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Reflections of a poor devil (1,2: anger and rage)

by PerCLupi Thu Jun 19th, 2008 at 04:27:57 PM EST

Reflexiones de un pobre diabloReflections of a poor devil
1. El que escribe esto es un pobre diablo. Y las reflexiones de un pobre diablo sólo pueden ser convexas. Las reflexiones cóncavas son como un pozo, pequeñito o muy profundo, cuya concavidad se percibe con la vista. Y "ver" es el significado de la raíz indoeuropea de la que provienen "saber" y hasta la propia palabra "idea". Efectivamente, el verbo griego εἴδω [eído] (= "ver", "saber") y la palabra εἶδος/εἰδέα, ἰδέα [eídos/eidéa, idéa] (= "forma", "idea"), ambas de un antiguo *Fεῖδ- [i.e. *weid-], tienen el mismo étimo que el latín uideo [wídeo] (= "ver") y el sánscrito vedas (= "verdad": "Los Vedas"). Para percibir una concavidad, es necesario mirar y, cuando se mira, se ve algo, y, al ver algo, se "sabe" algo. Una reflexión cóncava ofrece algún saber al que "mira" y "ve".1. This writer is a poor devil. And the thoughts of a poor devil can only be convex. Concave thoughts are like a well, shallow or very deep, whose concave form is plainly visible. And "vision" (cf Spanish ver, to see) is the meaning of the Indo-European root from which "to know" (Sp saber) and indeed the very word "idea" come. In fact, the Greek verb εἴδω [eído] (= "see", "know") and the word εἶδος / εἰδέα, ἰδέα [eídos / eidéa, idéa] (= "form", "idea"), both from a former *Fεῖδ [ie *weid-] are the same root as the Latin uideo [wídeo](= "see") and the Sanskrit vedas ( cf "verity, veracious": "The Vedas"). To perceive concavity, it is necessary to watch and, when you look, you see something, and when something is seen, you "know" something. Concave thoughts thus offer some knowledge to anyone who "looks" and "sees".

Fold placed here & edited by DoDo


Pero lo convexo sólo produce tortícolis, si es muy grande y se mira, y sólo sirve para sentarse encima, si es pequeño. Y las reflexiones de un pobre diablo son convexas. Como yo soy un pobre diablo razonable, mis reflexiones son convexas y pequeñitas: sólo sirven para sentarse encima de ellas.But looking at what is convex only gives you a pain in the neck, if it is too big, and it is only good for perching on top of something, if it is small. And the thoughts of a poor devil are convex. As I am a reasonable poor devil, my thoughts are convex and tiny: they are only good for sitting on top of themselves.
¿Y por qué soy un pobre diablo? Porque, cuando estudié, estuve obviamente vinculado a la enseñanza; y cuando terminé de estudiar, no se me ocurrió otra cosa que dedicarme a la enseñanza. ¿Hay mayor prueba, para calificar a alguien de "pobre diablo", que dedicarse a tal quehacer, cuando se han terminado un Bachillerato elemental cum laude, un Bachillerato superior cum laude, un Preuniversitario cum laude, un Master cum laude y un Doctorado cum laude? Y, además, trabajando para vivir y estudiar desde mis diez años. Y sabiendo también lo que se avecinaba en la educación. Digo esto para hacer comprender mi actual y permanente rabia. Como padre de mis hijos y como padre espiritual de mis alumnos.

And why I am a poor devil? Because, when I was a student, I was obviously chained to learning, and when I finished studying, I thought of nothing other than dedicating myself to teaching. Can there be there greater proof of someone's qualifying as "a poor devil," than that he should devote himself to such a chore after completing an Elementary Bachelor cum laude, a Higher Bachelor cum laude, a Pre-college cum laude, a Master cum laude, and a Ph.D. cum laude? And what's more, after working to live and study since I was ten years old. And also knowing what is coming in education. I say this so my present and ongoing anger may be understood. As the father of my children and as a spiritual father of my students.


2. Yo no fui nunca un ingenuo desconectado de la vida real. Muy al contrario: mi conocimiento de que la vida era una selva en la que había depredadores y depredados fue muy precoz, lo experimenté en carne propia desde mi primera infancia. Pero, en ese mundo, en el que yo estaba destinado a ser un residuo del engranaje, un desecho de la maquinaria social, la enseñanza y el estudio me permitieron ser persona, tener calidad de vida, ganarme la vida con dignidad, y gozar de un juicio crítico exacerbado e irrenunciable, como profesional, como ciudadano libre, como ser humano pleno, en la medida en que este mundo lo permite. Y, desde muy pequeñito, me planteé consciente y firmemente que yo no quería ser ni sería nunca un depredador y que no entraría jamás en el grupo de quienes, al terminar sus estudios, se servían de éstos para medrar: en aquellos tiempos de mi primera infancia no conocía ningún profesional con estudios que no perteneciera al grupo de depredadores –por nacimiento y posibilidades económicas, por ley de origen de clase- o al de los que medraban para pertenecer a ese grupo, aunque fuera como capataces del amo (abogados, curas, maestros, jueces, médicos, farmacéuticos...: frente a ellos, recuerdo perfectamende cuándo me dije “Yo no quiero ser ni seré así”). Mi ideología y mi visión del mundo se han formado en todo por contraste.2. I have never been a naive person cut off from real life. To the contrary: my understanding that life was a jungle inhabited by hunters and prey came to me very early, I experienced it in my own flesh in early childhood. But, in this world, in which my destiny was to be scrap metal from the gears, a reject of society's machinery, instruction and study allowed me to be a person, to have a certain quality of life, to earn my living with dignity, to enjoy a capacity for exacerbated and unwavering critical judgement, as a professional, as a free citizen, as a full human being, as far as this world allows. And, still very small, I took the conscious and firm decision that I would never be a hunter and would never join the group of those who, their studies over, use them to thrive: in those days of my early childhood I did not know any educated professional person who was not part of the group of predators - by birth and economic opportunity, by the law of class origin - or of those who thrive by belonging to that group, even as foremen for the masters (lawyers, priests, schoolmasters, magistrates, physicians, pharmacists...: faced with them, I recall perfectly thinking "I don't want to be, and shall not be, like that"). My ideology and world view have been entirely formed by contrast.
No tiene, pues, nada de particular que, al dedicarme a la enseñanza, y al hacerlo en la enseñanza pública con alumnos en su gran mayoría desvalidos y sin entorno cultural posibilitador (y, cosa importante, en una grandísima proporción mujeres, que representaban para mí las posibilidades de un futuro distinto), mi actitud –no planteada conscientemente como propósito, sino vivida de modo natural- tiñera mi comportamiento, de modo muy perceptible para todos y cada uno de los alumnos que he tenido y para mis colegas y compañeros. Y un elemento fundamental de esa actitud era la valoración del trabajo como medio de autonomía personal y como único instrumento de los más desvalidos de la fortuna para obtener una autoestima basada en la conciencia de la dignidad personal de quien se gana la vida por sí mismo y que, por ello, puede ser personalmente independiente y sentirse medianamente satisfecho. La concepción del estudio y del saber como trabajo era un pivote que sustentaba mi actuación. La convicción de que, para mis alumnos, la información fundamentada y formadora era -además del vehículo que les diera una calidad de vida enriquecida- el instrumento con el que podrían competir frente a los depredadores en la selva de la vida, compensaba mis frustraciones y mi progresivo desaliento ante la evolución profesional de la enseñanza y otras cosas del mundo.So it's not extraordinary that, in going in for teaching, and in the public sector with a great majority of underprivileged students with no facilitating cultural environment, (and, it's important, largely women, which meant to me the possibility of a different future), my attitude - not deliberately affirmed, but lived naturally - coloured my behaviour in a way so visible to each and every student I had, as well as my colleagues and companions. And a key element of this attitude was the value accorded to work as a means of personal autonomy and as the sole instrument for the least privileged to gain self-esteem based on an awareness of the personal dignity of those who earn their living by themselves and, therefore, can be personally independent and feel themselves moderately satisfied. The concept of study and knowledge as work was a pivot that upheld my teaching activity. The conviction that well-grounded and formative information was, for my students - beyond being a vehicle that gave them a richer quality of life - the instrument by which they could compete faced with the predators in the jungle of life, made up for my frustration and growing dismay at the way teaching was going along with other things in the world.
Hace poco un reciente antiguo alumno, ya abogado pero trabajando en la centralita telefónica especializada de un bufete, me decía “Profe, ¡cuántas veces recuerdo tus palabras de que ‘ahí fuera está la selva’!”.Recently, a former pupil of the latest promotions (who was already a lawyer, but who worked in the specialized telephone switchboard of a law firm) told me "Teacher, how often I remember your words that 'out there, it's the jungle'!"
Varios alumnos de distintas promociones me han dicho, con palabras exactas, como si fueran resultado de haberlas comentado entre ellos, “Has sido el mejor profesor que he tenido. Y has influido en más gente de la que crees”. Yo no sé exactamente por qué dicen eso, sobre todo la segunda parte de la frase; una de mis más brillantes alumnas se ha comprometido a explicármelo. Y no he encontrado nunca satisfacción ninguna al saberlo, quizá por razones autobiográficas. No puedo dejar de sertirme un pobre diablo, y, desde hace algún tiempo, un pobre diablo doliente.Several students from different years have told me, in the same words, as if they were a result of having discussed them with each other, "You have been the best teacher I've had. And you have influenced more people than you think". I do not know exactly why they say that, especially the second part of the sentence; one of my brightest students has promised to explain this to me. And I never found any satisfaction in knowing this, perhaps for autobiographical reasons. I can only feel a poor devil, and for some time now, a suffering poor devil.
Mi mejor alumna se licenció en Ciencias Políticas y en Sociología, en Madrid; ha estudiado en Universidades de Hamburgo y de Viena: y está trabajando de telefonista y compartiendo piso con cuatro colegas. Un alumno especialmente entrañable para mí –fue el único al que le conté algo de mi vida para darle ánimos de seguir, a pesar de las dificultades de la suya- vino, ilusionado, hace tres o cuatro años a verme para decirme las palabras antes mencionadas y que había terminado sus estudios de Filosofía: está trabajando como recogedor municipal de basuras en Cuenca. Y así podría hacer una lista interminable.My best student graduated in Political Science and also in Sociology, in Madrid; she has studied in universities of Hamburg and Vienna: and she is working as a telephone operator and is sharing a flat with four colleagues. A student who was particularly dear to me - the only one I told some of my own life to, to encourage him to keep going in spite of the difficulty of his own life - came to see me, full of hope, three or four years ago, to remind me of my words and tell me he had finished his Philosophy studies: now he is working as a municipal garbage collector in Cuenca. And that could make an endless list.
Cuando leí La corrosión del carácter verbalicé y racionalicé lo que sentía: aquellos alumnos que eran mis hijos espirituales no podían construirse un proyecto personal de vida estabilizador de sus personalidades; no podían sentir autoestima al verse obligados a realizar trabajos basura para sobrevivir y al no poder realizarse cumpliendo quehaceres que les ilusionaron cuando estudiaban y para los que se habían preparado inmejorablemente; tenían que bajar la cabeza y callar ante las nuevas formas de rudos e injuriosos capataces del amo surgidas de nuevo –cambio de forma, persistencia de fondo-; sin ánimo, deseos, ni intención de ser depredadores de nuevo cuño, mis alumnos tienen que aceptar ser depredados sin esperanza. Lo que yo pude lograr trabajando y estudiando les está vedado a alumnos míos tan capaces o más que yo.When I read The corrosion of character it put into words and reason what I felt: those students who were my spiritual children could not build a personal life project that would stabilize their personalities; could not feel self-esteem to be forced to do trash jobs to survive, and unable to fulfil themselves by performing tasks they dreamed of when they were studying and for which they had made themselves unbeatably ready; had to lower their heads and shut up before the master's new harsh and abusive foremen that have emerged again - change of form, but same content -; without spirit, desire or intention to be a new kind of predator, my students can only be preys without hope. What I could achieve by working and studying is off limits to my students, as capable or more so than me.
La rabia me corroe y con frecuencia me acuso de haber intentado formar a hijos naturales y espirituales para un mundo que no iba a existir, cosa que yo preveía, aunque es verdad que sin imaginar las dimensiones que el problema alcanzaría. ¿Por qué no los formé en las categorías de la depredación, de los depredadores? Su fracaso es mi fracaso, aunque yo no sea culpable. ¿Cómo no voy a sentirme un pobre diablo? Es éste un tema que me pone frenético, no puedo evitarlo. Me duele y me atemoriza el pensar que hemos establecido una sociedad en la que los ciudadanos serán personas de carácter corroído.Rage eats me up and I often accuse myself of having tried to educate my natural and spiritual children for a world that is not going to exist, something that I foresaw, though without realizing the dimensions the problem would reach. Why didn't I train them in the school of hunting, to be predators? Their failure is my failure, though I'm not guilty. How can I not feel like a poor devil? This is an issue that makes me frantic, I cannot avoid it. It pains me and frightens me to think that we have built a society in which citizens shall be persons of corroded character.
Y soy un pobre diablo porque, aunque a veces pienso que debía haber ayudado a mis hijos y alumnos para que fueran depredadores, sin embargo, sigo creyendo en los viejos principios según los cuales fundamenté mi acción educadora. Porque una primera reflexión desde mi experiencia es que las nuevas generaciones no son un conjunto de jóvenes necios: muy al contrario. De todos los elementos que intervienen en el fenómeno educativo, los alumnos son el único que se salva. No hay alumnos "tontos", sino necesitados de explicación.

And because I am a poor devil, though sometimes I think I should have helped my children and students to be predators, however, I still believe in the old principles on which I based my work as an educator. For a first reflection from my experience is that the new generations are not a bunch of young fools: quite the contrary. Of all the elements involved in the phenomenon of education, students are the only one that comes out clean. I have no "stupid" students, only in need of explanation.

Display:
El que escribe esto es un pobre diablo. Y las reflexiones de un pobre diablo sólo pueden ser convexas.
This sounds like out of Juanjo Millás.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Jun 19th, 2008 at 05:10:04 PM EST
But it's mine. But it's mine. The concave is in contact with "the look" and the head, the convex-mine-only serves to stay in touch with the ass. But I could not say so.
by PerCLupi on Thu Jun 19th, 2008 at 07:11:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]
And "to see" is the the meaning of the Indo-European root from which "to know" and indeed the very word "idea" come.
Shouldn't you use the English words view and wise

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Jun 19th, 2008 at 05:15:05 PM EST
I would appreciate you, if possible, you - or other-correct my translation, please.
by PerCLupi on Thu Jun 19th, 2008 at 07:15:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Not much to correct, just suggesting English words related to *weid-.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Jun 20th, 2008 at 02:47:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I see. But I just spoke about languages showing well the root *weid-: in Germanic there are special phonetic rules that disfigure roots originating, as the [p] in Latin pater, Ancient Greek "patér", Former Indian pitár that Germanic voiced and became fricative [f]: German Vater, English father, for instance.
by PerCLupi on Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 at 03:01:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]
non voiced
by PerCLupi on Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 at 09:14:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Here's a suggested version, PerClupi.

This writer is a poor devil. And the thoughts of a poor devil can only be convex. Concave thoughts are like a well, shallow or very deep, whose concave form is plainly visible. And "vision" (cf Spanish ver, to see) is the the meaning of the Indo-European root from which "to know" (Sp saber) and indeed the very word "idea" come. In fact, the Greek verb εἴδω [eído] (= "see", "know") and the word εἶδος / εἰδέα, ἰδέα [eídos / eidéa, idéa] (= "form", "idea"), both from a former *Fεῖδ [ie *weid-] are the same root as the Latin uideo [wídeo](see) and the Sanskrit vedas ( cf "verity, veracious": "The Vedas"). To perceive concavity, it is necessary to watch and, when you look, you see something, and when something is seen, you "know" something. Concave thoughts thus offer some knowledge to anyone who "looks" and "sees".

But looking at what is convex only gives you a pain in the neck, if it is too big, and it is only good for perching on top of something, if it is small. And the thoughts of a poor devil are convex. As I am a reasonable poor devil, my thoughts are convex and tiny: they are only good for sitting on top of themselves.

And why I am a poor devil? Because, when I was a student, I was obviously chained to learning, and when I finished studying, I thought of nothing other than dedicating myself to teaching. Can there be there greater proof of someone's qualifying as "a poor devil," than that he should devote himself to such a chore after completing an Elementary Bachelor cum laude, a Higher Bachelor cum laude, a Pre-college cum laude, a Master cum laude, and a Ph.D. cum laude? And what's more, after working to live and study since I was ten years old. And also knowing what is coming in education. I say this so my present and ongoing anger may be understood. As the father of my children and as a spiritual father of my students.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Jun 20th, 2008 at 03:23:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]
But it's up to you to check my etymological suggestions! :-)
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Jun 20th, 2008 at 03:53:19 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Thank you, afew!
by PerCLupi on Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 at 02:45:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]
If Migeru can not translate, I will try. I do not know if you know the Spanish: if this is so, I would ask that you lay on your shoulders the task of translating into English. If it is worth... Thanks, afew.
by PerCLupi on Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 at 03:17:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I can read Spanish reasonably well. I'll take a look through part 2.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 at 08:27:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Done. I put it straight into the diary.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 at 10:52:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Thank you, afew. If this is understandable, it is because of you. Thank you.
by PerCLupi on Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 at 12:56:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It's very understandable, and beautifully written, in Spanish. Glad to be of help.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 at 01:41:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I made some minor changes where the meaning had been reversed...

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 at 02:49:22 AM EST
[ Parent ]
nunca = "never", duh, I should have seen that in re-reading.

I have no "stupid" students, only in need of explanation

bothers me, though, because it's not very clear. Is this the meaning:

I have no "stupid" students, they just need things to be explained to them ?

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 at 03:16:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Feel free to reword that - but the original was something like "I have no stupid students, only those in need of explanation".

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 at 05:13:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes, that is the meaning.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 at 05:44:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]
There are no fools students. There are students who need that things are explained to them. And then they understand.
by PerCLupi on Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 at 03:26:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]
TOTALLY tangential to this diary, but reading these discussions about the etymology of ver and verity and Vedas, I could not resist bringing up a question which I never had a firm handle on since my Latin teacher explained it to us in high school.

Is it taken for granted now that the Latin v was pronounced like the modern English w?

That PerClupi's text transcribes the Latin uideo as opposed to the more often seen video suggests that it is.

Intriguingly, the English word for fermented grape juice is (I think) the only modern cognate that retains the w sound from the original Proto-Indo European *win-o-.

Gothic has often been quoted to establish that c was a surd [i.e. voiceless] guttural; for example: Latin, lucerna -- Gothic, lukern; Latin, acetum -- Gothic, akeit; Latin, carcer -- Gothic, karkara.  Its testimony might with equal propriety be taken in regard to Latin consontal v.  In borrowed words this letter is always transliterated by the Gothic w, which had the same sound as English w (Browne's Goth. Gram. p. 19).  The following are examples:--

 Latin,vinum. Gothic,wein.
 "evangelium. "aiwaggéli. [ * ]
 "oleum. "olêw.
 "cautio. "kawtsjo.

The evidence which may be drawn from Anglo-Saxon in regard to the sound of consonontal v in Latin impresses me as strongly as that from Gothic, and yet it has never been quoted so far as I know.  There are three words in Anglo-Saxon which were borrowed from the Romans before 500 A.D.  These are win, wic, and weall, from Latin vinum, vicus, and vallum respectively.  The form of these words shows that the Latin v was w when this borrowing took place.

There can be no reasonable doubt that these are borrowed words (Curtius, I. 487; Skeat's Principles of English Etymology, I. 398).  Nor can it be urged, as might be done in the case of c, that the Goths and Saxons had no other letter to represent the Roman v.  The had the surd spirant f, which certainly might have been used, and probably would have been in some cases at least if the Latin v had not been distinctly like w.

JSTOR: The Classical Review, Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (Feb., 1893 ), pp. 5-7
On Some Neglected Evidences of the Sound of C, V, and S in Latin
J. C. Jones The Classical Review, Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (Feb., 1893), pp. 5-7
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association

Bold and bracketed text mine.  In particular, I asterisked aiwaggéli because in the original text, it is spelled aivaggéli.  However, guessing that this was a typo, I checked and confirmed that aiwaggéli is indeed an alternate and perhaps antecedent spelling for aivaggéli, and most likely the one that Professor Jones intended to use to make his point.

Also, curious about the letter VV, surely enough, Wikipedia had something interesting to say about it:

History

The earliest form of the letter W was a doubled V used in the 7th century by the earliest writers of Old English; it is from this <uu> digraph that the modern name "double U" comes. This digraph was not extensively used, as its sound was usually represented instead by the runic wynn (Ƿ), but W gained popularity after the Norman Conquest, and by 1300 it had taken wynn's place in common use. Other forms of the letter were a pair of Vs whose branches cross in the middle. An obsolete, cursive form found in the nineteenth century in both English and German was in the form of an "n" whose rightmost branch curved around as in a cursive "v" (compare the shape of ƕ).

The sounds w (spelled with U/V) and b of Classical Latin developed into a bilabial fricative β between vowels, in Early Medieval Latin. Therefore, V no longer represented adequately the labial-velar approximant sound w of Old High German. In German, this phoneme w later became v; this is why German W represents that sound. In Dutch, it became a labiodental approximant ʋ (with the exception of words with EEUW, which have eːw), or other diphthongs containing -uw.

Usage

There are only five major European languages that use W in native words: English, German, Polish, Dutch, and Welsh. English uses it to represent w, German and Polish use it for the voiced labiodental fricative v (with Polish using Ł for w), and Dutch uses it for ʋ. Unlike its use in other languages, the letter is used in Welsh to represent vowels as well as consonants. English also contains a number of words beginning with a w that is silent in most dialects before a (pronounced) r, remaining from usage in Anglo-Saxon in which the w was pronounced: wreak, wrap, wreck, wrench, wroth, wrinkle, etc. (Certain dialects of Scottish English still distinguish this digraph.)



... all progress depends on the unreasonable mensch.
(apologies to G.B. Shaw)
by marco on Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 at 09:02:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Another example is the name of the Isle of Wight (Lat: vectis).

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 at 02:51:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Briefly, I will stay again offline.

Is it taken for granted now that the Latin v was pronounced like the modern English w?

Yes. In Latin the consonants V was [w]. When Aeneas explains the battle in Troy, he said "fit uia ui": a road was made forcefully. If that sentence is pronounced as [w], we can observe a case of sound imitative. If not, as [b], so that effect Virgiliano is lost.

When Marcellus was going to embark his troops in Ostia, he heard "caue ne eas" (= do not go) and he aborted the action. What he had heard it was a seller of dried figs de Caunes (accusative exclamativo he had announced "Cauneas!" (= [I sell] de Caunes dried figs!) This is only possible if V = [w].

"Evangelium" comes from the Greek "eu" = good + "anggelos" = envoy. "euangelium" = "good news"

the v and the j for the uses consonants, lowercase, are called "ramistas letters" from Petrus Ramus, who introduced in the first Renaissance.

Sorry. I can not continue. :-D

by PerCLupi on Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 at 03:21:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Migeru, can you translate into English my Spanish text? Thank you.
by PerCLupi on Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 at 02:47:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Wow.  Seems expansion is necessary.  Danke.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Thu Jun 19th, 2008 at 06:28:23 PM EST
This is a beginning. This will, if it is deemed of interest. My best students are working as a municipal garbage collectors -who were better placed-. This gives me a deep anger. My personal trajectory valued preparation for the fight in the jungle that is the extra-academic world and, currently, which makes me more frantic is that my best students -almost all, because young people are not fools- they almost can not work to earn a living. And a person who can not earn a living can hardly maintain dignity.
by PerCLupi on Thu Jun 19th, 2008 at 07:27:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]
We are burning our best and brightest on a bonfire of worthless financial paper.

History is not going to be kind.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri Jun 20th, 2008 at 05:23:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]
This could be the start of a beautiful friendship...

Well done. More please.

by Nomad (Bjinse) on Fri Jun 20th, 2008 at 08:17:00 AM EST
It already exists, without my convex and banal thoughts. These days I've been sick, I have done under watch ET. :-D
by PerCLupi on Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 at 04:49:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]
My first "real" job after grad school was as a teacher at a middle school/high school in Los Angeles, CA.  Many of these kids came from wealthy families, some with famous parents.  Many were brilliant. Yet still they worried about life after school, and not without reason.  Even if your parents' wealth keeps you safe for now, most disdain to ride through life on their parent's dime.

At a senior gathering I took the position that each of us is responsible to create our own job.  I was roundly shouted down, but I still think there was something there.  The problems your students face when entering the world today are daunting.  It is as important to foster courage and creativity as it is to develop competence.  Sadly, I do not see things getting easier in the coming decades.  

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Sat Jun 21st, 2008 at 11:13:02 PM EST
At a senior gathering I took the position that each of us is responsible to create our own job.

I'd like to see you develop this idea more.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 at 03:28:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]
ARGeezer: At a senior gathering I took the position that each of us is responsible to create our own job. I was roundly shouted down, but I still think there was something there.

I do, too.  And I very much second Migeru's request that you develop this idea further.

... all progress depends on the unreasonable mensch.
(apologies to G.B. Shaw)

by marco on Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 at 07:43:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I'm thinking, I'm thinking.  Damn, why couldn't he have asked me to do one on the Birds, I did one on the Bees.  :-)  

This issue is very personal to all for whom it arises, myself included.  It goes to the very heart of how culture is created and how we participate, knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly in that creation.  More to the point, what we, individually and collectively, can do about it.

It is one thing to make brief comments informed by my own flawed life experiences.  It is quite another to compose a coherent two or three paragraphs on the subject.  I would like to do justice to the subject and the request.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 at 12:17:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Sorry. I have not just connection. And I am wrong. I can hardly think.
by PerCLupi on Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 at 03:29:03 PM EST


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