Marcos wrote:
>
> Rene Uittenbogaard wrote:
> >
> > I like the translation "is to be destroyed". Other languages
> > seem to have the same type of construct ("to be" meaning
> > "must")
>
> But that's not the case here. The "to be" just means "to be";
> the sense of "must" comes from the adjective "delenda"
> which means "needing to be destroyed". I believe the -enda
> suffix for verbs, turning "to X" into "needing to be Xed", was
> generally productive in Latin, but that could be Esperanto
> interference confusing me.
I believe this is what's called the "passive periphrastic."
It's the future passive participle + a form of "esse." This
is used in Latin to indicate obligation or necessity (with
an agent in the dative if needed). So:
Hoc est faciendum mihi (This is to be done by me.)
= I must do this.
Carthago delenda est (Carthage is to be destroyed.)
= Carthage must be destroyed.
--Ph. D.