# assignandae sunt



## modus.irrealis

Hi,

In this thread, I made an attempt at translating the Latin, but I got confused on a few points. What I had posted was:



> I tried without looking to translate the excerpt you gave and got:
> 
> Rule II
> 
> And therefore the same causes are to be assigned the effect of natural bodies of the same kind, so far as this can be done.
> 
> As [the cause] of the respiration in man and in animal; of the descent of stones in Europe and in America; of the light in kitchen fires and in the sun; of the reflection of light on Earth and on the planets.
> 
> The translation in the two links is similar but subtly different in that I read it as a statement saying "same effects get assigned to the same causes" whereas they have "same causes get assigned to the same effects." I do think Newton meant the latter and the Latin seems strange to me (there's a passive verb with a direct object -- in fact it looks a lot to me like the English passive "He was given a present" which I didn't think was possible in Latin), so I must be missing something.


I'm wondering if my analysis is correct -- that the indirect object of _assigno_ has become the subject of the passive verb. If this is right, then is this possible in Latin (Classical or Medieval) or is this perhaps due to Newton's English influencing his Latin.


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## Flaminius

First, I quote the text under discussion:





> Regula II
> Ideoque effectum naturalium ejusdem generis eædem assignandæ sunt causæ, quatenus fieri potest.


Looking at how Newton continues (Uti respirationis in homine & in bestia; descensus lapidum in Europa & in America; lucis in igne culinari & in sole; reflexionis lucis in terra & in planetis), I agree with you that "the causes" is the indirect object and "the effect" is the direct object, of _assigno_.

I could not find any instances of _assigno_ used for this function but Latin can use two accusatives in order to express what semantically are the direct and indirect objects.
E.g., Pueros grammaticam doceo.

​


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## modus.irrealis

Flaminius said:


> First, I quote the text under discussion:
> Looking at how Newton continues (Uti respirationis in homine & in bestia; descensus lapidum in Europa & in America; lucis in igne culinari & in sole; reflexionis lucis in terra & in planetis), I agree with you that "the causes" is the indirect object and "the effect" is the direct object, of _assigno_.


Alright -- I was worried I was missing something obvious.



> I could not find any instances of _assigno_ used for this function but Latin can use two accusatives in order to express what semantically are the direct and indirect objects.
> E.g., Pueros grammaticam doceo.


I had not thought of that possibility, but I couldn't find an example either. But it wouldn't be too surprising if this construction spread to other verbs. For some reason, I can't shake the feeling that something's strange, even though I understand what is being said .


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## wonderment

> Regula II
> Ideoque effectum naturalium ejusdem generis eædem assignandæ sunt causæ, quatenus fieri potest.



How about taking 'effectum' as accusative of respect, 'assignandae sunt' as passive periphrastic denoting necessity, and causae as subject?

Literally then: And therefore with respect to the effect of the same type of natural phenomena the same causes must be assigned, so far as can be done.


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## modus.irrealis

Thanks. That would make sense of the _causae_ as subject. The only thing I can think of is that I thought the accusative of respect was a poetic usage in imitation of Greek usage, but maybe the usage of cases was freer in later Latin?


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## wonderment

You're welcome. And you're also right--I just checked Allen and Greenough, pg.247:
"The so-called synecdochical or Greek Accusative, found in poetry and later Latin, is used to denote the part affected: caput nectentur, their heads shall be bound (they shall be bound about the head)... Note--This construction is also called the Accusative of Specification."


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