It is not at all unusual in classical Latin for a double subject (both words singular) to take a singular rather than plural verb. This occurs not only in poetry where the scansion would demand it but also in prose, especially in oratory.
Maureen A. Tilley
Visiting Professor of Theology
Fordham University
-----medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture <[log in to unmask]> wrote: -----
To: [log in to unmask]
From: John Dillon <[log in to unmask]>
Sent by: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 07/20/2006 01:57AM
Subject: Re: [M-R] Santa Maria delle Vergini inscription
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On Wednesday, July 19, 2006, at 11:14 pm, I wrote:
> The text is macaronic: lines 1 and 4 are in Venetian, 2 and 3 in
> Latin. A translation follows:
> 2 March 1557
> Hope and love in this pleasant
> prison keeps us
> S. M. delle Vergini
>
> Note that the verb form RETINET is third-person singular (hence the
> ungrammatical "keeps" in my translation). With a plural grammatical
> subject ("spes et amor") one would expect the corresponding plural
> form RETINENT ("keep"). The latter could have been written as
> RETINET with a suprascript line over the second E signalling the
> otherwise unexpressed nasal, in which case "Stef" has not noticed
> the line (or has noticed it but failed to grasp its significance) or
> the line is no longer clearly visible (this often happens in
> lapidary inscriptions).
I should have added that it is possible to take "spes et amor" as a
hendiadys, i.e. a double-barrelled expression of a single concept. In
that case the singular verb form RETINET would be grammatically correct.
There's an example on this page (at p. 15 of the source text):
http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camena/gesner1/books/gesner1_1.html
where George, Duke of Cornwall, the future George III of England, is
addressed as the "Spes et Amor" of his British realm.
Another instance is this from Petrarch's _Contra medicum quendam_:
"et omnium quos alterius vite spes et amor tuto tramite dirigit ad
felicem metam" ("and of all those whom the hope and love of another life
draws to a blessed goal").
Text from:
http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/petrarchmedicus.html
Best again,
John Dillon
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html