Disputatio Categoriae:Via Sericaria

Latest comment: abhinc 11 annos by Andrew Dalby in topic Nomen

Nomen

recensere

Vel fortasse melius "Categoria:Via Serica." Vide commentarium Via Serica. IacobusAmor (disputatio) 12:12, 11 Maii 2013 (UTC)Reply

Hmm, de eo nomine meliorem fontem postulo. An Beatrice Hsu et Taiwan Today nomen Latinum verum reppererunt et recte transscripserunt? Mihi "Via Serica" dicit "Chinese Road", non "Silk Road". Sed, si nomen re vera e fonte Latino venit, optime. Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 12:58, 11 Maii 2013 (UTC)Reply
Cassel's: Sericus = 'silken' (Hor., Tac.); n.pl. serica = 'silken garments' (Prop.); sericatus = 'clothed in silk' (Suet.). Etiam 'silk' = vestis serica. IacobusAmor (disputatio) 13:05, 11 Maii 2013 (UTC)Reply
It may be fine, but I'd love to see it in a Latin text. Cassell's doesn't really help (so far as I can see): it isn't a "silken" road or a road clothed in silk, it's a road along which silk was transported. So, we don't say "via Sal", nor "via Salis", nor "via Salina", but "via Salaria". D'you see what I mean? Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 13:13, 11 Maii 2013 (UTC)Reply
Yes, the parallel is obvious, except that sal is a noun and has no option but to change its morphology (into salarius, -a, um ~ salinus, -a,-um ~ salsus, -a, -um) to become an adjective; serica, however, is both a noun (serica, -orum) and an adjective (sericus, -a, -um). IacobusAmor (disputatio) 13:23, 11 Maii 2013 (UTC)Reply
Fortasse hic locus (ex en:) ad rem pertinet: "The Seres (Gr. Σῆρες, Lat. Sērēs) were inhabitants of the land Serica, named by the ancient Greek and Roman.[1] It meant "of silk," or people of the "land where silk comes from," and is thought to derive from the Chinese word for silk, si (Traditional Chinese: 絲; Simplified Chinese: 丝; pinyin: sī). It is itself at the origin of the Latin for "silk", sērĭcă." IacobusAmor (disputatio) 13:23, 11 Maii 2013 (UTC)Reply
No, it doesn't show that you can call this road "Via Serica". As soon as we find some reliable Latin author who does, fine! Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 13:29, 11 Maii 2013 (UTC)Reply
I'm just one guy. I think "Via Serica" is a bad name, but I can be wrong: maybe others think it's perfect? Obviously someone at Ephemeris[2] thought it was OK! Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 13:58, 11 Maii 2013 (UTC)Reply
  1. Schoff, Wilfred H.: "The Eastern Iron Trade of the Roman Empire", Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 35 (1915), pp. 224-239 (237)
  2. Herimannus Novocomensis, "De via serica saeculi XXI" in Ephemeris (10 Maii 2009)
Revertere ad "Via Sericaria".