Re: "To slurp" in latin, is there such a thing?
| From: | R A Brown <ray@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Wednesday, January 28, 2009, 17:39 |
|---|
Andreas Johansson wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 4:02 PM, taliesin the storyteller
> <taliesin-conlang@...> wrote:
>> * Andreas Johansson said on 2009-01-28 14:39:28 +0100
>>> On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 2:20 PM, taliesin the storyteller
>>> <taliesin-conlang@...> wrote:
>>>> /../ "slurpo ergo sum", /../
>>> My dictionary suggests _sorbeo_ or _sorpillo_.
>> Which dictionary? Lewis & Short or some other?
>
> Nordstedts svensk-latinska ordbok. The companion Latin-Swedish
> dictionary gives "slurp, drink greedily" as the primary sense of
> _sorbeo_, with secondary meanings like "suck in" and "consume", but
> doesn't list _sorpillo_.
>
> Lewis and Short doesn't know _sorpillo_ either, and for _sorbeo_ gives
> "to sup up, suck in, drink down, swallow".
Yep - L & S also adds that it's frequent and classical. It's also often
used with metaphorical meanings of "to suck in" and "to swallow".
It does, however, give _sorbillo_ (sorbillare) as ante- and
post-classical with the meaning "to sip". When words are both ante- and
post-classical it's a fairly certain sign that they were part of the
colloquial language, but were thought too 'plebeian' to be used by
authors of the high classical period. The verb is clearly a diminutive -
and the popular language seems to have been fond of diminutives.
However, 'sipping' and 'slurping' are not the same; the latter is more
annoying and those annoyed by it are not likely to use a diminutive when
complaining!
'to drink greedily' is not the same as slurping. Surely the important
thing about slurping is that it's *noisy* - indeed, I've known many
slurpers who don't drink greedily. If only they would, then the noise
would be over sooner!
I find no evidence that _sorbeo_ implied being noisy as one imbibed. At
the moment I can't find a Latin verb that has the same implication as
the English. But as Taliesin observed, there must surely have been some
Romans with this annoying habit - I'll keep looking :)
--
Ray
==================================
http://www.carolandray.plus.com
==================================
CENEDL HEB IAITH, CENEDL HEB GALON.
(A nation without a language is a
nation without a heart)
[Welsh proverb]
Reply