The Ides Are Coming! Plus, We’re Working on a New Translation! ✍️

Idus Martiae appropinquant!

The Ides of March are almost here. If you’d like to gear up in honor of the occasion, Lupus Alatus is having a 20% off sale on Caesar-themed shirts.

Something New in the Public Domain

On January 1st of this year, creative works from 1930 entered the public domain, including Watty Piper’s retelling of the story of the determined Little Blue Engine that could (illustrated by Lois Lenski). This is one of my favorite books from early childhood, though I’m reasonably certain I had a later edition. You can see both the 1930 and a 1954 edition here.

But what does this have to do with Latin? Well, nothing yet! But we are hoping to change that. This is a short and repetitive work, and I’m almost finished with translating it. I plan to publish the Latin text with the 1930 illustration by Lenski. I will likely sell it as a paperback on Amazon (KDP) and publish a pdf here or on Etsy at the same time. The translation is just about ready to go to an editor but …

I’m struggling with train onomatopoeias in Latin. In English, “chug, chug; puff, puff; ding-dong” are used in the text. The verbs “to puff” and “to chug” are also used.

I would be happy with any suggestions on how to render these words into Latin.

For “chug, chug” (remember: Classical Latin has no “ch” sound like in English, ecclesiastical Latin, or Italian):

—I have no idea what I verb in Latin would be for “to chug.”

Sound effects:

—Tut, tut

—Tucutun, tucutun (sound horses make in Spanish, I believe)

What I’m looking for: a sound that starts with a dental consonant that resembles the repetitive mechanical sound of a steam locomotive train moving down the track. I would prefer there to be some attestation of a similar sound in a Romance language.

For “puff, puff” or “to puff” :

—sufflare is the right verb, I’m fairly certain.

Sound effects:

—suff, suff; uff, uff; huff, huff; pff, pff

I’m unsure what the actual “sound effect” would be here. Any suggestions?

For “ding, dong”:

—tintinnare is the verb

Sound effects:

–tin, ton; din don.

These sound effects are similar to those or the same as in other Romance languages. If anyone has an attestation for the actual sound in Latin, that would be wonderful!

Gratias multas! Curate ut valeatis!

P.S. Other translations of fables I’ve worked on: Three Goats Gruff (Tres Capri Asperi) and Country Mouse and Town Mouse (Mus Rusticus et Mus Urbanus). 🐐🐁