Disputatio:Iacobus Vitriacensis

Magnum eius opus[fontem recensere]

Fabulle, cur est "Magnum eius opus" hic melius quam "Magnum suum opus"? Quis est ipse, si non Iacobus Vitriacensis? IacobusAmor 11:44, 30 Iulii 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Pronomina reflexiva (cum personalia tum possessiva) respicere solent, ut didici, ad subiectum sententiae praecipuae. Huius tamen sententiae ‘magnum opus’ est subiectum ita ut 'suum' ad se ipsum respiceret. --Fabullus 15:36, 30 Iulii 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Over here, I was taught that a conceptual subject (the actor who persists in mind) can survive from sentence to sentence, so that your version of the text

Iacobus Vitriacensis . . . fuit theologus et historicus. Magnum eius opus fuit X.

must read (Anglice):

'Jacob de Vitry . . . was a theologian and a historian. His/her/its [i.e., someone other than Jacobus de Vitry's] big work was X."

The persistence of the notion of Jacob de Vitry is clear if we modify the structure thus:

Iacobus Vitriacensis . . . fuit theologus et historicus cuius magnum opus fuit X.

Anglice:

'Jacob de Vitry . . . was a theologian and a historian whose big work was X."

This case may fall under Bradley's Arnold's rule 354(ii):

Sometimes, when no ambiguity is likely to arise, suus refers in a simple sentence to something other than the subject of the sentence. Senātum ad suam sevēritātem revocāvī. I recalled the senate to its strictness."

I suppose, since the situation in this article is clear, no word at all for 'his' needs to be used, and the phrase could simply be Magnum opus. No other possible author is here in question. IacobusAmor 16:38, 30 Iulii 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You may want to check Allen & Greenough's grammar, esp. here, from "The reflexive may refer to any noun or pronoun in its own clause which is so emphasized as to become the subject of discourse..." onwards. Note esp. the following: "Suus is used for one's own as emphatically opposed to that of others, in any part of the sentence and with reference to any word in it". Since here no such emphasis is in order, eius is required. --Fabullus 18:15, 30 Iulii 2008 (UTC)[reply]