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Following an earlier discussion about promoting this site, the triumviri moderators have drafted an article for that purpose. Here is the article in English and Latin. Our plan is to submit the Latin version to Melissa, which is known to reach a number of keen Latinists. We have no plans for the English version.

We want to ask you, the community, for feedback and ideas:

  • What do you think of the articles? Is something critical missing? Should something be left out?
  • Is the Latin version good? The translation is a relatively quick one.
  • How could we make use of the English version or parts of it?

Please do not pay too much attention to formatting (or the automatically generated date in Latin), but focus on content and language. If the article is accepted, the magazine will typeset it again to their own style.

Any feedback is welcome. We really hope that this will increase awareness about our site, and we want to give a good impression.

  • COOL! I have some thoughts but am about to leave town for a week for a place with (as far as I know) no internet access. I'll share them when I get back. Well done! – Joel Derfner Jul 5 '16 at 20:31
  • @JoelDerfner, thanks! We are not in a hurry to publish it, so we can well wait for you to come back and give your comments. (Do you perhaps want to print the preliminary version and show it to people at the camp or whatever they call it?) – Joonas Ilmavirta♦ Jul 5 '16 at 20:34
  • Oh, good idea! I'll do that. It's latin.org/programs/rusticatio/tironum . – Joel Derfner Jul 5 '16 at 20:35
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    And the document is written in LaTeX! If you like, I could strip the document of its 'default LaTeX' look. I'd also change the first \section to something like 'What is Stack Exchange?'. Also, the 'aliquod' on page 2 should be 'aliqua', I think. – jon Jul 10 '16 at 21:16
  • I'm sorry. I'm probably not as qualified to talk about this stuff as you guys, but could you please fix the heading on page 4, as there is no Oxford Comma. It really bugs me for some reason... Good work otherwise! – Sam K Jul 11 '16 at 19:14
  • @jon, thanks for the feedback! The aliquod was supposed to be aliquot. We are thinking of reorganizing the introduction to draw the reader's attention better, focusing on why the reader might be interested in the site rather than more technical aspects. There will probably be a new version in a week or so. I'm a mathematician, and LaTeX is my preferred tool for these things. I could of course choose a different documentclass and other options, but I want to get the content there first. And Melissa will use their own formatting anyway. – Joonas Ilmavirta♦ Jul 11 '16 at 22:05
  • @SamK, the Oxford Comma is not universally considered necessary. Is there a particular reason why it would be good there? We have no plans for the English version, so a possible publisher will have the final word on such matters of style. Thanks for the feedback! – Joonas Ilmavirta♦ Jul 11 '16 at 22:08
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    @JoonasIlmavirta Although many people don't accept it, it is considered to be proper English according to the APA, MLA, and Chicago style-guides. Although the Associated Press doesn't use it (as well as most Brits), it is the accepted form in American English. I'm not saying American English is the end-all-be-all for comma usage, but our audience on this site is primarily American. You don't have to take my advice, I just figured I'd point it out. – Sam K Jul 11 '16 at 22:38
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    Well, I will have more time to look at the document more carefully in the coming weeks. Time is tight right now. And although I'm no mathematician, I do spend a lot of time in the *TeX universe, so I'm glad to hear that there are plans to make the document somewhat more attractive than the exceedingly stale 'default' LaTeX look. – jon Jul 12 '16 at 0:44
  • @SamK, it was a fair point about the comma, and it might indeed be better to put it in. I just wanted to point out that it's not strictly compulsory. But as I said, things also depend on how the article is used, and we don't know. (Suggestions for using the English article are most welcome!) – Joonas Ilmavirta♦ Jul 12 '16 at 7:27
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I like it and I understood it, which is even better :-) The only sentence which sounded strange to my ear was: "qui de hac lingua plus scire volunt". Is "plus" proper or should a comparative like "maior" be used?

Please keep in mind that I have not written in latin since decades, so I am wrong with very high probability.

  • I'm glad you liked and understood it. I wanted to refrain from overly complicated structures to keep the text accessible to Latinists of various levels. The adverb or neuter comparatives plus (stem plur-) and maius (maior-) mean "more" and "bigger", respectively. Here plus (which is indeed a comparative!) is more appropriate than maius, but there might be some more idiomatic way to phrase "who want to learn more about this language" that didn't occur to me. – Joonas Ilmavirta♦ Jul 13 '16 at 14:03
  • Yes I understood perfectly your meaning, actually in italian we would say "sapere di più" so we would retain the "plus". It was only something which had a less than natural sound for my personal idea of latin. But you know latin much better than me, so no red flag from me. Btw this is my first post to meta, I'll try to participate to the latin site even if I am very very rusty and not at the level of the various participants, which seems very high to me! – Francesco Jul 13 '16 at 14:07
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    I really appreciate comments even if the commenter's Latin is rusty. Feedback gives me an idea how external readers might see it, and that's useful. And having more pairs of eyeballs on the text always helps catch errors of all kinds. I hope you can participate at the site; it is not exclusively for already experienced latinists. Benvenuto in entrambi il sito e la meta! – Joonas Ilmavirta♦ Jul 13 '16 at 14:14
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    Indeed, Francesco, your Latin is clearly much better than mine! – Nathaniel is protesting Jul 13 '16 at 16:37
  • Thanks Nathaniel, I don't think that my latin is worth anything. But at least, after rediscovering this site, I have decided that it's right time to take up some book in my library. Maybe Seneca... – Francesco Jul 14 '16 at 2:21

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