Can anyone translate this Latin phrase for me? I think it was said by Guido D’Arezzo and may have something to do with music?? I am not sure if it’s the whole quote or not.
“Nam qui canit quod non sapit, diffinitur bestia”
Can anyone translate this Latin phrase for me? I think it was said by Guido D’Arezzo and may have something to do with music?? I am not sure if it’s the whole quote or not.
“Nam qui canit quod non sapit, diffinitur bestia”
Here’s the context:
Unde et metrice diffinitio sequitur secundum Guidonem.
Musicorum et cantorum magna est distantia.
Isti dicunt, illi sciunt qui componunt musicam.
Nam qui canit quod non sapit diffinitur bestia;
unde versus:
Bestia non cantor qui non canit arte sed usu.
Non vox cantorem facit artis sed documentum.
He who sings what he does not understand is the definition of a beast.
That was quick - thanks so much!
Happy to help - my Latin skills aren’t usually in high demand
I know there are Latin phrase sites out there, but I have only found one babelfishesque site for Latin-to-English translations. It won’t work for sentances (as far as I can tell) but it works pretty well. I usually paste the whole sentance into the search field and then cut out the first word and step through the sentance. (Use the drop down menu to the right of English Definitions to get to Latin—English translations.)
FWIW
Wow, that’s the last time I trust that translator I found. It kept saying “grey-haired/old age” for “canit”.