Day: January 23, 2017

Translation into English follows.

Μιχαὴλ ὁ Μασιέλλος διδάκτωρ, ἀνήρ ἐστι σοφολογιώτατος ἅμα καὶ ἐναρετότατος. Ἄλλ’ ἄλλοι περὶ αὐτοῦ καλῶς ἔφησαν· τοῦτ’ ἐγῶ φαίην.

Πῶς οὖν σοφολογιώτατος; Οὐ γε πυκνοὶ οἱ τῆς Κυόρας τρίβοι σοφολογιωτάτοις; Πάνυ γε. Ἀλλὰ τοιούτου εὔρους, οὕτω τε διδακτοφιλικῶς, οὐδαμῶς.

Πῶς γ’ οὖν ἐναρετότατος; Οὐ δὴ ὀργίλος καὶ βωμολόχος; Πάνυ γε. Φαῦλα τοῦτα ὅμως, φαῦλον καὶ ἐκ τούτων κατακρίνειν. Ὥς φησιν οἱ Τζέκωνες· Πρέσβυος μήδεα μὲν ἄκουε, πρέσβυος πορδὰς δὲ μή. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ὀργίλον καὶ τὸ βωμολόχον, ἀνδρός ἐστι ἐναρέτου. Ὀργὴ γὰρ δικαίου, βωμολοχία τε ἀτόποις.

Διδάσκαλον βέλτιστον καλῶ αὐτόν, πολλάκις γάρ ὑπ’ αὐτο­ῦ διδασκόμενος, πολλάκις δ’ ἔτι διδασκοίμην ὑπ’ αὐτο­ῦ. Γέρον ἐμόν καλῶ αὐτόν, φραγκογαλλιστὶ ἅμα καὶ λατινιστί· ὁμήλικες γάρ ἐσμεν, ὑπὸ τῶν αὑτῶν ὠδίνων δαρόμενοι, τὸ αὑτό τε νηφάλιον χαλεπῶς κτούμενοι. Συμφράτερα καλῶ αὐτόν, δοκῶν αὐτὸν προσφιλέστατόν μοι φίλων καὶ σεβαστότατον ἁπάντων καὶ οἰκειότατον.

Ἐρρώσθω Μιχαὴλ ὁ Μασιέλλος. Ἀναγνώσατε αὐτο­ῦ· ὡραῖα γάρ.

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Dr Michael Masiello is a man both most learned and most virtuous. Others have said other things about him, beautifully; let me say that of him.

How is he most learned? Are not the pathways of Quora dense with the learned? Very much so. But of such breadth, and with such love of teaching: in no wise.

And how is he most virtuous? Is he not indeed irascible and ribald? Very much so. However these are paltry things, and it is paltry to judge based on these things. As the Tsakonians say: Hearken to an old man’s counsels, not his farts. And yet, his ire and ribaldry are those of a virtuous man. For it is the ire of the righteous, and ribaldry towards the uncouth.

I call him best of teachers [Magister Optimus], for I have oft been taught by him, and may I yet be oft taught by him. I call him My Old Man, in both French and Latin [mon vieux, mi senex]; for we are of the same age, beaten down by the same pangs, attaining with difficulty the same sobriety. I call him my clansman [confrere], for I consider him my dearest of friends, and my most esteemed of all, and the most familiar to me.

Health to Michael Masiello. Read his writings; for they are beautiful.

Ah, that’s a famous ballad, integral to nation formation, and Herzfeld did right to focus on it. I do think you’re quoting my translation of it too!

Nick Nicholas’ answer to Do modern Greek people feel that Istanbul/Constantinople belongs to them?

Θρήνοι της Αλώσεως (29-05-1453). My translation into English.

Σημαίνει ὁ Θεός, σημαίνει ἡ γῆς, σημαίνουν τὰ ἐπουράνια,
σημαίνει κι ἡ Ἁγιά-Σοφιά, τὸ μέγα μοναστήρι,
μὲ τετρακόσια σήμαντρα κι ἑξήντα δυὸ καμπάνες,
κάθε καμπάνα καὶ παπᾶς, κάθε παπᾶς καὶ διάκος.

Ψάλλει ζερβὰ ὁ βασιλιάς, δεξιὰ ὁ πατριάρχης,
κι ἀπ᾿ τὴν πολλὴ τὴν ψαλμουδιὰ ἐσειόντανε οἱ κολόνες.
Νὰ μποῦνε στὸ χερουβικὸ καὶ νά ῾βγει ὁ βασιλέας,
φωνὴ τοὺς ἦρθε ἐξ οὐρανοῦ κι ἀπ᾿ ἀρχαγγέλου στόμα:
«Πάψετε τὸ χερουβικὸ κι ἂς χαμηλώσουν τ᾿ Ἅγια,
παπάδες πᾶρτε τὰ ἱερὰ καὶ σεῖς κεριὰ σβηστῆτε,
γιατί ῾ναι θέλημα Θεοῦ ἡ Πόλη νὰ τουρκέψει.

Μόν᾿ στεῖλτε λόγο στὴ Φραγκιά, νὰ ῾ρθοῦν τρία καράβια,
τό ῾να νὰ πάρει τὸ σταυρὸ καὶ τ᾿ ἄλλο τὸ βαγγέλιο,
τὸ τρίτο τὸ καλύτερο, τὴν ἅγια Τράπεζά μας,
μὴ μᾶς τὴν πάρουν τὰ σκυλιὰ καὶ μᾶς τὴ μαγαρίσουν».

Ἡ Δέσποινα ταράχτηκε καὶ δάκρυσαν οἱ εἰκόνες.
«Σώπασε κυρὰ Δέσποινα, καὶ μὴ πολυδακρύζῃς,
πάλι μὲ χρόνους, μὲ καιρούς, πάλι δικά μας θά ῾ναι».

God sounds; the earth sounds; and the heavens sound;
Haghia Sophia sounds, that mighty church,
with two-and-sixty bells, four hundred woodblocks.
For every bell: a priest; each priest: a deacon.

The King chants left, the Patriarch chants right.
They chant so loud, the very columns shake.
And when the Cherub hymn was coming in,
And when the King of All was coming out,
[allusion to the Cherubic hymn, which concludes with “welcoming the King of All”—i.e. Christ]
a voice came from an archangel in Heaven.
“Stop with the Cherubs, and take down the Holies.
Priests, take the sacred things. Go out, ye candles.
For God now wills the City to turn Turk.

Send word, then, to the West, to send three ships.
The first to take the Cross, the next the Bible,
the third and best to take our Holy Altar,
lest the curs take it from us and defile it.”

The Lady was upset; the icons wept.
“Quiet, Our Lady Mary, cry not so!
When times have passed, it will be ours once more.”

I discuss the ambiguity of the last verse in my previous answer.

So, what’s the reflexive equivalent of non-binary (specific) or gender neutral (non-specific) they?

They are different, btw: you use the former for someone non-binary, and the latter for generic non-gender referents. E.g. Sam (who is intersex) recused XXX from…, vs. The chairperson shall recuse XXX from… The former is much newer than the latter.

Two clear solutions: James Cottam’s theirself, or OP’s tentative themselves.

James’ solution has the advantage of being accurate as to number. It has the disadvantage, (a) of being a novelty (which is precisely why they has proven so popular—it isn’t), and (b) disagreeing with the number of they that you are using everywhere else anyway.

Sam said that they were happy to observe the impact on their commitee [plural plural plural, familiar pronoun], but they [plural] have [plural] to recuse theirself [singular, and unfamiliar new pronoun] from any vote.

Myself, I’d go with your first instinct, OP. Themselves. You’ve assigned the plural as the subject already, that battle’s lost in all other ungendered references.