The Classical Latin Alphabet:

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You may view the SVG vector code for the Latin portico image at my Codepen account

Here is a Microsoft Word version of this blogpost:

the_latin_alphabet_my

Here is a pdf version of this blogpost:

the_latin_alphabet_my

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Figure 1: The Latin Alphabet. The word ‘abecedarium,’ in English, can mean ‘an alphabet inscribed into stone.’ Hence, this portico, with the Latin alphabet inscribed onto its frieze, is a diagram of an ‘abecedarium,’ in the English sense of the word, as well.

Introduction:

In beginning our study of the Classical Latin language, we shall begin with its alphabet. We shall learn the Latin name of its letters, and how these letters ought to be pronounced.

The Latin word for ‘alphabet’ is ‘abecedārium.’^[i]

Body:

Classical Latin possesses an alphabet that contains twenty-three letters. These letters are as follows:

Table 1: The Classical Latin Alphabet. The diligent student will pronounce the letters of this alphabet, aloud, over and over again; and shall write them out, over and over again; until he/she will have committed this alphabet, and the names of its letters, to memory.

The Classical Latin Alphabet:
Latin Lowercase Letter:	Latin Uppercase Letter:	Letter Name in Latin:	How to Pronounce the Letter’s Name in Phonemic Transcription:
a	A	ā	/aː/
b	B	bē	/beː/
c	C	cē	/keː/
d	D	dē	/deː/
f	F	ef	/ɛf/
g	G	gē	/geː/
h	H	hā	/haː/
i[ii]	I	ī	/iː/
k	K	kā	/kaː/
l	L	el	/ɛl/
m	M	em	/ɛm/
n	N	en	/ɛn/
o	O	ō	/oː/
p	P	pē	/peː/
q	Q	qū	/kuː/
r	R	er	/ɛr/
s	S	es	/ɛs/
t	T	tē	/teː/
u[iii]	V	ū	/uː/
x	X	ix	/ɪx/ /ix/
y[iiii]	Y	ī Graeca	/iː ˈgra͡ɪ.ka/, /iː ˈgra͡ɪ.kɑ/
z	Z	zēta	/ˈsdeː.ta/, /ˈzdeː.ta/, /ˈsdeː.tɑ/, /ˈzdeː.tɑ/

Conclusion:

In this chapter have examined the alphabet of the classical Latin language. We have committed the knowledge:

• that the Latin word for ‘alphabet’ is ‘abecedārium;’
• that the Latin Alphabet comprises twenty-three letters;
• which letters comprise the Latin Alphabet;
• the names of the Latin letters;
• how the names of the Latin Letters are pronounced in Latin.

to memory. Our now having acquired the above-listed knowledge, we can now move forth to following chapters that will treat of the pronunciation of Latin in greater detail.

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[1] ‘The Classical Latin Alphabet’ can also be referred to as ‘the Classical Roman Alphabet.’

Endnotes for the Chapter, ‘The Classical Latin Alphabet:’

^[i] The Latin, ‘abecedārium,’ genitive singular: ‘abecedāriī,’ is a 2^nd-declension neuter noun. The first four letters of the Latin alphabet are:

‘ā,’ ‘bē,’ ‘cē,’ ‘dē

.

Hence from the first four letters of the Latin alphabet we derive the word:

‘“ā,”-“bē,”-“cē,”-“d’”-“-ārium.”’

The 2^nd-declension neuter nominal suffix: ‘-ārium,’ genitive singular: ‘-āriī,’ denotes ‘a place where things are kept.’ Where do we keep our letters? We keep our letters in an ‘alphabet,’ or, in Latin, in an ‘abecedārium.’

Hence, etymologically, in Latin, an ‘abecedārium,’ can be defined as: ‘a place where we keep the Latin letters, “ā,” “bē,” “cē,” “dē,” etc.’

^[ii]Properly speaking, there is no ‘j’ or ‘J’ in Latin. However, one will often see this character’s being employed—usually in Church texts and other works composed later than the Classical epoch—to denote a consonantal ‘i,’ or ‘I.’ In Latin, ‘i,’ as a vowel, is pronounced, when short, as /ɪ/ or /i/; and when long as /iː/.

In Latin, consonantal ‘i’ can be represented by the IPA symbol, /j/. The consonantal ‘i,’—or ‘j,’ as one sometimes sees (in Church texts)—represents this very /j/ sound. The consonantal ‘i’ in the Latin word, ‘iugum,’ or ‘jugum,’ /ˈjʊ.ɡʊm/ that means ‘yoke,’ is pronounced as the ‘y’ in the English word, ‘yurt,’ i.e. as: /jεːt/.

^[iii]In Classical Latin, properly, ‘u,’ and ‘v’ are the same letter. Properly, a ‘V’ is nothing more than the capital form of the lowercase ‘u.’ Therefore, strictly speaking, the presence of a lowercase ‘v,’ in a classical Latin text, is an aberration. Oxford University Press wishes, eventually, to strike this aberration from all of its Latin publications, and I wish them well with this endeavour. Hence, the word ‘verbum,’ that one may observe in present O.U.P. Latin texts will eventually become ‘uerbum.’ However, this practice, today, is far from standard. I prefer this practice, and this is the practice that is employed by Peter V. Jones and Keith C. Sidwell’s Reading Latin: Text Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1986. However, these texts—although I deem them more correct—are still in the minority. At present, in most Latin texts, a ‘u,’ or a ‘U,’ is employed to represent the letter ‘u,’ as a vowel; and a ‘v’ or a ‘V’ is employed to represent the letter ‘u,’ as a consonant. Hence, the letter ‘u,’ or ‘U,’ when short, can be said to represent the phonemes: /ʊ/ or /u/ and, when long it can be said to represent the phoneme /uː/. The letter ‘v’ or ‘V’ can be said to represent the phoneme /w/. This will be the practice employed in this present work. Although not our focus, in Church texts, the letter ‘v,’ or ‘V’ can be said to represent the phoneme /v/.

The technical name for the phoneme, /v/, is ‘voiced labiodental fricative.’

The Phonetics term, ‘voiced,’ informs us that vibrating air from the vocal chords is involved in the pronunciation of /v/.

The Phonetics term, ‘labiodental,’ informs us that both the lips and the teeth are involved in the pronunciation of /v/.

The English adjective, ‘labiodental’ is derived from the New Latin 3^rd-declension adjective, ‘labiōdentālis, labiōdentāle,’ genitive singular: ‘labiōdentālis,’ genitive plural: ‘labiōdentālium,’ base: ‘labiōdentāl-.’ This New Latin word is derived from the Classical Latin 2^nd-declension neuter noun, ‘labium,’ genitive singular: ‘labiī,’ which means ‘lip;’ and from the Classical Latin 3^rd-declension masculine noun, ‘dēns,’ genitive singular: ‘dentis,’ genitive plural: ‘dentium,’ which means ‘tooth;’ and from the 3^rd-declension adjectival suffix, ‘-ālis, -āle.’

Hence, etymologically, in this instance, the English adjective, ‘labiodental’ denotes ‘the use of the lips and the teeth in the articulation of a phoneme.’

The Phonetics term, ‘fricative,’ informs us that turbulence, caused by the air escaping from a narrow channel—in this instance, the mouth and lips—is involved in the pronunciation of /v/.

^[iiii]As with ‘i,’ the Latin letter, ‘y,’ can function as a vowel or as a consonant. Its name in Latin is ‘ī Graeca’ which means ‘Greek “i.”’ When the character, ‘y,’ functions as a consonant, it is said to represent the phoneme, /j/, and on the occasions that ‘y’ functions as a vowel, when short it can be said to represent the phonemes: /ɪ/ or /i/ and when long—i.e. when a macron should appear above it, as: ‘ȳ’—it can be said to represent the phoneme: /iː/.

The Elements of Euclid in Greek and Latin

I was trying to parse my way through an edition of The Elements in Greek and Latin:

https://archive.org/details/euclidisoperaomn01eucluoft/page/x

The name of The Elements in Ancient Greek is:

Στοιχει̃a

or, when transliterated:

Stoicheĩa

.

The Ancient-Greek word, τὰ στοιχει̃α or, when transliterated ‘tà stoicheĩa,’ is a plural form of the 2nd-declension neuter verb, τὸ στοιχει̃ον genitive: του̃ στοιχείου or, when transliterated: ‘tò stoicheĩon,’ genitive: ‘toũ stoicheíou.’

The Ancient-Greek word, ‘tò stoicheĩon,’ can mean ‘an element in a set.’

Figure 1: The elements of this set are alpha, beta, gamma and delta.

The Ancient-Greek word, ‘tò stoicheĩon,’ is formed from the Ancient-Greek masculine noun, ὁ στοι̃χος genitive: του̃ στοίχου or, when transliterated, ‘ho stoĩchos,’ genitive: ‘toũ stoíchou,’ which means ‘steps,’ or ‘a flight of stairs;’ and the Ancient-Greek 2nd-declension neuter nominal suffix, ‘-eĩon,’ genitive: ‘-eíou’ which denotes ‘a means (of),’ ‘an instrument of;’ etc.

Figure 2: a ‘stoĩchos’ or ‘series of steps.’

The term, ‘stoĩchos,’ according to Wiktionary, may be traced back to the indo-european word:

*steigʰ

, which means:

‘climb.’

Hence, etymologically, the Ancient-Greek term, ‘stoicheĩa,’ can be said to mean: ‘the means of climbing up;’ ‘the means of stepping up;’ ‘the means of ascent;’ etc.

This is highly instructive, as, in truth, Elements is a book that is a Jacob’s ladder, of sorts, by which one can ascend, element by element, into the heavens of mathematical knowledge.

Figure 3: With The Elements of Euclid, we advance in our mathematical knowledge element by element. Each element is, conceptually, like a rung, heaving us upwards to Mathematical prowess; to an implicit knowledge of Euclidean Geometry.

Operator Precedence in Arithmetic

The Microsoft Word version of this blogpost. (.docx)

The PDF version of this blogpost. (.pdf)

Introduction:

Conventional Arithmetic possesses rules for the order of operations. Which operations ought we to evaluate first? In what order ought we to evaluate operations? This is the topic that this chapter wishes to address. ‘Precedence,’ is also sometimes referred to as ‘the order of operations.’

Body:

The Etymological Definition of ‘Precedence:’

Our English noun, ‘precedence,’ is derived from the Latin substantive participle, ‘praecēdentia.’^[3] ‘Praecēdentia,’ in Latin, means ‘the abstract concept of which things go before [other things].’

Figure 2: The English arithmetical term, ‘precendence,’ is derived from a compund of the Latin verb ‘cēdēre,’ which means ‘to go.’ Go, or Golang, as a language, is—syntactically—very like the C Programming Language.

Within the context of Arithmetic, ‘precedence,’ etymologically, means ‘the science of determining which operations go before [other operations];’ ‘the science of determining which operations should be evaluated before [other operations].

The Acronym, ‘P.E.M.D.A.S:’

The acronym, ‘P.E.M.D.A.S.,’ stands for:

1. Parenthesis;
2. Exponentiation;
3. Multiplication and Division;
4. Addition and Subtraction.

The Acronym, ‘P.E.M.D.A.S.,’ can be easily remembered with the Mnemonic phrase:

‘Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.’^[4]

Levels of Precedence:

As we can observe from the above ordered list, some operations share the same level of precedence. For example, the operation, multiplication, and the operation, division, have the same level of precedence. Multiplication and Division share the third level of precedence, in the above list. When we are confronted with an expression or an equation that contains operations at the same level of precedence, seeing that in Anglophone countries, we read from left to right, then we evaluate operations that possess the same level of precedence from left to right. Hence, when two or more operations—within an equation or an expression—share the same level of precedence, then we evaluate them from left to right. Concerning operations at the same level of precedence, we evaluate from beginning at the leftmost operation, and work our way rightwards.

An Example of Precedence:

In the expression:

2 ÷ 1 + 3 × 4² – 5 + ( 3 – 2 )

, we first evaluate the operation in parenthesis, i.e.:

( 3 – 2 )

. When we evaluate:

( 3 – 2 )

, then we obtain the difference:

1

.

This renders the original expression as:

2 ÷ 1 + 3 × 4² – 5 + ( 1 )

or as:

2 ÷ 1 + 3 × 4² – 5 + 1

.

Second, we evaluate the exponentiation operation i.e.:

4²

. When we evaluate:

4²

, then this obtains for us the power:

16

. This renders our original expression as:

2 ÷ 1 + 3 × 16 – 5 + 1

.

The operations, Multiplication and Division, share the same level of precedence. However, given that the division operation is further to the left, on the page, than the multiplication operation, then we evaluate the division operation before we evaluate the multiplication operation.

Given that the division operation:

2 ÷ 1

is further to the left, on our page than the multiplication operation:

3 × 16

, then we evaluate:

2 ÷ 1

before we evaluate:

3 × 16

.

When we evaluate:

<!–

2\div1

–>

2 ÷ 1

, then we obtain the quotient:

2

. This renders our original expression as:

2 + 3 × 16 – 5 + 1

. Then we proceed to evaluate:

3 × 16

, and this obtains for us the product:

48

. This renders our original expression as:

2 + 48 – 5 + 1

.

The operations; addition, and subtraction; share the same level of precedence. In the above ordered list, they are at the 4^th level of precedence. We evaluate these operations as we should find them, beginning at the leftmost, and working our way rightward. Hence, we evaluate:

2 + 48

first. This obtains for us the sum:

50

. This renders our original expression as:

50 – 5 + 1

. We then proceed to evaluate the operation:

50 – 5

, which obtains for us the difference:

45

. This renders our original expression as:

45 + 1

. We then proceed to evaluate the expression:

45 + 1

. This obtains for us the sum:

46

.
This renders our original expression as:

46

. We have thus simplified the expression:

2 ÷ 1 + 3 × 4² – 5 + ( 3 – 2 )

to:

46

. We have observed mathematical precedence οr the order of operations in our simplification of the expression:

<!–

2 \div 1 + 3 \times 4² – 5 + \left ( 3 – 2 )

–>

2 ÷ 1 + 3 × 4² – 5 + ( 3 – 2 )

to:

46

.

Conclusion:

In this chapter, we have endeavoured to gain for ourselves an implicit understanding of precedence as it pertains to basic or conventional arithmetic. Boolean arithmetic, an arithmetic of logic employed in Computer Science, also possesses precedence or an order of operations, which we shall examine in a subsequent chapter. In the next chapter, we shall examine precedence or the order of operations as it specifically applies to the C programming language.

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Footnotes:

^[1] The Etymology of the English mathematical term, ‘arithmetic,’ is as follows. The English adjective, ‘arithmetic,’ is derived from the Latin 1^st-and-2^nd-declension adjective, ‘arithmētica, arithmēticus, arithmēticum.’ Further, the Latin adjective, ‘arithmēticus,’ is derived from the Ancient-Greek phrase, ἀριθμητικὴ τέξνη or, when transliterated, ‘arithmētikḕ téchne,’ which means ‘the art of counting;’ ‘the skill of counting;’ ‘the science of counting.’ ὁ ἀριθμός genitive: τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ, or—when transliterated: ‘ho arithmós,’ genitive: ‘toũ arithmoũ,’—is a 2nd-declension Ancient-Greek noun that means ‘number,’ ‘numeral,’ Cf. ‘ἀριθμός#Ancient_Greek,’ Wiktionary (last modified: 7^th September 2018, at 17:57.), https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ἀριθμός#Ancient_Greek , accessed 29th April 2019.^[2] Cf. ‘arithmetic,’ Wiktionary (last modified: 25th April 2019, at 04:45.), https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/arithmetic, accessed 29th April 2019.

^[3] ‘praecedēntia’ is the nominative neuter plural of the participle, ‘praecedēns,’ which means ‘going before.’ The form, ‘praecedēntia,’ means ‘those things going before;’ ‘the concept of things going before.’ We shall metamorphose ‘praecedēntia’ into a 1st-declension feminine noun that means ‘precedence.’ ‘praecedēntia’ genitive singular: ‘praecēdentiae,’ is a 1st-declension feminine noun that means ‘precedence.’ ‘praecēdentiae,’ can be further broken down into the preposition, ‘prae,’ which means ‘before;’ and the 3rd-conjugation verb, ‘cēdō, cēdere, cessī, cessum,’ which means ‘to go,’ and the Latin 1st-declension feminine nominative nominal suffix, ‘-ia,’ genitive: ‘-iae,’ which, in this instance, denotes ‘a noun formed from a present-participle stem.’ Hence, the etymological definition of ‘precedence’ is ‘the concept of things going before [other things].’ Within the context of arithmetic, the etymological definition of ‘precedence is ‘the concept of operations being evaluated before other operations.’ Cf. ‘praecedentia,’ Wiktionary (last modified on 9^th September 2013, at 02:28.), accessed on 1^st May 2019. Cf. ‘praecedens,’ Wiktionary (last modified on 11^th November 2016, at 16:40.) https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/praecedens#Latin, accessed on 1^st May 2019.

^[4] Stapel, Elizabeth, ‘The Order of Operations: PEMDAS,’ Purple Math (2019), http://www.purplemath.com/modules/orderops.htm, accessed on the 1^st May 2019.

The Shiyn

 

Figure 1: This is the ‘Shiyn’, the 21st letter of the Hebrew abjad. Its Aramaic name is שִׁין or ‘shīyn’ or ‘shîn’. It is spelt ‘shiyn,chiriq; yod; final nun;’ I drew this shiyn with gel pens. I then scanned it into Vector Magic, and then I tweaked it in Inkscape with the Typography extension.

This is the 21st letter of the Hebrew abjad. An ‘abjad’ in linguistics is an alphabet comprising only consonants and no vowels. The word ‘shiyn,’ is Aramaic for ‘teeth.’ In Proto-Sinaitic, or “Paeleo-Hebrew” this character looks like a pair of incisors.

Figure 2: This is what a ‘shiyn’ looks like in Phoenician or Proto-Sinaitic or Pale-Hebrew.

שֵׁן or ‘shē(i)n’ is ‘tooth’ in Hebrew.

Figure 3: I drew this tooth in Assembly, an app-store app. שֵׁן or ‘shē(i)n’ is ‘tooth’ in Hebrew. It is spelt ‘shiyn,tseire; final nun;’ It is a feminine noun.

Should the dot be placed over the left horn, then this character is pronounced like a clean ‘s’ would in English. The IPA symbol that represents this sound is /s/.

Figure 4: Should we place the dot over the left horn, then we pronounce this character as a clean ‘s’ or /s/.

Should the dot be placed over the right horn, then this character is pronounced like an ‘sh’ would in English. The IPA symbol that represents this sound is /ʃ/.

Figure 4: Should we place the dot over the right horn, then we pronounce this character as a “soft-‘s’” sound; as we would pronounce the digraph ‘sh’ in ‘shop.’ The IPA symbol that represents this phoneme is /ʃ/ or ‘esh’.

One word with which this character is associated is the Hebrew word for fire, which is אֵשׁ or, when transliterated: ‘ē(i)sh.’

Figure 5: It is as though a fire bites into whatever it is consuming. Hence the shiyn, as a pictograph, is said to represent fire, or passion etc.

Figure 5: What the Hebrew word, ‘ē(i)sh’ means when spelled with Proto-sinaitic or Paleo-Hebrew characters. The pictographic meaning of this word seems to be ‘the strength of consuming,’ or ‘strong consuming,’ or ‘leading to consuming,’ etc.

The word for ‘man’ in Hebrew is אִישׁ or, when transliterated, ‘īysh,’ or ‘îsh.’ Man has, as it were, the fire of life inside of him, the götterfunken, or ‘divine spark,’ as Schiller put it. His internal body temperature is 37 degrees celsius. Also, man – if not careful – can be utterly consumed by his appetites and passions.

Figure 6: Ecce homō! Behold the man! It is as though he is animated by some divine flame. However, he is also a collection of passions and appetites, and – if not careful – he can be destroyed by these.

Wire-Framing Websites and Apps in Inkscape and Scripted SVG:

Figure 1: I drew this HTML logo in Scripted SVG. My development skills, especially my ability to develop web images through code, is really beginning to rise to a professional standard.

Figure 2: I mocked up this old website, phouka.com for an e-book that I am putting the finishing touches to, and hope to release upon Amazon, shortly. This website, developed in 2005, employs a pre-html-5 table layout which is now deprecated. Today, the downloading of fonts by a web-accessor is no longer required thanks to @fontface .

Figure 3: I drew this Swift Logo – the Programming Language employed by Apple – in Vector software such as Vector Magic and Inkscape. Apps can be mocked up in Inkscape so as to give the customer a sense of what his/her app’s user experience/ graphical user interface might look like, prior to the app’s development commencing in earnest.

If anyone should require mockups of apps or websites prior to taking this wireframe to a professional website-developer/app-programmer, let me know. Send me a direct message, or something. The advantage of doing this in SVG, is that one can then employ the SVG code and the CSS code generated by Inkscape in the website/app itself.

The Classics Make Engineering Easier: Latin names of Formal Logic Symbols.

 

Introduction:

It is my contention that the knowledge of Latin and Greek make STEM^[1] easier to learn. A huge number of STEM terms are derived from Greek and Latin.

 

 

Fig 1: I drew this portrait of George Boole with pencils. George Boole was self-taught and fluent in Latin, Greek and Hebrew by the time that he was 12.

Vel Symbol:

 

Fig 1: This is the Vel symbol. You may view the Vector at my CodePen Account.

In Formal Logic this symbol represents ‘disjunction.’ The equivalent in Boolean Algebra is ‘Inclusive Or.’ ‘vel’ is Latin for ‘or.’ One sees this quite a bit in liturgical rubrics^[2].

 

The Wedge Symbol

 

Fig 1: This is the Wedge symbol. You may view the Vector at my CodePen Account.

In Formal Logic this symbol represents “conjunction.” The equivalent in Boolean Algebra is “And.” In Latin, ‘ac’ or ‘atque’ is ‘and.’ Sometimes this symbol is called this. One sees this quite a bit in ecclesiastical Latin.

 

‘Annūntiō vōbīs gaudium magnum: habēmus pāpam! ēminentissimum ac reverendissimum dominum [praenōmen] sānctae rōmānae ecclēsiae [cōgnōmen] cardinālem quī imposuit sibi nōmen [nōmen pāpāle].’

‘I announce to ye a great joy: we have a Pope!, the most eminent and most revered [forename] lord of the most holy Roman Church, Cardinal [surname], who hath placed upon himself the name [regnal name].’

In the offertory the priest prays:

‘…prō fidēlibus christiānīs vīvīs atque dēfūnctīs…’

‘…for all faithful Christians living and dead…’

In The Young Pope (2016), a Cardinal, disfavoured by Pius XIII/Jude Law, prays this in the frozen wilderness of Alaska, to whence he was banished.

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^[1]An acronym which stands for ‘Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics.’

^[2]The term, ‘rubrīcus,’ in Latin means ‘red.’ Liturgically, the actions of the priest are written in red, whereas what the priest says is written in black.

 

The Hebrew Word for Father:

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In the below link, you may download a Microsoft Word version of this article:

the_hebrew_word_for_father

In the below link, you may download a pdf version of this article:

the_hebrew_word_for_father

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Figure 1: I drew this Israeli flag in Inkscape and SVG.

In this chapter, we are going to examine the Hebrew word, אָב or ‘āv.’

Figure 2: I drew this Hebrew word ‘āv’ in Inkscape. Sometimes a custom font can really set a piece of graphic design off.

Body:

The Hebrew word for ‘father’ is:

אָב

Which is pronounced:

/ʔaːv/ , /ʔa:v/

, and which can be transliterated as:

‘āv’

.

In Phoenecian, or “Paleo-Hebrew” it is spelt:

Figure 3: The Phoenician, or Paleo-Hebrew word for ‘father.’ Pictographically, it is said to mean ‘the strength of the house;’ ‘the leader of the house.’

According to this intriguing website on Ancient Hebrew this word, pictographically, means ‘the strength of the house;’ ‘The leader (aluph)^[1] of the house (beith).’ The site master says that in Classical Hebrew thought, each person was said to be blessed with three fathers:

1. a biological father: ‘the strength of a household;’ ‘the leader of a household;’
2. a priest: the ‘leader of the house of God’
3. God:  ‘the leader of the Universe.’

In Biblical Hebrew, ‘the patriarchs;’ or ‘the fathers;’ or ‘Abraham, Isaac and Jacob;’ are called the:

אָבוֹת

or:

‘āvōth’

.^[2]

We are introduced to father Abraham as:

אַבְרָם

or:

‘av(e)rām’^[3]

, which name means ‘exalted father.’^[4]

Conclusion:

In classical Hebrew, a little goes a long way. By our learning of the word, אָב or ‘āv,’ we have gained a more or less implicit understanding of Ancient-Hebrew and Phoenician culture, as regards how they view concepts such as God, patriarchy and fatherhood.

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^[1]According to Wiktionary in Hebrew, the word, אַלּוּף, which is pronounced: /ʔal.ˈlʊf/ /ʔɑl.ˈlʊf/ means:

1. ‘A major general (military rank);’
2. ‘A champion (someone who has been winner in a contest);’
3. ‘Biblical Hebrew: A close friend.’

According to Wiktionary in Hebrew, the word, בַּיִת or ‘báyith‘ means:

1. ‘house;’
2. ‘stanza (part of a poem or a song).’

The Aramaic word בֵּית or ‘beith’ or ‘beyth’ is the second letter of the Aramaic Abjad that Hebrew uses. The Phoenician pictograph represents a ‘house,’ or a ‘tent.’ Figuratively, it can represent ‘body,’ which is the ‘house of the soul;’ ‘a temple,’ which is ‘the house of God,’ or even ‘the Universe.’

^[2] Pronounced רָם/ʔɔ:.’voːθ/ /ʔa:.voːθ/ /ʔɔ.’voːθ/ /ʔa.voːθ/

^[3] Pronounced /ʔɑv.ə.’ra:m/

^[4]According to Wiktionary The adjective רָם or ‘rām,’ pronounced /ra:m/, means:

1. ‘high,’ ‘important;’
2. ‘loud.’

 

I am a Wise Architect

Figure 1: I drew this compass in Inkscape.

Ἐγώ εἰμί σοφὸς ἀρχιτέκτων

Egṓ eimí sophòs architéktōn

Well, not quite! However, I am getting there!

I never had any interest in Mathematics, or Architecture, or Technical drawing at school… however, I believe that Latin and Greek confers an architectural frame of mind upon one. This mindset is sometimes termed ‘Rōmānitās,’ or ‘Roman-mess.’

As Plato is said, by legend, to have inscribed upon the Portico of the Academy:^[1]

ἀγεωμέτρητος μηδεὶς εἰσίτω

‘ageōmétrētos mēseàs eisístō’

which means ‘let nobody ignorant of geometry enter.’

To the Greeks, therefore, Mathematics and Geometry was seen as a prerequisite to philosophy.

I began to read an English translation of ‘the Euclid,’ I think in 2014, and was amazed that I could understand it. I was in a private chapel, ironically, when this occurred. My interest in Ecclesiastical Latin led me to become interested in Geometry.

Figure 2:In the first Book of Corinthians chapter 3, verse 10 saint Paul calls himself a “wise masterbuilder” or “sophòs architéktōn”

In the King James Bible, Saint Paul calls himself a “wise masterbuilder”:

‘According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. …’

^[2]

In the Textus Receptus, the Erasmian Koine Greek New Testament from Which the Authorised Version was translated, the Greek phrase employed for “wise masterbuilder” is is … σοφὸς ἀρχιτέκτων … or, when transliterated ‘sophòs architéktōn.’

I will write a bit more concerning Technical drawing, as there is a company in Monaghan called Entekra who 3d prints timberframe houses, and one day I would like to be good enough at technical drawing so as to work for them.

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^[1] ἡ Ἀκαδημίᾱ Genitive: τῆς Ἀκαδημίᾱς ‘hē akadēmía,’ Genitive: ‘tē̃ s akadēmías;’ 1^st-declension feminine noun. ‘the Academy, an Athenian Gymnasium where Plato taught.’ wiktionary

^[2]Authorised Version. 1 Corinthians 3:10.

An Etymological Definition of Blasphemy:

​Blasphemy is quite topical these days. Although blasphemy was unenforcible in Ireland, theocratic regimes in which blasphemy laws were enforcible would point to Ireland as justification. Thankfully they can no longer do this. βλάπτω or ‘bláptō’ is an Ancient Greek verb ‘to harm,’ ‘to injure,’ ‘to cause a mischief;’ φημί or ‘phēmí’ is an Ancient Greek verb, ‘to speak,’ ‘to say;’ and  -ια or ‘-ia’ is a nominal suffix. Hence, etymologically, ‘blasphemy’ is ‘harmful or injurious or mischievous talk [directed at a religion, or a deity, or a doctrine/tenet of a religion].’

Figure 1: I drew this crozier in Inkscape. The hook represents the guiding office of a bishop: his pulling the sheep out of a ditch gently by the kneck. The long staff part represents the disciplinary office of a bishop: his beating of naughty sheep!

Oxford

Figure 1:  Oxford University Press.  I drew this logo in inkscape.  You may view the Vector file of the above-depicted image at my at my Codepen Account.

Figure 2:   I drew this book cover in Scripted SVG. Currently, I am learning the Oxford Style. As it is, I have an extremely high daily word-count. Were I to translate what I write already into professional academic papers, then I would be able to obtain a degree without too much effort. I also wish to very shortly begin to publish Epubs on Amazon Kindle. You may view the Vector file of the above-depicted image at my Codepen Account.

Oxford’s motto is

‘Dominus Illuminatio Mea’

. This is Latin for:

‘The Lord is my enlightenment.’

This motto comes from Psalm 26/27^[1]:

‘
1. Psalmus Dāvīd priusquam linīrētur.

Dominus illūminātiō mea et salūs mea, quem timēbō?
Dominus prōtector vītae meae, ā quō trepidābō?’

^[2]

Clementine Vulgate. (1861)

‘{a Pſalme of David.} The Lord is my light, and my ſaluation, whome ſal I feare? the Lord is the ſtrength of my life, of whō^[3] ſall I be afraid?’

King James Version. (1611)

‘{A Psalm of David.} The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD isthe strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?’

King James Version. (1769)

Graduates of Oxford may place the post-nominal suffix, ‘oxon.’ after their names. This is short for ‘Ūniversitās Oxoniēnsis’ or ‘the University of Oxford.’

Figure 3: The 1769 Oxford Standard Text is one of the variations of the KJV in use today.

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^[1] The 1610 Dovvay Rheims numbers this psalm as Psalme 26:

‘Ovr Lord is my illumination, and my ſalvation, whom shall I feare?
Our Lord is the protec͡tour of my life, of whom shal I be afrayd?’

The KJV translation committee criticised the Dovvay Rheims fathers for transliterating too many Latin words, like ‘illuminatio’ into ‘illumination,’ instead of properly translating them into ‘enlightenment’ or ‘light,’ as the King-James translation committee did. Protestants often criticise the use of ‘Our’ as well in this edition of the Bible. In the Hebrew, the Tetragrammaton has no possessive. The KJV translators speak thus of the (1610 and earlier) Dovvay Rheims.:

“…as also on the other side we have shunned the obscurity of the Papists, in their Azimes, Tunike, Rational, Holocausts, Praepuce, Pasche, and a number of such like, whereof their late Translation is full, and that of purpose to darken the sense, that since they must needs translate the Bible, yet by the language thereof, it may be kept from being understood. But we desire that the Scripture may speak like itself, as in the language of Canaan, that it may be understood even of the very vulgar.”

My own view, for what it is worth is that the KJV and the 1610 Dovvay Rheims are both equally charming, but for different reasons. The 1610 Dovvay Rheims, its being a more-or-less formal equivalence translation of the Latin Vulgate, is a great tool for learning Latin.

^[2]Scanned reprint of the Carolus Vercellone edition. BIBLIA SACRA VVLGATAE EDITIONIS SIXTI V. ET CLEMENTIS VIII. PONTT. MAXX. IVSSV RECOGNITA ATQVE EDITA ROMAE TYPIS S. CONGREGATIONIS DE PROPAGANDA FIDE ANNO MDCCCLXI. Psalm 26. p.347

^[3] This scribal abbreviation, a macron placed over the ‘o’ represents an ‘m.’