Romanian accents.
Primul Meu Video
Pentru prietenii mei din România.
Un scurt video în care vorbesc despre situația mea cu limba română din punct de vedere al unui californian.
For my Romanian friends.
A short video in which I talk about my situation with the Romanian language from the point of view of a Californian.
Comentări aici, vă rog.
Comments here, please.
Un scurt video în care vorbesc despre situația mea cu limba română din punct de vedere al unui californian.
For my Romanian friends.
A short video in which I talk about my situation with the Romanian language from the point of view of a Californian.
Comentări aici, vă rog.
Comments here, please.
Dies Irae in Classical Latin
In a sort of paradox again, like I did with such Catholic texts as the Lord's Prayer, I have recorded a text from the post-Classical Latin period in Classical Latin.
Yes, one would expect a Medieval Latin pronunciation for a text like this one. But we're allowed to let our imaginations run wild... what if Cicero or Caesar time-traveled a thousand years ahead?
This is how either of them would have recited the DIES IRAE, from the 12th century, in their standard and educated Latin accents.
Once again here, like I have done on my recording of Catullus 3, I make use of the Latin pitch accent, theorized to have been used by educated Latins, ultimately derived from an imatiation of the Ancient Greek standard speech, which is established as having had a pitch accent at the time. Having studied extensively the Ancient Romans' own explanations on the pronunciation of educated Latin speech, I am a firm supporter and believer that there was indeed a pitch accent used in formal occasions in the Golden Age of Latin -- a pitch accent which I adopt in my recitations.
Also adopted here is the organic rendition of final -m: nasalizing the preceding vowel, and influenced by the following consonant to be pronounced either as a dental ([n]), labial ([m]), or velar ([ŋ]). If final -m is found in isolation, or followed by a vowel, the preceding vowel is nasalized and lengthened.
This is, then, my rendition of the way an educated Roman would've recited the DIES IRAE during the Classical period.
Yes, one would expect a Medieval Latin pronunciation for a text like this one. But we're allowed to let our imaginations run wild... what if Cicero or Caesar time-traveled a thousand years ahead?
This is how either of them would have recited the DIES IRAE, from the 12th century, in their standard and educated Latin accents.
Also adopted here is the organic rendition of final -m: nasalizing the preceding vowel, and influenced by the following consonant to be pronounced either as a dental ([n]), labial ([m]), or velar ([ŋ]). If final -m is found in isolation, or followed by a vowel, the preceding vowel is nasalized and lengthened.
This is, then, my rendition of the way an educated Roman would've recited the DIES IRAE during the Classical period.
Why, your Italian looks too much like Spanish
Oh, wait.
From a French tourism brochure:
On another occasion, I encountered some Romanian mislabeled as Italian. I owe you all the picture on that one.
From a French tourism brochure:
On another occasion, I encountered some Romanian mislabeled as Italian. I owe you all the picture on that one.
How NOT to Speak Latin - A PSA
I'm often displeased by the way Latin is pronounced not only by students of the language, but especially by Latin teachers, scholars, and Classicists. It's one thing to make an effort and come up short on certain sounds; it's another thing to butcher up the language, and read it as if it were [insert your native language here].
I will let the video I created make the point — a public service announcement by yours truly, followed by a performance, reading Catullus 3 in authentic Latin, along with an English translation.
What's different about this particular reading is my inclusion of the Latin pitch accent. The Roman grammarians in the Classical period wrote about the pitch accent, and their testimony is the evidence we have that it existed during that time. Its introduction is theorized to have been influenced by the pitch accent in Ancient Greek, and was used exclusive by the educated classes when speaking publicly; the popular speech retained the normal stress accent.
Just listen to the musicality of Latin when read properly — respecting meter, vowel quality and quantity, stress, and pitch — its connection to modern Italian is even more apparent.
I will let the video I created make the point — a public service announcement by yours truly, followed by a performance, reading Catullus 3 in authentic Latin, along with an English translation.
What's different about this particular reading is my inclusion of the Latin pitch accent. The Roman grammarians in the Classical period wrote about the pitch accent, and their testimony is the evidence we have that it existed during that time. Its introduction is theorized to have been influenced by the pitch accent in Ancient Greek, and was used exclusive by the educated classes when speaking publicly; the popular speech retained the normal stress accent.
Just listen to the musicality of Latin when read properly — respecting meter, vowel quality and quantity, stress, and pitch — its connection to modern Italian is even more apparent.
Pater Noster Remade
As my first Pater Noster recording in Latin is gaining popularity on Youtube, I wanted to upload a new one of much higher quality.
Of interest for Latinists out there, see the original's video comments for an interesting exchange started by people who are expecting an Ecclesiastical pronunciation when they land on the video. Thankfully, other knowledgeable folk have been quick to point out this is actually a Classical pronunciation.
Of interest for Latinists out there, see the original's video comments for an interesting exchange started by people who are expecting an Ecclesiastical pronunciation when they land on the video. Thankfully, other knowledgeable folk have been quick to point out this is actually a Classical pronunciation.
Pater Noster in Latin and the Romance Languages
This is a project I had been wanting to work on for sometime.
It finally saw the light of day.
Here is the Pater Noster prayer recorded simultaneously, line by line, in Latin and in 7 Romance Languages: Portuguese, Galician, Spanish, Catalan, French, Italian, and Romanian.
It is a creation with a focus comparative linguistics, showcasing pronunciation and morphological similarities and differences among these languages through this religious chant.
The translations used are documented versions for each language. If a single translator had worked on all the languages presented, we would perhaps have translations that mirror each other word for word. As it is, the existing translations sometimes result in different word orders (i.e. Fr. que ton regne vienne vs. Sp. venga tu reino), or diverging roots in each language — such as Latin DEBITA being maintained in all the Western Romance languages (dívidas, deudas, deutes, dettes, debiti), but Galician opting for ofensas. The Galician equivalent to DEBITA, débeda, is not attested in any Pater Noster translation that I could find, so ofensas was kept.
It finally saw the light of day.
Here is the Pater Noster prayer recorded simultaneously, line by line, in Latin and in 7 Romance Languages: Portuguese, Galician, Spanish, Catalan, French, Italian, and Romanian.
It is a creation with a focus comparative linguistics, showcasing pronunciation and morphological similarities and differences among these languages through this religious chant.
The translations used are documented versions for each language. If a single translator had worked on all the languages presented, we would perhaps have translations that mirror each other word for word. As it is, the existing translations sometimes result in different word orders (i.e. Fr. que ton regne vienne vs. Sp. venga tu reino), or diverging roots in each language — such as Latin DEBITA being maintained in all the Western Romance languages (dívidas, deudas, deutes, dettes, debiti), but Galician opting for ofensas. The Galician equivalent to DEBITA, débeda, is not attested in any Pater Noster translation that I could find, so ofensas was kept.
Memes from Romania
Those memes known world-wide that spread like a virus on social media like Youtube and Facebook captivate our friends in that Eastern European (and very Latin) country just as much. These viral videos are made in a variety of languages, but not often do we find one in a language like Romanian.
Here are two of these memes in their Romanian translations.
The first one is a Romanian remake of Loituma Girl performance, made famous on Youtube throughout the world by the voices of a group of Finnish vocalists. Because the original video showed the animation of a girl spinning a leek, ultimately the song became known as the "Leekspin".
The Romanian version has nothing to do with leeks or spins. While the catchy melody has been kept intact, the song talks about a a Romanian girl who won't give up the rița, rița until she is married. The guy insists, but the girls claims that she's "not one of those girls" and keeps demanding marriage before giving it up.
Here are two of these memes in their Romanian translations.
The first one is a Romanian remake of Loituma Girl performance, made famous on Youtube throughout the world by the voices of a group of Finnish vocalists. Because the original video showed the animation of a girl spinning a leek, ultimately the song became known as the "Leekspin".
The Romanian version has nothing to do with leeks or spins. While the catchy melody has been kept intact, the song talks about a a Romanian girl who won't give up the rița, rița until she is married. The guy insists, but the girls claims that she's "not one of those girls" and keeps demanding marriage before giving it up.
Pentru cei care spun că-mi plac doar manelele...
Nu.
Nu-i așa.
Amu îmi place și muzica moldovenească.
Din Republica Moldova.
Nu-i așa.
Amu îmi place și muzica moldovenească.
Din Republica Moldova.
