§1.5.1iam cum omnis oratio tris habeat virtutes, ut emendata, ut dilucida, ut ornata sit (quia dicere apte, quod est praecipuum, plerique ornatui subiiciunt), totidem vitia, quae sunt supra dictis contraria, emendate loquendi regulam, quae grammatices prior pars est, examinet.
Now since all speech has three virtues, namely, that it be correct, clear, and ornate (for most people place speaking appropriately, which is the chief thing, under ornamentation), let [the teacher] examine, with regard to as many vices which are contrary to the things mentioned above, the rule of speaking correctly, which is the first part of grammar.
§1.5.2haec exigitur verbis aut singulis aut pluribus.
This is required in words either single or multiple.
verba nunc generaliter accipi volo, nam duplex eorum intellectus est; alter, qui omnia per quae sermo nectitur significat, ut apud Horatium: verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur; alter, in quo est una pars orationis, lego, scribo.
I wish "words" (verba) now to be understood in a general sense, for their meaning is twofold: one, which signifies everything by which discourse is connected, as in Horace: "and words will not unwillingly follow the matter provided"; the other, in which is one part of speech, as "I read", "I write".
quam vitantes ambiguitatem quidam dicere maluerunt voces, locutiones, dictiones.
Avoiding which ambiguity, some have preferred to say "voices", "utterances", "expressions".
§1.5.3singula sunt aut nostra aut peregrina, aut simplicia aut composita, aut propria aut translata, aut usitata aut ficta.
Single words are either native or foreign, either simple or compound, either proper or metaphorical, either in common use or newly coined.
uni verbo vitium saepius quam virtus inest.
A single word more often contains a vice than a virtue.
licet enim dicamus aliquod proprium, speciosum, sublime: nihil tamen horum nisi in complexu loquendi serieque contingit; laudamus enim verba rebus bene accommodata.
For although we may say that some word is proper, beautiful, or sublime, yet none of these qualities happens except in the combination and sequence of speech; for we praise words that are well suited to the things.
§1.5.4sola est, quae notari possit velut vocalitas, quae εὐφωνία dicitur; cuius in eo delectus est, ut inter duo, quae idem significant ac tantundem valent, quod melius sonet malis.
There is only one virtue in a single word that can be noted, which is, as it were, tunefulness, called "euphony"; the choice of which lies in this, that between two words which signify the same and have equal value, you would prefer the one that sounds better.
§1.5.5prima barbarismi ac soloecismi foeditas absit.
Let the primary foulness of barbarism and solecism be absent.
sed quia interim excusantur haec vitia aut consuetudine aut auctoritate aut vetustate aut denique vicinitate virtutum (nam saepe a figuris ea separare difficile est), ne qua tam lubrica observatio fallat, acriter se in illud tenue discrimen grammaticus intendat, de quo nos latius ibi loquemur, ubi de figuris orationis tractandum erit.
But because these vices are sometimes excused either by custom, authority, antiquity, or finally by their proximity to virtues (for it is often difficult to separate them from figures), lest any such slippery observation deceive, let the grammarian direct his attention sharply to that fine distinction, concerning which we shall speak more at length when we have to treat of figures of speech.
§1.5.6interim vitium, quod fit in singulis verbis, sit barbarismus.
Meanwhile, let barbarism be the vice which occurs in single words.
occurrat mihi forsan aliquis, quid hic promisso tanti operis dignum? aut quis hoc nescit, alios barbarismos scribendo fieri alios loquendo;
Someone may perhaps object to me: "What is there here worthy of the promise of so great a work?
—quia, quod male scribitur, male etiam dici necesse est; quae vitiose dixeris, non utique et scripto peccant—illud prius adiectione, detractione, immutatione, transmutatione, hoc secundum divisione, complexione, aspiratione, sono contineri? §1.5.7sed ut parva sint haec, pueri docentur adhuc, et grammaticos officii sui commonemus.
Or who does not know this, that some barbarisms are made in writing, others in speaking;—since what is badly written must also be badly spoken; but what you say faultily does not necessarily sin also in writing—and that the former is contained in addition, subtraction, alteration, and transposition, the latter in division, connection, aspiration, and sound?" But although these things may be small, boys are still taught them, and we remind grammarians of their duty.
ex quibus si quis erit plane impolitus et vestibulum modo artis huius ingressus, intra haec, quae profitentium commentariolis vulgata sunt, consistet, doctiores multa adiicient, vel hoc primum, quod barbarismum pluribus modis accipimus.
If any of them is completely unpolished and has only just entered the vestibule of this art, he will stop within these matters which are made common in the handbooks of those who profess it, but more learned men will add many things, and this first of all, that we understand barbarism in several ways.
§1.5.8unum gente, quale est, si quis Afrum vel Hispanum Latinae orationi nomen inserat, ut ferrum, quo rotae vinciuntur, dici solet cantus, quanquam eo tanquam recepto utitur Persius; sicut Catullus ploxenum circa Padum invenit, et in oratione Labieni (sive illa Cornelii Galli est) in Pollionem casamo adsectator e Gallia ductum est; nam mastrucam, quod Sardum est, irridens Cicero ex industria dixit.
One is by origin, such as if anyone should insert an African or Spanish name into Latin speech, as "cantus" is commonly used to mean the iron with which wheels are bound, although Persius uses it as if it were accepted; just as Catullus found "ploxenum" around the Po, and in the speech of Labienus (or if that is by Cornelius Gallus) against Pollio "casamo", meaning an attendant, was brought from Gaul; for Cicero, mocking, deliberately said "mastruca", which is Sardinian.
§1.5.9alterum genus barbarismi accipimus, quod fit animi natura, ut is, a quo insolenter quid aut minaciter aut crudeliter dictum sit, barbare locutus existimatur.
We accept a second kind of barbarism, which occurs by the nature of the mind, so that he by whom something has been said insolently, threateningly, or cruelly is considered to have spoken barbarously.
§1.5.10tertium est illud vitium barbarismi, cuius exempla vulgo sunt plurima, sibi etiam quisque fingere potest, ut verbo, cui libebit, adiiciat litteram syllabamve vel detrahat, aut aliam pro alia aut eandem alio quam rectum est loco ponat.
The third is that vice of barbarism, of which examples are very numerous in common use, and anyone can even invent them for himself: namely, that one adds a letter or syllable to, or subtracts it from, whatever word he pleases, or puts one instead of another, or puts the same in a place other than what is right.
§1.5.11sed quidam fere in iactationem eruditionis sumere illa ex poetis solent et auctores quos praelegunt criminantur.
But some, almost to boast of their learning, are accustomed to take those examples from poets and accuse the authors whom they read aloud.
scire autem debet puer, haec apud scriptores carminum aut venia digna aut etiam laude duci, potiusque illa docendi erunt minus vulgata.
However, a boy ought to know that among writers of poetry these things are considered either worthy of pardon or even of praise, and those examples which are less common should rather be taught.