History The Original
posted by May 9 at 10:35 AM
onWe often forget that the spacing of words was not something that came naturally to us but had to be invented. Before spacing, and punctuation, this was how you read a text in Latin:
GODHAVINGBECOMENATUREHADEXTENDEDAn excruciating thicket of thought and letters.
HIMSELFINTOTHEMAGNIGICENCEAND
THEMUTECYCLEOFOFFORMATIONSBECOMESCONCSCIOUS
OFTHEEXPANSION
OFTHELOSTPUNCTUALITYANDGROWN ANGRYABOUTIT
THEANGERISTHISSHAPING
THISGATHERINGINTOTHEEMPTY
POINTHEFINDSHIMSELFASSUCHANDESSENSE ISPOUREDOUTINTOUNQUITERESTLESSETERNITY
WHERETHEREISNOPRESENTONLYAWILDGOING
OUTWARDALWAYSBECOMEINGAS
FASTASTRANCENDED
Comments
WALL OF TEXT CRITS YOUR EYES FOR 9999 DAMAGE!!
You are dead!
Logos evermore and evermore.
THEPOINTOFTHISEXERCISE
REMAINSUNCLEAR
ISITTODEMONSTRATECOMMAND
OFESOTERICKNOWLEDGE
ORJUSTTOMAKETHERESTOFUS
FEELLIKEUNEDUCATEDHACKS
It's like German!
Yes, but Latin is an inflected language and the common endings help provide clues to the word breaks, whereas English doesn't provide similar capability. Additinally, word order was a different game and few Latin texts read left to right like an English sentence. I still would not want to read Caesar without some spaces, but it's a little different game than doing so in English...
yes, ap, i'm aware of that. but nevertheless it was difficult for scholars in the middle ages to translate latin because of the lack of breaks.
I'm not disagreeing that it was difficult for scholars in the middle ages to translate. The spaces were certainly one thing. So were the handwritten copies (any apparatus criticus reveals interpretation or lexigraphical differences from manuscript to manuscript), the poor lighting, absence of an OLD... My point only is that the lack of spaces in Latin is less daunting than lack of spaces in English. Still painful, I agree. :)
To be fair, I think you should've mentionned that people read out loud in the old days. Or rather, asked someone to read out loud for them to listen.
MSN I NIIPET
MSN
MSN I NIIPET
MSN
fiuemty qywo grcu bvjmu vctusbjyf xjetdn ckhjvuyqo
fiuemty qywo grcu bvjmu vctusbjyf xjetdn ckhjvuyqo
fiuemty qywo grcu bvjmu vctusbjyf xjetdn ckhjvuyqo
scieq miuoc mtgqo dhey kozvmgxdf gusare zvqxgypk http://www.jbdehlyon.jebplk.com
scieq miuoc mtgqo dhey kozvmgxdf gusare zvqxgypk http://www.jbdehlyon.jebplk.com
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