Expert: Maria - 10/12/2010

Question
Hello,
Can you translate: Independently Happy? I'm trying to use it as a montra or inspiration phrase for myself and I am also in the healthcare field where majority of the language is latin based. What I'm trying to imply to myself is that I can become happy by myself. I can be independently happy.

Thanks!

Answer
Hello,

the best translation of “Independently Happy“ just in the sense you say is the following:

-“Mea sorte contentus”, if “happy” (Latin, “contentus”)  refers to a male person.

-“Mea sorte contenta”, if “happy” (Latin, “contenta”)  refers to a female person.

Note that this translation (literally meaning “Happy/ satisfied with my condition/fate”)  is an adaptation of a quote from Horace’s Satires, I, lines 1-3.

If on the contrary you are looking for a literal translation of “Independently Happy”, here it is:

-“Quoquo modo contentus”, if “happy” (Latin, “contentus”)  refers to a male person.

-“Quoquo  modo contenta”, if “happy” (Latin, “contentus”)  refers to a female person.


Best regards,
Maria
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GRAMMATICAL ANALYSIS

-Independently = MEA SORTE (both in the ablative case as the adjective CONTENTUS/ CONTENTA takes the ablative)or literally QUOQUO MODO (ablative case  of QUISQUIS + MODUS).

-Happy = CONTENTUS (nominative masculine singular ) or CONTENTA (nominative feminine singular of the adjective CONTENTUS)

As you can see, Latin  word order is different from English, just because in Latin  syntactical relationships are indicated by the endings, not by the order of the words.