OT: Latin (was boggart)

[Steve Vander Ark]

No: HPFGUIDX 18719

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., rcraigharman at h... wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Morag Traynor" <moragt at h...> wrote:
> > <snip wonderful analysis of Expecto patronum and HP theme>
> > Thanks for that!  So much more interesting than I thought expecto
> > patronum  was - I should have known, from "Et expecto
> > resurrectionem mortuorum..." from the Latin creed.
> 
> Personally, I think it's a bit overboard as analyses go.
> 
> "Exspectare" (the "s" was there classically) is not just "expect",
> it's true--in fact, its breadth covers "to await", "to expect
> something that is to come or to take place", "to be waiting for",
> "to look for with hope, fear, desire, expectation", "to hope for,
> long for, expect, desire"; "to fear, dread, anticipate, apprehend".
> [Lewis & Short]
> 
> But it's probably too poetic to transform "expecto patronum" into
> "I yearn for a father", unless we wish to believe that 
all "patronus"
> spells cast are psychologically bound to such a yearning or lack.
> I think that "protector", "defender", or "advocate" are all adequate
> translations, that don't add more baggage than intended.

When I was working on the etymology of this spell for the Lexicon, I 
went with the verb "expectorare, which means to expel from the mind 
(literally from the chest), which suggests the sending out of the 
patronus by means of the caster's willpower. This actually makes a 
lot more sense as a spell word. It specifies the action that the 
spell is supposed to produce, which is a sending forth of something 
from within the caster. The word "patronus" comes directly from 
Medieval Latin and means "patron saint" -- not a different meaning, 
really, but an interesting observation. 

I agree that "officially" the spell words "expecto patronum" do not 
intend to suggest a yearning for a father. The meaning is almost 
certainly far more mundane. And I'm not sure JKR intended all the 
subtle shades of meaning we like to read into things like this. But 
so what? I really, really enjoyed this poetic take on the subject. 

Steve Vander Ark
The Harry Potter Lexicon
with a complete spell encyclopedia, including etymology of spell words
http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon