Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
beg
English answer:
It's a mistake: ignore it
Added to glossary by
Charles Davis
Jan 28, 2015 21:41
9 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term
beg
English
Social Sciences
History
I cannot figure out the meaning of 'beg' in the following sentence.
"To the most serene and invincible prince and lord Henry, by the grace of God Dauphin of France, I beg your humble servant Theodore Spandugnino, patrician of Constantinople."
http://assets.cambridge.org/97805215/85101/excerpt/978052158...
Thank you in advance for your help!
"To the most serene and invincible prince and lord Henry, by the grace of God Dauphin of France, I beg your humble servant Theodore Spandugnino, patrician of Constantinople."
http://assets.cambridge.org/97805215/85101/excerpt/978052158...
Thank you in advance for your help!
Change log
Jan 29, 2015 23:40: Charles Davis Created KOG entry
Responses
+6
1 hr
Charles Davis
Spain
Spain
Native in English
&
English
Specializes in field
Spain
Related KudoZ points
:
52
Selected
It's a mistake: ignore it
This is a strange muddle.
The text you have before you is a modern English translation, made by Donald M. Nicol, of a work by Theodore Spandounes, or Teodoro Spandugino, the Venetian-born son of noble Greek exiles from Byzantium, entitled De la origine deli imperatori ottomani. This is the third version of Spandugino's text, written in 1538 and dedicated (as we see) to the then Dauphin, the future Henri II of France. It was first published in Lucca in 1550.
Nicol tells us (p. xviii) that he translated it from the complete edition of the Italian text prepared by Constantine Sathas and published in vol. IX of Documents inédits relatifs à l'histoire de la Grèce au moyen âge (Paris, 1890).
http://books.google.es/books?id=OEvWBG6Ct3YC&q=published#v=s...
Sathas's edition of the Italian text is based on the "manuscrit unique" in the Bibiothèque Nationale in Paris, fonds Italien N. 881.
Well now, I don't know where Nicol got the word "beg" from, but there's nothing corresponding to it in the text he was translating. Sathas's edition is available on line, thanks to the wonderful archive.org, and the first paragraph of the dedication reads as follows:
"Al serenissimo et invictissimo Principe Signor et Signor Henrico per la Iddio gratia Delphino di Francia, io humile servitore Theodoro Spandugnino Cantacusino, patritio Constantinopolitano" [emphasis mine].
https://archive.org/stream/mnmeiahellniksh01sathgoog#page/n1...
Literally just "I, humble servant" (meaning "I, your humble servant").
So Nicol has somehow inserted a spurious extra word, "beg", which is not present in his source text. I don't think we need to worry about what it means; it shouldn't be there at all.
According to this review, Nicol's edition is actually not that good in general.
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/259568?sid=21105192620...
The text you have before you is a modern English translation, made by Donald M. Nicol, of a work by Theodore Spandounes, or Teodoro Spandugino, the Venetian-born son of noble Greek exiles from Byzantium, entitled De la origine deli imperatori ottomani. This is the third version of Spandugino's text, written in 1538 and dedicated (as we see) to the then Dauphin, the future Henri II of France. It was first published in Lucca in 1550.
Nicol tells us (p. xviii) that he translated it from the complete edition of the Italian text prepared by Constantine Sathas and published in vol. IX of Documents inédits relatifs à l'histoire de la Grèce au moyen âge (Paris, 1890).
http://books.google.es/books?id=OEvWBG6Ct3YC&q=published#v=s...
Sathas's edition of the Italian text is based on the "manuscrit unique" in the Bibiothèque Nationale in Paris, fonds Italien N. 881.
Well now, I don't know where Nicol got the word "beg" from, but there's nothing corresponding to it in the text he was translating. Sathas's edition is available on line, thanks to the wonderful archive.org, and the first paragraph of the dedication reads as follows:
"Al serenissimo et invictissimo Principe Signor et Signor Henrico per la Iddio gratia Delphino di Francia, io humile servitore Theodoro Spandugnino Cantacusino, patritio Constantinopolitano" [emphasis mine].
https://archive.org/stream/mnmeiahellniksh01sathgoog#page/n1...
Literally just "I, humble servant" (meaning "I, your humble servant").
So Nicol has somehow inserted a spurious extra word, "beg", which is not present in his source text. I don't think we need to worry about what it means; it shouldn't be there at all.
According to this review, Nicol's edition is actually not that good in general.
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/259568?sid=21105192620...
Note from asker:
| Thanks a lot for your great explanation! |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Veronika McLaren
14 mins
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Thanks, Veronika!
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| agree |
Tony M
: What super research, and an excellent explanation!
18 mins
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Thanks very much, Tony :)
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| agree |
Andy Watkinson
: Thought it sounded familiar.....
23 mins
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:)
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| neutral |
Jennifer Levey
: Have you checked the very last paragraph of the text? (See my answer.)
42 mins
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I take your general point, but I've just had a look and there's nothing there corresponding to this word.
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| agree |
Danik 2014
: After your carefull research it is clear to me that this is just the title of the chapter with the author presenting himself. Nobody is begging anybody for anything! :)
2 hrs
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Thanks, Danik :)
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| agree |
British Diana
: Very convincing
7 hrs
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Thanks, Diana :)
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| agree |
acetran
11 hrs
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Thanks, acetran :)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+1
3 mins
I beg to remain your humble servant
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Note added at 6 mins (2015-01-28 21:48:45 GMT)
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Or somewhat longer, e.g.: I beg to remain your most humble and obedient servant.
Examples: http://tinyurl.com/ncwyyzv
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Note added at 10 mins (2015-01-28 21:52:03 GMT)
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beg
to ask (someone) for (something) formally, humbly, or earnestly
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/beg
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Note added at 24 mins (2015-01-28 22:06:45 GMT)
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July 22, 1898
Hoping you will accept this in the kindly spirit in which it is written, I beg to remain Your humble servant, C. 0. FENTON
http://newspaperarchive.com/us/indiana/logansport/logansport...
So it's not necessarily modern English [I corrected some OCR typos].
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Tony M
: That would be common enough if this were a closing formula — but it isn't.
22 mins
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Yes, nowadays this is the usage - but Theodore Spandugnino apparently used it as an opening sentence (valediction being "I hope that your Highness...").
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| agree |
Jean-Claude Gouin
: Tony is right when he states that these words are usually seen in a closing but here, it's at the very beginning. It seems weird that everything stops after Constantinople; it's not a sentence, just a way to butter someone up in order to get something.
45 mins
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Thank you for your support and additional explanation.:)
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| neutral |
Charles Davis
: The word "beg" is spurious (added by the translator); it should not be there.
1 hr
|
+1
1 hr
Jennifer Levey
Chile
Chile
Native in English
&
English
Chile
Human-scale Globalization
Native in: English (Variant: British) 
Works in: Spanish to English, French to English, English to Spanish, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
word order and pecking order
The word order is different to modern English, which would more likely read: "I, your humble servant TSC, beg your (majesty) Henry..."
'I' is the author himself, Theodore Spandugnino Canatacusino, and he is 'begging' - asking as if on 'bended knee', or 'imploring' (perhaps he actually wrote, in French: 'J'implore ...') - Henry to take note of what follows (the next ten or more pages of the text).
If you're looking for the verb or noun which (in modern English) ought to follow 'beg', you might find it in the very last paragraph of the text - after the 'several pages of observations that TSC is presenting to Henry'. Such was the impact of the social 'pecking order' on academic/scientific writing in those times.
'I' is the author himself, Theodore Spandugnino Canatacusino, and he is 'begging' - asking as if on 'bended knee', or 'imploring' (perhaps he actually wrote, in French: 'J'implore ...') - Henry to take note of what follows (the next ten or more pages of the text).
If you're looking for the verb or noun which (in modern English) ought to follow 'beg', you might find it in the very last paragraph of the text - after the 'several pages of observations that TSC is presenting to Henry'. Such was the impact of the social 'pecking order' on academic/scientific writing in those times.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: TSC wrote in Italian, then it was translated to French but this (bad?)translation is from the Italian edited version. He wants action taken against Turks but "beg" probably just formula here, I, your....TSC, beg...
19 mins
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| neutral |
Charles Davis
: This is modern English (believe it or not). The word "beg" is spurious (added by the translator); it should not be there.
24 mins
|
Discussion
I think you have to recognize that here you have an archaic text, in a translation that is itself (apparently) archaic, and between the possibility of an actual mistake in translation, and the simple fact that modern usage has evolved since this time, you have quite a dilemma on your hands!
Normally, in modern EN, 'to beg' would require some kind of follow up: "I beg you to do something..." or "I beg your permission to do something..." etc.
But I suspect here we are dealing with an archaic usage where that was not the case.
On the face of it, Polangmar's suggestion of missing text seem the only way to make it make sense (in modern EN) — however, we do need to place it in its wider context to see if any other solution is possible.