Author Topic: Latin Lesson - MaterDominici is Mother of Dominic (Read 2555 times)

Vladimir · « **Reply #5 on:** January 08, 2013, 01:28:22 PM »

In Vietnam everyone calls Sunday by the Chinese words that mean "The Lord's Day". Somewhat funny when used by the non-Catholic population.

Ck104 · « **Reply #6 on:** January 09, 2013, 12:21:17 AM »

Quote from: Vladimir

In Vietnam everyone calls Sunday by the Chinese words that mean "The Lord's Day". Somewhat funny when used by the non-Catholic population.

Could this possibly be due to the fact that Vietnam was once a French colony and the French influenced the Vietnamese language? The French word for Sunday is dimanche , which originates from the Latin dies Dominica, meaning "day of The Lord."

Vladimir · « **Reply #7 on:** January 09, 2013, 12:58:38 AM »

Quote from: Ck104

Quote from: Vladimir
In Vietnam everyone calls Sunday by the Chinese words that mean "The Lord's Day". Somewhat funny when used by the non-Catholic population.

Could this possibly be due to the fact that Vietnam was once a French colony and the French influenced the Vietnamese language? The French word for Sunday is dimanche , which originates from the Latin dies Dominica, meaning "day of The Lord."

It actually stems further back to the Portuguese. The idea of a 7 day week is a historically recent change in the Orient. This site provides fascinating information:

http://www.cjvlang.com/Dow/index.html#TOP

Neil Obstat · « **Reply #8 on:** January 09, 2013, 01:52:20 AM »

Quote from: Matthew

MaterDomini would be "mother of the Lord"
MaterDei would be "mother of God"

Dominicus = belonging to the Lord, a.k.a. "Dominic"
Dominici = 1st person genitive; "of Dominic"
mater = mother

Domingo is Spanish for Dominic -- it's also the name for Sunday, because it's "the Lord's (day)"

As an aside -- think about that: Spanish-speakers all over the world routinely call the first day of the week "The Lord's" instead of "Day of the Sun" like we English speakers. That goes for Spanish-speaking pagans, atheists, agnostics, you name it. The Catholic Faith is in their very language.

And of course there's "Adios" which means "A Dios" or "to God (with you)". The French have "Adieu" which means the same thing. I guess "Goodbye" could be a shortening of "God (be) by you".

Anyhow, I'm getting off topic.

I don't want to promote the off-topic-ness either, so I started a new
thread...

Quote from: Vladimir

In Vietnam everyone calls Sunday by the Chinese words that mean "The Lord's Day". Somewhat funny when used by the non-Catholic population.

...since this subject seems to have a certain appeal.. I did a quick search
and found some "very interesting things" (to quote +Fellay!) regarding
days of the week, domingo, the Lord's Day, and otherwise, that is,
Saturday (Sabbath/Sabado/Sabbat/7th Day) and, surprise, surprise,
feria, or weekdays...

Sigismund · « **Reply #9 on:** January 09, 2013, 09:44:57 PM »

Quote from: Matthew

Quote from: MaterDominici

For that person: don't worry, you're not the first and you won't be the last! I wouldn't even know what it means if it weren't for Matthew having told me. :cool:

Exactly why I posted it -- I noted that friend and foe alike are getting confused by the name, so it was time for a pre-emptive Latin lesson.

Surely Mater has no foes here. You, sure. Everyone hates the moderator at some point, :smile:
But how could anyone not like Mater?