The Latin to English translator I found translated "sed commorabor" to mean "but inhabitants". Does that make sense?

"Sed" is "but". "Commorabor" seems to be a form of the verb "commoro" which means "to tarry, remain, stay" and similar.

"Memento mori" does not literally mean "Remember you must die" but that is the loose translation and the meaning we know. So your phrase seems to mean something like " Remember you must die...but stay awhile".

I did find the phrase--with no translation!!--in Google as a quotation carved into a mantlepiece in a novel. Maybe someone else has further info.

Mere speculation; is this a quote from, or is the novel referred to above, a ghost story?

Very close, martin - it's about cloning. It's from the novel Mary Modern, mentioned in the monthly thread, and it is carved into a mantelpiece. I'm sure this is a common phrase; that is, the author did not make it up. I was surprised that a google search didn't turn up a better meaning. I'm also surprised the author doesn't provide a translation, as is common in American novels. Maybe I just haven't found it.

I am guessing it means something like, "Remember you are mortal, those who live here." A harsh puritanical inscription of this type would fit the New England setting of the story.

Hee, I read that book and didn't pick up on that. I tend to scroll by foriegn phrases (unless they are really vital to the book) because they get in the way of my reading (one of my biggest reader pet peeves - when an author does not indicate what such a phrase means, or does not put it in a context that makes it obvious). But your take on it sounds right, given what happens in the book.

In the book, after the charcter sees the mantlepiece, he says 'clever'. Could the last part be a play on words in latin? I've googled too anc cant find a translation that makes sense; I also asked on another forum and it was suggested the Latin might be wrong. But in a book, I'd think the author would have that right, unless it is a play on words.

I think Ginny's translation comes closest. Just looked up my Latin dictionary and find the verb 'commoror' - to linger or stay. I think 'commorobor' is part of the declension of that verb but I'm not sure which person or tense - so, translation would be, vaguely:

'? will stay'/'? have stayed'

There's no word for 'you who' which would be a qui or a qua or something, or 'live here', which would be a bit of the verb 'vivere'.

(Forgotten a lot of my Latin now - what a waste when I learned it for 8 years.)

Muriel Spark, (who wrote The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, if you remember - a magnificent classic) wrote a hilarious novel called 'Memento Mori', set in London (England) amongst a community of Septuagenarians and over, where one gets a mysterious phone call, then another, then mass hysteria breaks out! Real sick humour at its best.

Dido

The 'or' ending on 'commorobor' looks like 1st person singular.

'I stay/will stay/

And verbs 'conjugate' of course, not 'decline' - that's nouns - sorry.

Dido

(I loved that book, probably my favorite of her work)

Ok, I have stayed or I will stay makes a lot of sense - its about cloning. Mmmm

Ginny's translation makes sense, both in the context of the book and in Gray's (a character in the book) response to it. A pun or humorous twist would be normal in an inscription.

I'm still finding it hard to believe that the author does not provide a translation. Even an above-average reader here in the U.S. would not be expected to easily translate Latin. Maybe I will run across it somewhere else in the book.

As usual, the way-above-average readers here at RP have solved the mystery!

I don't think this is a common expression or it would show up on Google--and the only place it appears is in reference to that novel. Perhaps the author was having a bit of a joke, especially since no translation is provided. Seeing if his/her readers are paying attention.

I also checked a wonderful book I have, "Amo, Amas, Amat and More (How to Use Latin to Your Own Advantage and to the Astonishment of Others". Author is Eugene Ehrlich. Pub date originally 1985.

It's a very useful, amusing and informative book, and the quotation under discussion does not appear in it. "Memento Mori" does, of course, but the other part doesn't, in whole or in part. But I do think we've solved the mystery anyway.

Here's an explanation that I just received elseforum, looks like you were very close, dido:

>The phrase means "Remember you shall die, but I will remain."

>Commoror is an example of a freaky Latin verb type called a deponent verb. These are verbs that are actually passive in form, but translated as active verbs. They also have only three parts instead of the normal four a first-year Latin student would recognize.

>In the form commorabor, the verb stem is commor-, the -a- indicates it is a first conjugation verb, the -bo indicates future indicative tense (the "will" bit in english), and the -r is the verb ending for first person singular passive. Thus, I will remain.

>I hope that makes sense in the context of the book.

That does make sense in the context of the book, and in the context of being carved into the mantelpiece of a rather ostentatious house.

I'm getting annoyed with the author. First the not-so-easily-translated phrase on the mantelpiece, then another (albeit easy) untranslated phrase a few chapters on...I'm getting an uncomfortable elitist vibe.

The second phrase is "Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres." All Gaul is divided into three parts - Julius Cesar. Can't figure out if this relates to anything in the novel, or if it's just thrown in to make the reader feel undereducated. Hmmmph.

The only thing I might suggest here is that that sentence is learned by everyone who studied Latin for even a couple of years. People toss it around for several reasons, one of which is to show they studied fairly basic Latin. I remember a different syntax--"Omnia Gallia in tres partes divisa est" maybe??--but maybe the author wants the character to demonstrate some bit of knowledge. Haven't read the book so it's just a wild guess.