[Bell Historians] Latin Inscription

[HENRY TAYSOM]

The story of my life

--- On Mon, 9/5/11, John Camp <camp at T2g5nH497QsO3egsejTJwbV_MZX_bIwOO1Z2VzgyjD1sxqAyE1XPF-8QtvpG7SHJtajR_7WTQJQ1xQ.yahoo.invalid> wrote:

From: John Camp <camp at T2g5nH497QsO3egsejTJwbV_MZX_bIwOO1Z2VzgyjD1sxqAyE1XPF-8QtvpG7SHJtajR_7WTQJQ1xQ.yahoo.invalid>
Subject: Re: [Bell Historians] Latin Inscription
To: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, 9 May, 2011, 21:22















 
 



  


    
      
      
      At 13:19 on 08 May 2011, Philip Denton wrote:

> I would be interested to discover the earliest known uses of the Latin inscription 

>  

> INTACTUM SILEO PERCUTE DUCE CANO

>  

> (which translates approximately as "Untouched I am silent, when struck

> I sweetly sing.")



Very approximately.



"Duce" should be "dulce", as has been pointed out.



I am not at all clear about "percute".  It appears to be an imperative.

One might expect an object, such as "me", somewhere, as it is a

transitive verb.  ("Strike me and I sing sweetly".) Alternatively,

"percussum" would translate more accurately as "when struck".



Probably just lousy mediaeval Latin.



John Camp





    
     

    
    


 



  








           
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