Latin Language and Script:
Sample Documents.
Three Samples from Minfeld, Kreis Germersheim, Rheinland- Pfalz, Germany.
I. Baptism, 1802.
This sample page does not include the date for the first entry, so it is up to the person who copied it to take careful notes from the microfilm! But the text is fairly typical and presents some problems for the researcher. Note the occasional use of the letter æ for the first declension genitive singular ending — it looks like somewhat like an irregular a. The æ also appears in the word pr�sente.
Transcription
Maria Francisca Mog.
... baptizata fuit Maria Francisca filia Joannis Philippi Mog, et Judith� Beyer lutheran� conjugum civium in Minfeld, nata pridie hora decima serotina. Patrinus fuit Georgius Schneider filius solutus defuncti Joannis Schneider olim civis in Brimbach. Matrina vero fuit Francisca Mog filia soluta Joannis Mog civis hujatis. Qui ambo patri pr�sente hic una meum subscripserunt.
Ferdinandus Stockert.
Anno Domini millesimo octingentesimo secundo die secunda Maji a me infra scripto parocho baptizatus fuit Ferdinandus filius Ferdinandi Stockert et Mari� Ev� Schumacher civium conjugum in Minfeld commorantium (mark indicates insertion of text written in margin: legimitatus per subsequentum matrimonium), natus eodem die, patrinus fuit Ferdinandus M�ller civis in Minfeld, matrina fuit Elisabetha nata Gross patrini uxor, qui ambo patri pr�sente hic meum subscripserunt.
(In the margin: NB: Actus hic baptismalis ad signum crucis in pagina sequente factum referrendus est.)
Catharina Kambeis.
Anno Domini millesimo octingentesimo secundo die decima quinta aprilis a me infra scripto baptizata fuit Catharina filia Petri Kambeiss et Catharin� Friedman civium conjugum in Minfeld, nata pridie, levantes fuerunt Petrus Martinus Friedman, et Anna Maria Kambeiss cives conjuges in Minfeld�
Notes: "nata pridie hora decima serotina" means "born the previous day at 10 in the evening". Serotina is the feminine of serotinus. In many areas, the classical name Johannes is usually spelled Joannes in the church records. Solutus/soluta in this context apparently means free, not a serf, although there is not enough information here to rule out that it simply means adult, and thus "free" or affranchised from his or her parents. From the word endings, we see that it is Georgius Schneider who is "free", not his father; solutus is in the nominative case, agreeing with Georgius, and not in the genitive case (that would be soluti) to make it agree with Joannis. Likewise, the singular femine genitive ending on the adjective lutheran� tells us that only Juditha was a Lutheran, not her husband Joannes — if they were both Lutheran, their daughter would not have been baptised in this Catholic church, and the word would be lutheranorum, the plural masculine genitive form (masculine because it refers to a combination of masculine and feminine nouns). In the second entry, the reference sign points us to text in the margin, which says that the child was legitimized by the subsequent marriage of his parents. The other marginal text, the "NB" (=Nota Bene, meaning "note well" or "pay attention to this") tells us that there is some mention of this baptismal record on the following page (or possibly on "a" folllowing page), at the sign of the cross (ad signum crucis). The most challenging word on this page is undoubtedly hujatis, which looks like hujalis — it is not clear whether the t is crossed, or if the mark is simply very faint, but apart from that difficulty, hujatis (genitive plural of hujatus) is not a word in the Classical Latin vocabulary. As this adjective is used in later records, it means "of this place" or "local".
II. Baptism, 1804.
This page and the next one are remarkable for including dates from the French Republican Calendar, something we do not usually see in Latin!
Transcription
Theresia Stockert.
Anno Domini millesimo octingentesimo quarto die vero decima nona mensis Maji hora decima vespertina reipublicæ gallicorum 29 floreal XII nata est Theresia filia illegitima Ferdinandi Stockert et Mariæ Evæ Schuhmacher civium hujatum, et a me infra scripto baptizata est die vigesima eiusdem mensis. Patrinus fuit Georgius Adamus Weltz civis hujus, et matrina Theresia Muller uxor Caspari Rink civis hujatus, qui una mecum (?) subscripsere excepta matrina quæ se scribere nescire declaravit signum posuit.
(In the margin: Post subsequentum matrimonium legitimata.)
Notes: In Latin, compound nouns typically decline in both parts of the word. The nominative "res publica", which later became respublica, becomes
"rei publicæ" or reipublicæ in the genitive case. Respublica gallicorum is the French Republic. The date 20 Flor�al XII
in the French Republican Calendar can be converted to the "normal" calendar using one of the many calendar conversion web sites such as
Skippy's Convertisseur
Note "civium hujatum", referring to the parents of the child. Since the names of the parents are in the genitive case, "civium hujatum", referring to both of them, is the gentive plural. Also we see this pharse in the nominative singular, "civis hujus", and the genitive singular, "civis hujatus". Here we see that the nominative of the adjective "hujus" is in fact identical to "hujus" or "huius", the genitive singular of the demonstrative pronoun "hic". The adjective "hujus" behaves more or less like an irregular third declension adjective.
The grammar of the last phrase is difficult to follow, but it could be translated as "who together with me placed their signatures below (qui una mecum subscripsere signum posuit) except for the godmother who has declared herself not to know how to write (excepta matrina quæ se scribere nescire declaravit)". The construction apparently intends qui to be taken as singular, the subject of posuit. But "subscripsere" is also a problem. It looks like an infinitive, which should not occur here. The key to this form is revealed in the next example — it is apparently intended as the third person plural perfect tense, which should be "subscripserunt"! But if we make that substitution, making qui instead the plural subject of subscripserunt, what do we do with "posuit", which is still singular? As written, it makes little sense if its subject is the godmother; she already has a verb, "se declaravit". Therefore we might try another way to parse the phrase "qui una mecum subscripsere signum posuit", as "who (singular) along with me placed a signature, written below". In that case, we still have a problem. The subject qui could be either singular or plural. The verb posuit is singular, as is the object of the verb, signum. Una mecum functions as an adverb, but instead of "subscripsere", something like "subscriptum" would be required, agreeing in case and number with "signum" and using a participle rather than a verb. The construction is therefore defective, even though the intended meaning seems sufficiently clear.
Part of the solution is found in a list of "alternative"
verb forms from Classical Latin. The ending
In Classical Latin, the name Adam is supposed to be declined like Andreas and Thomas (first declension, nominative form irregular). However, here we see the nominative Adamus, thus making it a regular noun of the second declension!
III. Burial, 1804.
Another example involving the French Republican Calendar.
Transcription
... conjugum hic commorantium et die sexta eiusdem mensis hora septima matutina a me infra scripto in cœmeterio hujus ecclesiæ sepulta est. Testes fuere Petrus Kambeis et Georgius Jacobus Wolf cives hujus loci, qui mecum subscripsere
Theresie Stockert.
Anno Domini millesimo octingentesimo quarto die decima tertia mensis augusti, reipublicæ gallicorum 24 Thermidor XII hora quarta matutina obiit Theresia in ætata sua trium mensium filia legitima Ferdinandi Stockert et Mariæ Evæ Schuhmacher conjugum et civium hic commorantium et altera die a me infra scripto in cœmeterio hujus ecclesiæ septima hora sepulta est. Testes fuere Casparus Rink et Georgius Adamus Welz cives hujus loci qui mecum subscripsere.
Notes: Here the priest uses "hujus loci" (genitive, "of this place") instead of the equivalent "hujatus" (nominative). "Testes", the witnesses, are plural, but the priest uses "fuere", which is an "alternate verb form" attested in Classical Latin, in both the entries on this page, instead of "fuerunt". In real Latin documents, people wrote all sorts of things that would make a grammatical purist wince, but this is authentic Latin nonetheless. Theresia was born illegitimate, as we saw in the previous example, then legitimized by the subsequent marriage of her parents, and only three months later, when she died, she was considered legitimate. The records gives the date of her death, 13 aug 1804, her age, in her third month, and the date of her burial, "altera die", the next day. Given the peculiar verb form "fuere", which is intended as the third person plural perfect, it is clear that the apparent infinitive "subscripsere" (but there is no such form!) should also be taken as that same tense. With that substitution, the phrase makes perfect sense, but we have to suppose that this priest's imperfect knowledge of Latin sometimes led him into some awkward and incorrect constructions.