# florem arantiae ponam in capillos tuos



## Casquilho

Is my phrase _florem arantiae ponam in capillos tuos_ (I will put an orange blossom in your hair) grammatically correct? Are the genitive _arantiae_ and the ablative _capillos_, ruled by the _in_, acceptable?


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## Hesperis

I think arantiae is correct. Capillos is accusative plural and not abaltive. In your case you need accusative -> you ask: "where do you want to put the flower?" and not "Where is the flower?" Therefore "in" demands accusative. But I'm not sure if you have to say capillum (Singular) or capillos (Plural). But I'm pretty sure it has to be "in capillum tuum".


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## J.F. de TROYES

Hesperis said:


> But I'm not sure if you have to say capillum (Singular) or capillos (Plural). But I'm pretty sure it has to be "in capillum tuum".


 
Both are used


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## XiaoRoel

> florem arantiae ponam in capillos tuos


Dubito in latina lingua exsistere uerbum "arantia". Forsitan "aurea malus", genitiuo casu aureae mali?
_In cum accusatiuo_ possibilis est, quoniam in sententia praedicta quaedam motus species est, at _in cum ablatiuo_ melius conuenit.
Ordo sententiae, cum verbum in prima persona esset, latine ad primum locum ponitur.
Melius est sententiam cum "tibi" quam cum "tuis" construere.
Ergo sententia latine erit:
_Ponam tibi aureae mali flores in capillis_, aut _Ponam tibi flores ex aura malo in capillis_.


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## Casquilho

XiaoRoel, my Latin isn't that advanced, that I may read your answer in Latin! _arantiae_ is a word my dictionary gives translating orange.

Hesperis, I'm confused. I think I've made a mistake with the words, what I wanted to say was

_florem arantiae ponam in capillis tuis, capillis tuis_ in ablative plural.

I thought "in your hair" was an adjunct of place, and adjuncts of place are expressed by ablative, right? In Portuguese, we have the distinction between "onde" and "aonde":

Where are you? I am in Italy.
Onde você está? Estou na Itália. _In Italia ego sum._
_Italia_ in ablative, the idea of _ubi._ 

Where are you going? I am going to Italy.
Aonde você vai? Vou para a Itália. _In Italiam proficiscor._
_Italiam_ in accusative, the idea of _quod. _

I would ask, "onde você vai pôr a flor?" and reply "em teus cabelos". I can't see any idea of movement here. That's why I would use _capillis tuis_, ablative.


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## XiaoRoel

> I would ask, "onde você vai pôr a flor?" and reply "em teus cabelos". I can't see any idea of movement here. That's why I would use capillis tuis, ablative.


Está certo. Não há ideia de movimento. *Nos teus cabelos*, não admite um acusativo termo de movimento. Para mim cá há um muito claro ablativo de _local onde/no que_ se deposita ou está depositada alguma coisa. 
Não tinha olhado a tua língua de origem e por isso repostei em latim (o meu inglês é algo gago, por não dizer infame).


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## Scholiast

Salvete!
XiaoRoel is right: "orange" (/_arantia_) and its cognates are not of Latin origin, but Arabic ["naranj"] - no such word exists in classical Latin. Also that _tibi_ is more idiomatic in the context than the pronominal adjective _tuus_.
But with _ponam_, motion is most certainly involved: for the sense the Acc. in _capillos_ is required here:
"There are flowers in your hair" demands Ablative (of place), _in capillis_
"I shall put flowers in(to) your hair" implies movement of the flowers from the hand of the giver to the lady's head, Acc. therefore, _capillos_
Latin - at least classical Latin - is quite strict about this.
_in capillos_ (plural) is also *stylistically* preferable rather than the singular, though as JFdTr says, both are found. _capillus_, singular, would tend to imply the furry hide of an animal.
And I think, Casquilho, for Portug. _aonde_ you mean _quo ...?_ ("where to?"), not _quod_.


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## Casquilho

Scholiast said:


> And I think, Casquilho, for Portug. _aonde_ you mean _quo ...?_ ("where to?"), not _quod_.



Indeed, my bad. I did mean _quo_.
Thank you both for the explanations!


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