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  • Anyone know Latin?

    Can anyone translate some Latin writing over a window on this building?

    It says PERIL SVO CONTR A RIO



  • #2
    It looks slightly abbreviated to me:

    PERILI SVO. CONTRA RIO

    Have you stood there and read it and is the last word definitely RIO? And I'm sure there's a full stop after SVO

    Let's start with the easy word: CONTRA means "against"

    There endeth my O Level Latin! V can sometimes be interchanged with U.
    Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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    • #3
      Uncle John

      Yes, I wrote it down as I took the photo.

      If it's any help it is a building that was part of the former Burton Abbey.

      Comment


      • #4
        It seems to be “By its reverse or opposite” or "By its reverse".

        Per il suo contrario
        A Dictionary of Select and Popular ... - Google Book Search

        There’s reference here to a family using the motto.
        The Peerage Of The British Empire - Google Book Search

        Yes, I know, doesn’t make sense to me either.
        Phil
        historyhouse.co.uk
        Essex - family and local history.

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        • #5
          The spaces are in the wrong place: it should presumably be "per il suo contrario". The words are Latin (or Italian) but the phrase doesn't mean a lot (by/for his/her/its opposite/contrary), so I wonder if it's some kind of fake Latin motto? Either that or it's a quote taken from a longer text.

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          • #6
            I think it's suo - himself, but not sure what case - to, for himself?
            Janet in Yorkshire



            Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree

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            • #7
              Abbey Inn, Burton

              Bindley also added the canted bay window on the east side of the kitchen, bearing the Paget family's motto 'Per il suo contrario' (meaning 'By its reverse'), words repeated on glass in a porch also added by Bindley on the west front. (fn. 2)
              Burton-upon-Trent - Monastic precinct | British History Online

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              • #8
                p. 123 “Paget. Caldwell; Hanson Grange; Stapenhill. Sable on a cross engrailed between four eagles displayed argent five lions passant guardant of the field; crest: a demi-heraldic tiger sable maned ducally gorged and tufted argent; supporters: on either side an heraldic tiger as in the crest; motto: ‘Per il suo contrario’ … Arms conferred, crest and supporters granted, by letters patent 1552 to Sir William Paget of Beaudesert (Cannock), summoned that year to Parliament as Lord Paget, of Beaudesert. …
                Issue 15.htm

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                • #9
                  Words are often broken up to make a neat inscription, so I don't think that's a problem.

                  Nil desperandum, chaps!
                  Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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                  • #10
                    My Latin's very rusty, but I think the motto must be Italian. That "per il" doesn't sound at all like Latin to me, whereas it's normal in modern Italian.

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                    • #11
                      Thank you all

                      Most of it has gone over my head at the moment. I will study it later.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        You're right, the source I quoted above states it is Italian.
                        Phil
                        historyhouse.co.uk
                        Essex - family and local history.

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                        • #13
                          I agree. I don't remember a lot of Latin, but I'm sure "il" never appeared in it.
                          Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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                          • #14
                            I wondered if it might be a quote from Dante, but I haven't found anything so far.

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                            • #15
                              OK, a wacky idea:

                              these family mottoes were often a clever play on words, capable of double meaning, therefore

                              Peril suo contra rio

                              translates as (roughly) Look out if you cross my path.

                              Per il suo contrario is a nice inoffensive motto - and a meaningless one too, what does "By it's reverse" MEAN?

                              OC

                              Comment


                              • #16
                                Originally posted by Olde Crone Holden View Post
                                OK, a wacky idea:

                                these family mottoes were often a clever play on words, capable of double meaning, therefore

                                Peril suo contra rio

                                translates as (roughly) Look out if you cross my path.

                                Per il suo contrario is a nice inoffensive motto - and a meaningless one too, what does "By it's reverse" MEAN?

                                OC
                                It crossed my mind that there might be a double entendre there, but I didn't pursue it. Well done, OC.

                                Christine
                                Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

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                                • #17
                                  Well done all of you.

                                  Thank you.

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                                  • #18
                                    Very cute, OC, but I think you just invented a language

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                                    • #19
                                      No, Mary, I didn't invent it, the ancients did! Latin grammar and spelling was no higher on anyone's list in those days than English.

                                      But it was just an idea! Based on the fact that the motto makes no sense at all if translated from the latin.

                                      OC

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