# From the stars we came, to the stars we shall return



## paintandwords

Hi again,

So, I googled something I need to write accurately, and not trusting google, I wanted to check here to see if this is the best way to say it. 'From the stars we came, to the stars we shall return.' Is this right?

Dē stellīs venīmus; ad stellās redībimus.

Thanks so much for any advice.

Mel


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## Scholiast

saluete coniurati!


paintandwords said:


> not trusting google


Quite right too: Google 'Translate' cannot cope with inflected languages.


paintandwords said:


> Dē stellīs venīmus; ad stellās redībimus


It's pretty good. I'm just a tad uneasy about _de_ (= 'down from'). That may be the nuance intended, but my feeling is that _ab stellis..._ is more idiomatic, especially in adversative contrast with _ad stellas_. For what I understand to be Mel's purposes, however, she doesn't _need_ to put in the macron signs; if she insists on them, though, it's _vēnimus _for the perfect tense of _venire._

Σ


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## paintandwords

Thank you so much, again, you are my Latin hero! You'll be sure to get a mention in the published book should it ever become one! I will use ad and take off the macron signs!


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## bearded

paintandwords said:


> I will use ad


You mean _ab, _I hope.


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## Scholiast

Greetings once more

bearded points out to me (by PM) that _astrum_ is at least as good a word as _ stella_ for 'star'. There is also _sidus_, but my instinct that this more commonly refers to entire constellations than to stars is confirmed by _OLD_.

So _ab astris venimus, ad astra redibimus_ also works.

And in fact _astrum_, especially in the plural, is more widely attested than _stella_, and appears of course in the motto of the RAF, _per ardua ad astra_, 'through hard work to the heavens/stars'. But (a) _stella_ is more authentically Latin (_astrum_ is a loan-word from Greek, as the Greeks knew rather more about astronomy than the Romans!), but more colloquial: _astrum_ is as bearded puts it, of a 'higher register', i.e. slightly more formal/scientific; and (b) is perhaps more instantly recognisable to Anglo-Saxon readers, not least because of the familiar girl's name 'Stella'.

Σ


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## paintandwords

Thank you to you both! I'll have a think and see what fits best.


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## Pietruzzo

Scholiast said:


> That may be the nuance intended, but my feeling is that _ab stellis..._


Shouldn't we use "a" before consonants?


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## Scholiast

salvete de novo


Pietruzzo said:


> Shouldn't we use "a" before consonants?


Mostly, yes. 's' is an exception, especially when combined as 'sc-' or 'st-'; and so sometimes are 'r' and 't'.
_ab senatus auctoritate_, Cic. _pro Murena_ 73
_ab subselliis_, Cic. _pro Cluentio_ 111
_ab stipite_, Cato _Agr._ 18.3
&c.
And then there are all the compound words, such as _abscindo_, _absentia_, _absum_, _abstraho_, which comply with the same principle.
Σ


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## Pietruzzo

Scholiast said:


> Mostly, yes. 's' is an exception, especially when combined as 'sc-' or 'st-'; and so sometimes are 'r' and 't'.


I see. Thanks for the clarification.


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