Italian Sayings: Group 1

The theme for today's proverbs is the lovely Italian gerund: gerundio! Each of the proverbs below features a gerund: vivendo, "living," domandano, "asking" and so on.

Here are the proverbs:

Vivendo, s'impara.
One learns by living.
Notes: The English "one learns" impersonal always sounds so clunky compared to the Italian s'impara. Compare the English saying, "Live and learn."

Domandando, si va a Roma.
By asking questions, you can get to Rome.
Notes: Literally, you need to ask questions in order to make a long journey; metaphorically, you need to ask questions to accomplish any great accomplishment. I like the way that "Rome" here stands both for a destination and also for a great accomplishment. So, you people who are shy to ask questions or ask for help: don't be shy! That's how you get to Rome, or anywhere else.

Domandando, si va per tutto.
By asking questions, you can get anywhere.
Notes: This is a nice variation on the preceding saying. The phrase per tutto, "everywhere," is equivalent to the more commonly used dappertutto.

Burlando, si dice il vero.
By joking, one can speak the truth.
Notes: From Italian burla, joke, we get English "burlesque."

Non desiderando nulla, si possiede tutto.
By desiring nothing, one has everything.
Notes: Enjoy the Italian double negative: "by not desiring nothing." It's so emphatic! Double negatives are definitely allowed in Italian, unlike (formal) English.

È lavorando nella fucina, che si diventa fabbro.
It is by working in the forge that one becomes a blacksmith.
Notes: You could also state this more directly: Lavorando nella fucina, si diventa fabbro. The implication is that you gain your skills and learn your work not by reading books, not by going to school, but by doing the work, which means you need to go to the place where the work is done.

Insistendo sul lavoro, sotto il piombo, trovi l’oro.
By persisting in your work, beneath the lead you find gold.
Notes: Yes, English "plumber" is related to Italian piombo; they are both from Latin plumbum. The key is that you have to keep going to find the gold (i.e. reach your goal) by getting through all that lead (i.e. the tedious work that might be involved in the process).

Rimanendo uniti, stiamo in piedi; dividendoci, cadiamo.
By remaining united, we stand; by being divided, we fall.
Notes: Literally, "we are on our feet," stiamo in piedi.

L’allegria prolunga la vita, medicando qualunque ferita.
Happiness prolongs life, healing any wound.
Notes: A rhyming proverb! la vita ~ ferita.

Forte non è chi non piange mai, ma chi piangendo riesce a sfogarsi.
It is not he who never weeps who is strong but he who by weeping manages to find relief.
Notes: In more modern English slang, sfogarsi is "to vent." It can also have negative connotations, like "exploding" at somebody in an "outburst" of emotion, but here it is a positive thing, like getting something off your chest, letting your feelings out.

And here is today's audio (I'm not a native speaker, so this is TTS-generated):



Plus a LOLcat:

Polish Sayings: Group 2

The theme for today's proverbs is Polish chleb, "bread."

Here are the proverbs:

Trzeba chleba i nieba.

Bread is needed, and heaven.

Notes: The idea is that of course you need bread, but bread by itself is not enough; you need spiritual sustenance also. Compare the Biblical saying, "Man does not live by bread alone," Nie samym chlebem człowiek żyje.

Trzeba nieba i chleba.

Heaven is needed, and bread.

Notes: In this reversed version, the idea is that heaven is all well and good, but people need bread too! You can't do without bread; even saints need to eat, at least sometimes.

Dał Pan Bóg zęby, da i chleb.

The Lord God gave teeth; he will give bread also.

Notes: The idea is that God gives what you need, and also the tools required to make use of it. Literally that's the teeth you need to eat the bread, and metaphorically whatever tool you need to take advantage of God's bounty. The word i is being used adverbially here, not as a conjunction: he will also give bread.

Daj Boże chleb, a ja zęby znajdę.

God, give bread, and I'll find teeth.

Notes: This is a sort of anti-proverb in response to the traditional proverb about God, bread, and teeth. The ja is emphatic; it's not needed with znajdę, which is already marked as first-person, but it adds to the meaning of the proverb: I will manage about the teeth; you, God, don't need to worry about that!

Dano chleba, gdy zęby mu wypadły.

He was given bread when his teeth had fallen out.

Notes: This is yet another bread-teeth saying, and this is one is about a tragic or ironic coincidence. Just when someone managed to get bread (impersonal dano: they gave...), at that moment his teeth fell out. Notice the use of dative for body parts, mu. In English we "own" our body parts, but in many Indo-European languages, including Polish, the dative is used instead.

Dobry chleb, gdy kołacza nie masz.

Bread is good when you don't have cake.

Notes: Notice the implied jest, is: Dobry chleb (jest). The verb is often omitted, especially in proverbs, where conciseness is highly prized. There are many proverbs which play on the difference between simple, humble bread, chleb, as opposed to the sophisticated luxury of cake, kołacz. (I live in Texas, where Czech koláče, "kolache," are very popular!)

Kto chleba nie chce, nie wart i kołacza.

Who doesn't want bread isn't worthy of cake either.

Notes: This proverb again plays on the tension between chleb and kołacz, the idea now being that only somehow who appreciates the value of humble bread can deserve the luxury of cake. Notice again the adverbial use of i: nie wart i kołacza, "he isn't worthy of cake either."

Kto ma chleb, ten ma wszystko.

He who has bread has everything.

Notes: This is another proverb in praise of bread's simple pleasures: who needs cake? Bread is everything, wszystko.

Bez mąki chleba nie upieczesz.

Without flour you can't bake bread.

Notes: This is literally true, and it then applies metaphorically to any situation where you are missing the essential ingredient for a project, something so vital that you cannot succeed without it.

Chleb daje rogi, a głód nogi.

Bread gives horns, and hunger gives legs.

Notes: Compare the rogi-nogi sayings in yesterday's post. This one is a variant on Chleb ma rogi, nędza nogi, substituting the word głód for the more general nędza. The idea once again is that having bread (i.e. material success) leads to overconfidence and aggressiveness, while not having bread (i.e. poverty) compels people to use their legs (i.e. their dynamic abilities) to seek out and find what they need.

And here is today's audio (I'm not a native speaker, so this is TTS-generated):



Plus a LOLcat:

Latin Lesson #13: And more masculine nouns

The focus for today's lesson is more masculine nouns and adjectives. Some of them are those second-declension nouns and adjectives that end in -us, like natus, mundus, totus, echinus and fumus, and there are also some second-declension nouns and adjectives that endsin -er: magister, pulcher and asper. You'll learn more about that pattern later. 

The rest belong to the third declension with a variety of different endings: carcer, nemo, homo, minor, and ignis. Even though there is a variety of endings, there are some patterns there that you will start to recognize later on as you learn more and more of these third declension words.

So, here are today's proverbs:

1. Carcer numquam pulcher.
Prison (is) never pretty.
CAR-cer NUM-quam PUL-cher.

Latin carcer, "prison," gives us English "incarcerate."
Latin nunquam, "never" has the negative prefix ne-, ne-umquam, "not-ever." just like English "never."

Latin pulcher, "pretty, beautiful," gives us English "pulchritude."

The charm of this proverb is the rhyme: carcer-pulcher.

2. Nemo magister natus.
No one (is) born (a) master.
NE-mo ma-GIS-ter NA-tus.

Latin nemo also has the negating ne- prefix; it is ne-homo, not-person, i.e. "nobody." You might know this word from the name of Captain Nemo in 20,000 Leagues under the Sea.

Latin "magister" means "master, teacher, chief, leader" and literally it means "greater." This is the origin of the English word "master." The opposite of magister in Latin is minister, "lesser" (related to the word minus), which is the origin of the English word "minister."

Latin natus means "born," as in English "neonatal." It is related to Latin natura (see yesterday's lesson).

The idea here is that learning takes time: you're not born with learning; you have to work to acquire it.


3. Homo mundus minor.
(A) person (is a) world in miniature.
HO-mo MUN-dus MI-nor.

You've seen homo before: Homo bulla.

You've also seen mundus before: Patria mea totus mundus est.

The word minor means "lesser, smaller," as in the English word "minor." 

This saying expresses the idea that the nature of the cosmos and human nature are analogous: you can learn things about the cosmos from observing humans, and you can learn about humans from observing the cosmos. For more about this philosophy, see Wikipedia: Microcosm–macrocosm analogy.


4. Totus echinus asper.
(The) whole hedgehog (is) prickly.
TO-tus e-CHI-nus AS-per.

You've seen totus before in that same saying above: Patria mea totus mundus est.

Latin echinus, "hedgehog," is a borrowing from Greek; many Latin words with "ch" are Greek borrowings. You can see this root in the plant name "echinacea" because of its spiny center.

Latin asper means "rough," both literally, like a hedgehog's spines, but also metaphorically, as in a rough situation, as in English "asperity."

This saying refers to a situation where there is no safe approach, or to a person who is going to be irritable no matter what you say or do: no matter where you grab the hedgehog, it's going to be prickly.


5. Fumus, ergo ignis.
(Where there is) smoke, therefore fire.
FU-mus, ER-go IG-nis.

From Latin fumus, "smoke," we get English words like "fume" and "fumigate."

We use Latin ergo, "therefore," in English: "ergo." You may already know this famous Latin phrase: Cogito, ergo sum, "I think, therefore I am."

You can see Latin ignis, "fire," in the English words like "ignite" and "igniferous."


Here's a recap:

1. Carcer numquam pulcher.
2. Nemo magister natus.
3. Homo mundus minor.
4. Totus echinus asper.
5. Fumus, ergo ignis.

And here is today's audio:



Plus the LOLCats!

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Lesson #12: More Masculine Nouns

The focus for today's lesson continues to be masculine nouns, and today there are some masculine nouns that belong to different declensions. It's not important for you to memorize which words belong to which declension, although that will be important later on. For now, just be aware that the masculine nouns do belong to different declension groups, just as the feminine nouns do.

You can always use the masculine nouns slideshow (also in blog sidebar) to keep track of these different groups because the slides are color-coded: most masculine nouns and adjectives belong to the second declension and have a blank slide background, while the third declension nouns and adjectives are marked with a blue background and the fourth declension is yellow.

And now, here are today's sayings:

1. Risus optima medicina.
Laughter (is the) best medicine.
RI-sus OP-ti-ma me-di-CI-na.

The noun risus is formed from the verb ridere, "to laugh." Although it ends in -us, this is actually a fourth declension noun. When you turn a Latin verb into a noun like this, it is often a masculine noun of the fourth declension ending in -us. You'll learn more about how that works later.

You've seen optim- before: Mediocritas optima est. 

Notice that the adjective optima is agreeing here with medicina, a feminine noun, not with risus, which is masculine. So, that helps you see how the sentence is structured: Risus || optima medicina, with risus as the subject and optima medicina as the predicate.

As you can tell, from Latin medicina we get English "medicine."

2. Fames optimus est coquus.
Hunger is (the) best cook.
FA-mes OP-ti-mus EST CO-quus.

The noun fames, "hunger," is a feminine noun of the third declension. From this Latin root we get English "famine" and "famished."

The noun coquus, "cook," is the origin of English "cook." In English, you cannot tell if "cook" is a noun or a verb, but in Latin, you can tell the difference: coquus is the person who cooks, while coquere is the verb "(to) cook."

In this saying, you see the form optimus because it is agreeing with coquus, a masculine noun. Notice also how the noun phrase wraps around the verb est: optimus...coquus. This wrap-around style is very typical of Latin, but it is impossible to imitate in English.

The idea here is that anything tastes good when you are hungry; compare the English saying, "Hunger is the best sauce."

3. Fames est gladius acutissimus.
Hunger is (the) sharpest sword.
FA-mes EST GLA-di-us a-cu-TIS-si-mus.

Latin gladius, "sword," gives us "gladiator" of course! And also "gladiolus."

The adjective acutissimus, "sharpest," is the superlative form of acutus, "sharp," which gives us English "acute." The Latin root is acus, "needle."

This is a powerful saying: yes, a sword can kill, and painfully, but hunger is even more painful and more deadly; hunger is the sharpest sword! 

Notice how the word order puts the emphasis on acutissimus rather than on gladius; the most emphatic words in any Latin sentence are the first word and the last.


4. Habitus est altera natura.
Habit is second nature.
HA-bi-tus EST AL-te-ra na-TU-ra.

Latin habitus is another one of those fourth declension verbal nouns, like risus above, and it has a wide range of meanings: "habit, way of life, values, disposition, character," etc. It is from the verb habere, "(to) have" and it is the origin of English "habit."

The adjective altera can mean "other," but in particular it can mean "second" (i.e. "the other (of two), as it does here. Compare the English phrase "second nature."

Latin natura, "nature," is another kind of verbal noun; it comes from the verb nasci, "be born," which has as its participle natus, "born." From this Latin root we also get English "neonatal," new-born. So, in Latin, natura is a generative idea: it is what is always being born, what is coming into being all around us and in us.


5. Dominus illuminatio mea.
The Lord (is) my light.
DO-mi-nus il-lu-mi-NA-ti-o ME-a.

Latin dominus means "lord, master" (as in master-and-slave), and it is also a standard way to refer to God in the Christian tradition, as in this saying. The root is dom- which you have already seen in domus, "home," the idea being that the dominus is the master of the house, the home owner. You can see this Latin root in English "dominate." And, yes, it is also the origin of Latin "domino."

Latin illuminatio gives us English "illumination." The root is lux, "light," and both lux and light share a common Indo-European origin: lewk-, meaning "white, bright, light."

This is the motto of Oxford University! Find out more at Wikipedia: Dominus illuminatio mea.


Here's a recap:

1. Risus optima medicina.
2. Fames optimus est coquus.
3. Fames est gladius acutissimus.
4. Habitus est altera natura.
5. Dominus illuminatio mea.

And here is today's audio:



Plus the LOLCats!

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Latin Lesson #11: Masculine and Feminine Nouns

The focus for today's lesson is more masculine nouns and adjectives that end in -us, along with some feminine nouns too. There are no new sentence patterns here, so it's just a matter of new vocabulary. That is really the biggest obstacle in learning a new language: grammar is not all that hard (there's not very much grammar)... but there is always a lot of vocabulary. I hope that by learning the vocabulary in the context of these memorable sayings, the new words will stick in your memory!

So, here are today's sayings:


1. Ventus est vita mea.
My life is (a) wind.
VEN-tus EST VI-ta ME-a.

Latin ventus, "wind," is a word you have seen already in the saying Juventus ventus.

You've seen Latin vita, "life," several times already: vita: Dum vita est, spes est; Peregrinatio vita est; and Vita est somnium.

The adjective mea, "mine," is feminine, agreeing with feminine vita.

The idea is that life is like the wind, always moving on: it's here, and then it's gone.

2. Amicus verus rara avis.
(A) true friend (is a) rare bird.
A-MI-cus VE-rus RA-ra A-vis.

You've seen Latin amicus, "friend," and also Latin rara, "rare," in a very similar saying already: Amicus res rara.

Latin verus, "true," has the same root as the noun veritas, "truth," which you have seen already: Amara est veritas. You can see this root in English words like "verify" and "veritable."

Latin avis, "bird," is a feminine noun, so the adjective rara is also feminine. From this Latin root we get English words like "aviation" and "aviary."

The English idiom "rare bird" imitates Latin rara avis, meaning something unusual; the Latin poet Juvenal invoked the "black swan" as a specific example of a rare bird. For more about black swans metaphor see Wikipedia: Black Swan Theory. 

3. Parva avis, parvus nidus.
Small bird, small nest.
PAR-va A-vis, PAR-vus NI-dus.

You've seen the phrase parva domus, "small house," and now you get the small home of a bird, parvus nidus, "small nest." Both Latin nidus and English "nest" come from the same Indo-European root: nisdós, which literally means "where (the bird) sits down."

The idea is that a little bird needs only a little nest; only a big bird needs a big nest. No McMansions for little birds!


4. Ubi veritas, Deus ibi est.
Where (there is) truth, there is God.
U-bi VE-ri-tas, DE-us I-bi EST.

You've seen all the words in this saying before! Remember, you can always use the Dictionary page to look up sayings by the words that appear in them.

Compare a similar saying that you saw earlier: Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.


5. Patria mea totus mundus est.
My fatherland is (the) whole world.
PA-tri-a ME-a TO-tus MUN-dus EST.

Latin patria is a feminine noun formed from the word pater, which means father; compare English "fatherland." From this same Latin root we get English "patriotic." Because patria is feminine, you see the feminine adjective here: mea. 

Originally, patria was also an adjective being used in the phrase patria terra, "father land." Over time, the word patria came to be used independently, with the noun terra implied. When an adjective is used as a noun like this, it is called a "substantive" noun, and substantive nouns are very common in Latin; I'll have more to say about that later when we get to the neuter nouns and adjectives.

From Latin totus, "all, whole, entire" we get the English word "total."

From Latin mundus, "world," we get English "mundane." 

These words appear in the writings of the Roman philosopher Seneca, expressing the idea of "cosmopolitanism," that is: being a citizen of the cosmos, not just of the land in which you were born. Latin mundus is equivalent to the Greek word kosmos, which has been adopted into English as "cosmos." 


Here's a recap:

1. Ventus est vita mea. 
2. Amicus verus rara avis. 
3. Parva avis, parvus nidus. 
4. Ubi veritas, Deus ibi est. 
5. Patria mea totus mundus est

And here is today's audio:



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Polish Sayings: Group 1

The theme for today's proverbs is rhyme. So, be warned: the English translations completely fail to capture the essence of the proverb itself; you just get the meaning of the words in English, but not the wonderful rhyme that is the heart of each of these Polish proverbs.

Here are the proverbs, and you can listen to the audio below:

Długa mowa, próżne słowa.
Long speech, empty words.
Notes: Polish mowa is feminine singular and słowa is neuter plural, but they still rhyme! We've all had to listen to meaningless blah-blah-blah; that's what this proverb denounces. And, of course, it does it in just a few words, NOT długa mowa. That's the whole point of proverbs: to be short!

Każdy kraj ma swój raj.
Every country has its own paradise.
Notes: Here the rhyming words are country, kraj, and paradise, raj. The words are not etymologically related, but the rhyme links them.

Do Boga, gdy trwoga.
(You turn) to God when (there is) terror.
Notes: Here the rhyming words are God (genitive singular), Boga, and terror, nominative singular, trwoga. The rhyme is able to link words in different cases playing different grammatical roles in the proverbs. Rhyme is powerful!

Kto rano wstaje, temu Pan Bóg daje.
God gives to him who rises in the morning.
Notes: Here you have two verbs that rhyme, wstaje and daje; this type of grammatical rhyme is easy in Polish because of the large number of polysyllabic word endings: instant rhyme! See the LOLcat for this one below.

Ni z gruszki, ni z pietruszki.
Neither pear nor parsley.
Notes: Here the English at least has alliteration (pear and parsley), but the Polish rhyme is better: gruszki and pietruszki. This saying is used when someone says something out of nowhere, having nothing to do with anything at all, totally random; compare the English saying "out of the blue."

Dla późnych gości pozostają kości.
Bones are left for the late guests.
Notes: Here it is the guest and the bones who rhyme: gości kości. You better show up on time if you expect to be fed. Otherwise, there might be nothing but bones left! This applies literally to dinner guests, and metaphorically it applies to any situation where you run late and as a result miss out on something valuable or important.

Baran ma rogi, a zając nogi.
The ram has horns, but the hare has legs.
Notes: Horns are useful to the ram for fighting, but the hare has something useful too: he can avoid a fight by running away fast. Which one are you? I'm definitely a hare when it comes to fighting. The rhyme puts the emphasis on the horns and the legs, rogi nogi.

Chleb ma rogi, nędza nogi.
Bread has horns; misery has legs.
Notes: Here the horns and legs are metaphorical. The idea is that when someone has bread (material success, comfort, etc.), then they can become confident, even overly confident, aggressive (like the ram with his horns). But when someone is poor, they have to use their legs (their wits, their inventiveness) in order to find something to eat; they need to be quick-footed and quick-witted. Compare English "necessity is the mother of invention."

I Herkules dupa, kiedy ludzi kupa.
Even Hercules is a failure when there's a gang of people (that he has to fight).
Notes: This is a hilarious Polish variation of a famous classical saying: "Not even Hercules fights more than one opponent at a time." In this case, the rhyme is dupa and kupa, where dupa, literally "ass" or "butt," means "failure," and kupa,  refers to the "pile, gang, crowd," i.e. the crowd of people that Hercules has ganged up on Hercules, turning the mighty hero into a contemptible failure. Even better: kupa also has scatological connotations, so the rhyme with dupa is even funnier! Kupa means "pile" in the sense here of people piling on, ganging up, etc, but also "pile" in the same sense as English "pile of shit."

Nosił wilk razy kilka, ponieśli i wilka.
The wolf carried off (sheep) several times, and they also carried off the wolf.
Notes: This is one of those tiny proverbs that tells a story: the wolf managed to get away with stealing sheep and carrying them off several times, razy kilka, but then some unspecified "they" (shepherds, hunters, some people in the plural) killed and carried off the wolf, wilka. The rhyme kilka-wilka turns the wolf into an accusative victim as if the rhyme itself has somehow doomed him!

I hope you have enjoyed today's rhyming proverbs... and there are lots more to come! I'd guess that easily a quarter or more of Polish proverbs feature some kind of rhyme. Which means hundreds and hundreds of rhyming proverbs!

And here is today's audio (I'm not a native speaker, so this is TTS-generated); the saying repeats so that you can listen and then repeat along with the audio if you want. You can also use the audio for dictation practice, using this blog post to then check your answers.



Plus here's a LOLcat: