[B-Greek] Esprit doux (was "B-Greek Year End Awards")
Carl Conrad
cwconrad2 at mac.com
Wed Jan 6 08:06:42 EST 2010
On Jan 6, 2010, at 6:20 AM, Sarah Madden wrote:
> Carl wrote: " And was it not Voltaire who said, 'Si l'esprit doux n'existait
> pas,
> il faudrait l'inventer?' "
>
> My French is a little rusty, so I asked an expert (my brother who was a
> Wycliffe linguist for 20 years and speaks and translates French fluently).
> Here's his translation: "If a gentle spirit did not exist, it would have to
> be invented."
>
> My question: Was Carl referring to the smooth breathing mark as the "gentle
> spirit" that had to be invented? Just a thought.
ψιλὸν πνεῦμα καὶ δασὺ πνεῦμα [YILON PNEUMA ΚΑΙ DASU PNEUMA]
"Esprit rude" et "esprit doux" = "spiritus asper" and "spiritus lenis"
"Rough breathing" and "smooth breathng"
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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