"Let it be" in Latin and Chinese

Language Log 2025-01-08

About a week ago, I was composing New Year's greetings for friends:

Akemashiteomedetō gozaimasu 明けましておめでとう御座います "Happy New Year"

Sin-nî-khuài-lo̍k 新年快樂！Xīnnián kuàilè!

Шинэ оны мэнд хүргэе!

Felix sit annus novus!

When I got to the Latin, I was puzzled by whether I should leave "sit" in there or get rid of it. I knew it must be some form of the verb "to be", but I wasn't sure exactly what form and what function it played..

So I put "sit" in Google Translate Latin and pushed the translate button, but forgot that I had the "into" language set on Chinese. I was surprised / delighted / tickled when the Latin came out as Chinese "suí tā qù 隨它去" (lit., "let it go"). On the one hand, I was amazed by how colloquial it sounded, but, on the other hand, I thought it was a brilliant attempt on the part of GT to capture the grammatical sense of Latin "sit".

It gets curiouser and curiouser. If you put "suí tā qù 隨它去" in on the Chinese side and push the translate button, on the English side out comes "let it be". Wow! I almost fell off my chair.

Paul McCartney said that his phenomenal song of that title was "quasi-religious", so I decided to take a look at what a Scholastic thinker like Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) would have conceived of it. I found a discussion of the "Translation of the latin word 'sit' in Thomas Aquinas' works" on the Latin Language Stack Exchange.

Here are the first two comments:

Modern translations of medieval texts frequently translate the Latin verb 'sit' as he/she/it is. However, 'sit' is the subjunctive mood of the verb 'sum'. In my view it should be translated as he/she/it be as in: "Videtur quod pater non sit in filio …" which is frequently translated as "It seems the father is not in the son." Instead I prefer "It seems the father be not in the son." Comments please.

—

you are correct that "sit" is subjunctive and that the present subjunctive of be is "be". However, just because Latin uses subjunctive in a given case doesn't mean that an English translation will. They are conceptually similar ideas (some degree of uncertainty/unreality) but not identical.

I asked professor of Latin Joe Farrell if I should leave "sit" in my Latin New Year's greeting. He replied,

Yes, I’d translate it as, “may the new year be propitious.” Sit is the 3d person sing present subj of esse, “to be.” It’s a verb. It’s better to use it, since the natural meaning of felix annus novus is “the new year is good.”

To wrap things up grammatically, I went to Wiktionary, which told me that Latin sit is:

third-person singular present active subjunctive of sum (be)

References

- sit in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me Speaking words of wisdom, let it be And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree There will be an answer, let it be For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see There will be an answer, let it be

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be There will be an answer, let it be

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be Whisper words of wisdom, let it be, be

And when the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me Shinin' until tomorrow, let it be I wake up to the sound of music, Mother Mary comes to me Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

And let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

—

Dāng wǒ yù dào kùnnán shí shèngmǔ mǎlìyǎ lái zhǎo wǒ shuō chū zhìhuì dehuà, shùn qí zìrán. Zài wǒ zuì hēi'àn de shíkè, tā zhàn zài wǒ miànqián shuō chū zhìhuì dehuà, shùn qí zìrán.

—

Fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba qīngshēng shuō chū zhìhuì zhī yán, shùn qí zìrán.

—

Dāng shìjiè shàng shāngxīn yù jué de rénmen dōu tóngyì yīdìng huì yǒu dá'àn, jiù zhèyàng ba yīnwèi suīrán fēnkāile, dàn tāmen hái yǒu jīhuì jiànmiàn. Yīdìng huì yǒu dá'àn, jiù zhèyàng ba

—

fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba yīdìng huì yǒu dá'àn, jiù zhèyàng ba

—

fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba qīngshēng shuō chū zhìhuì zhī yán, shùn qí zìrán.

—

Fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba dī yǔ zhìhuì zhī yán, shùn qí zìrán, shùn qí zìrán

—

yè shēnle, réng yǒu dēngguāng zhàoyàozhe wǒ dào míngtiān wéizhǐ, jiù zhèyàngle wǒ zài yīnyuè shēng zhōng xǐng lái, shèngmǔ Mǎlìyǎ lái dào wǒ shēnbiān shuō chū zhìhuì dehuà, shùn qí zìrán.

—

Shùn qí zìrán, shùn qí zìrán, shùn qí zìrán, shùn qí zìrán qīngshēng shuō chū zhìhuì zhī yán, shùn qí zìrán.

—

Shùn qí zìrán, shùn qí zìrán, shùn qí zìrán, shùn qí zìrán qīngshēng shuō chū zhìhuì zhī yán, shùn qí zìrán.

當我遇到困難時聖母瑪利亞來找我說出智慧的話，順其自然。在我最黑暗的時刻，她站在我面前說出智慧的話，順其自然。－－－放開吧，放開吧，放開吧，放開吧輕聲說出智慧之言，順其自然。－－－當世界上傷心欲絕的人們都同意一定會有答案，就這樣吧因為雖然分開了，但他們還有機會見面。一定會有答案，就這樣吧－－－放開吧，放開吧，放開吧，放開吧一定會有答案，就這樣吧－－－放開吧，放開吧，放開吧，放開吧輕聲說出智慧之言，順其自然。－－－放開吧，放開吧，放開吧，放開吧低語智慧之言，順其自然，順其自然－－－夜深了，仍有燈光照耀著我到明天為止，就這樣了我在音樂聲中醒來，聖母瑪利亞來到我身邊說出智慧的話，順其自然。－－－順其自然，順其自然，順其自然，順其自然輕聲說出智慧之言，順其自然。－－－順其自然，順其自然，順其自然，順其自然輕聲說出智慧之言，順其自然。

(Translation by GT)

Selected readings

"The allure of Latin, the glory of Greek" (6/23/23)
"Chinese, Greek, and Latin" (8/8/17)
"Chinese, Greek, and Latin, part 2" (8/15/17)
"Greek and Latin in China" (1/16/22)