Tazlet Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 How do I say "Hello, I'm the doctor!" in Latin? My best effort has been "Salve. Medicus sum." But I'm not sure that it might imply 'I'm a doctor' rather than the doctor. You probably can't get closer than that without adding some words. Which words? Before we can answer that, you have to think, what do I mean by saying I'm "the" doctor? The only one in the room? The only one in the town? The one you were all expecting? The one you were told about yesterday? To translate from a language that uses definite and indefinite articles, to one that doesn't, you have to trace the thought back a little way. Ah, thank you. The context would be 'I am the only doctor in town." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Dalby Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 How do I say "Hello, I'm the doctor!" in Latin? My best effort has been "Salve. Medicus sum." But I'm not sure that it might imply 'I'm a doctor' rather than the doctor. You probably can't get closer than that without adding some words. Which words? Before we can answer that, you have to think, what do I mean by saying I'm "the" doctor? The only one in the room? The only one in the town? The one you were all expecting? The one you were told about yesterday? To translate from a language that uses definite and indefinite articles, to one that doesn't, you have to trace the thought back a little way. Ah, thank you. The context would be 'I am the only doctor in town." Great. "Medicus sum" is OK, but to be clearer you might say something like "medicus urbis sum" (I'm the town doctor) or "medicus oppidi sum" (if it's a small town) or "medicus vester sum" (I'm your doctor). The words at the beginning and end of the sentence are the ones that get emphasis, and that's what you want: "I am ... doctor". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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