!), including the use of Old Latin.

There are three campaigns which are dated to a period when everything should speak some kind of archaic speech: TroW, AoI and LoW. There are also certain races which should maybe speak an old dialect, Elves, especially the South Elves, and Dwarves (due to being perhaps the oldest races), Trolls (maybe even older still) and the human Clans (due to isolation). The language of Orcs, considering their lifespan, should be uncultivated and change with the times.

Phonetic changes which may be awesomesaucimagical, for which the guiding rule is 'What sounds more -ish?':

Elves:

• Use the PIE -os and -om endings.
• Use the locative case.
• ae -> ai
• oe/u -> oi
• u -> ou
• 1dt declendion gen pl -arom
• 3rd declension nom plural m -is, gen plu -om, dat/abl plu ibos
• 4th declension gen pl -uom, gen sing -uos

	puellā, –āi girl, maiden f.
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	puellā	puellāī
Accusative	puellam	puellās
Genitive	puell-āi	puellārōm
Dative	puellāi	puellabos
Ablative	puellā	puellabos
Vocative	puella	puellai

	campos, –ī field, plain m.		saxom, –ā rock, stone n.
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	campos	campī	saxom	saxă
Accusative	campom	campōs	saxom	saxă
Genitive	campī	campōrum	saxī	saxōrum
Dative	campō	campoīs	saxō	saxois
Ablative	campō	campoīs	saxō	saxois
Vocative	campe	campī	saxom	saxă

	Rēx –ēs king m.		Ignis -ēs fire m.
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	rēx	rēgeīs	ignes	igneīs
Accusative	rēgem	rēgeīs	ignim	igneīs
Genitive	rēgis	rēgerum	ignis	igniom
Dative	rēgī	rēgibos	igni	ignibos
Ablative	rēgī	rēgibos	ignī	ignibos
Vocative	rēx	rēgeīs	ignis	igneīs

	senātus, –ūs senate m.
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	senātus	senātūs
Accusative	senātum	senātūs
Genitive	senātuos	senātuom
Dative	senātuī	senātibus
Ablative	senātū	senātibus
Vocative	senātus	senātūs

Dwarves:

• Use the PIE -os and -om endings.
• use final ablative in -d.
• ae -> ai
• i (e) -> ei
• o -> au
• b -> du
• 1st declension, gen sing -as, gen pl -asom
• 2nd declension nom pl -oi, gen pl -om, dat/abl pl -ois, voc sing -oe,
• 3rd declension abl sing -id, gen plu -om, dat/abl plu ebus
• 4th declension gen pl -uom, gen sing -ous, dat/sbl pl, -ubus, abl sing -ud

	puellā, –ās girl, maiden f.
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	puellā	puellāī
Accusative	puellam	puellās
Genitive	puellās	puellōm
Dative	puellāi	puelleis
Ablative	puellā	puelleis
Vocative	puella	puellai
Locative	Romai	Syracuseis

	campos, –ī field, plain m.		saxom, –ā rock, stone n.
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	campos	campoe	saxom	saxă
Accusative	campom	campōs	saxom	saxă
Genitive	campei	campōm	saxī	saxōm
Dative	campō	campoīs	saxō	saxois
Ablative	campōd	campoīs	saxōd	saxois
Vocative	campe	campoe	saxom	saxă
Vocative	campoi	campois	saxoi	saxois

	Rēx –ēs king m.		Ignis -ēs fire m.
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	rēx	rēges	ignes	ignes
Accusative	rēgem	rēges	ignim	ignes
Genitive	rēgis	rēgom	ignis	igniom
Dative	rēge	rēgebos	igne	ignibos
Ablative	rēgīd	rēgebos	ignīd	ignebos
Vocative	rēx	rēges	ignis	ignes
Locative	regi	rēgebos	igni	ignibos

	senātus, –ūs senate m.
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	senātus	senātūs
Accusative	senātum	senātūs
Genitive	senātous	senātum
Dative	senātuī	senātubus
Ablative	senātūd	senātubus
Vocative	senātus	senātūs
Locative	senāti