Friday is for Philosophy and Rhetoric!
2/17/17
Whenever I have taught Latin students, since we normally have a pretty good amount of composition involved, they have had to face a hard, cold fact. Words in different languages do not have a 1:1 correspondence. You will not find that each word has just one equivalent. This feature of language frustrated Quintilian a bit too, as he tried to come up with a good Latin equivalent for the Greek word “rhetoric.”
Quintilian, and J.S. Watson. Institutes of Oratory. Edited by Lee Honeycutt, 2010. Kindle Electronic Edition. Book II, Chapter 14.
Quintilian observes that the term “rhetoric” does not translate well into Latin. It is not strictly ars oratoria or elocutoria, but maybe nearer to eloquentia or a combination of the three (Quintilian II.14.2). He would prefer it to exist essentially as a loan word, as did Cicero. Therefore he will borrow the word “rhetoric” without further apology (Quintilian II.14.5). “The art will be that which ough to to be attained by study and is the knowledge how to speak well. The artificer is he who has thoroughly acquired the art, that is, the orator, whose business is to speak well. The work is what is achieved by the artificer, that is, good speaking” (Quintilian II.14.5).
All the work of Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry, including this blog, is supported by the generosity of people like you. Please consider joining our team of prayer and financial supporters. Read more here!
2/17/17
Whenever I have taught Latin students, since we normally have a pretty good amount of composition involved, they have had to face a hard, cold fact. Words in different languages do not have a 1:1 correspondence. You will not find that each word has just one equivalent. This feature of language frustrated Quintilian a bit too, as he tried to come up with a good Latin equivalent for the Greek word “rhetoric.”
Quintilian, and J.S. Watson. Institutes of Oratory. Edited by Lee Honeycutt, 2010. Kindle Electronic Edition. Book II, Chapter 14.
Quintilian observes that the term “rhetoric” does not translate well into Latin. It is not strictly ars oratoria or elocutoria, but maybe nearer to eloquentia or a combination of the three (Quintilian II.14.2). He would prefer it to exist essentially as a loan word, as did Cicero. Therefore he will borrow the word “rhetoric” without further apology (Quintilian II.14.5). “The art will be that which ough to to be attained by study and is the knowledge how to speak well. The artificer is he who has thoroughly acquired the art, that is, the orator, whose business is to speak well. The work is what is achieved by the artificer, that is, good speaking” (Quintilian II.14.5).
All the work of Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry, including this blog, is supported by the generosity of people like you. Please consider joining our team of prayer and financial supporters. Read more here!
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