On Tue, 24 Jun 2003 23:02:49 +0200, alex <
alxmoeller@...> wrote:
>It make sense with "unlucky" or how you said "Malheur" into this
>context. thus we have to see in the word "mare" in Rolland that this one
>means "unlucky"? I think at verses 1860,2145, 2300 for instnace.
>Now, it doesn't matter, if unlucky of great, the question of Mr Iacomi
>with /s/ remains open.
Mare is not an adjective, but an adverb. It comes from the Latin ablative
<mala: hora:> "at a bad hour", and is invariable, also in a plural context
like: "Mare fustes seigneurs" (literally: "At a bad hour you were, lords",
i.e. "at a bad hour you were born").
Compare the overall more positive tone in the Cantar de Mío Cid, where "en
mal(a) hora" does not occur, but "en buen hora" is a fixed epitet of Roy
Díaz:
"en buen hora fuestes nacido/nado"
"en hora buena fuestes nado"
"en buen hora nasquiestes vos"
"en buen hora nasquieste de madre"
"el que en buen hora nasco/nascio/nacio"
"el que en buen hora fue nado"
"en buen hora cinxiestes espada"
"el que en buen hora cinxio espada"
"el que en buena hora nasco e cinxo espada"
Note also:
"en buen hora te crie a ti en la mi corte" (2902)
"In a good hour I raised you in my court". Raising someone takes more than
an hour, so the meaning is rather: "For my luck I raised you in my court".
Modern Spanish "Enhorabuena" translates as "Congratulations!/Good luck!".
=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv@...