"Let it be" in Latin and Chinese

January 8, 2025 @ 5:02 am · Filed by under Grammar, Language and entertainment, Language and religion, Translation

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About a week ago, I was composing New Year's greetings for friends:

Akemashiteomedetō gozaimasu 明けましておめでとう御座います "Happy New Year"

Sin-nî-khuài-lo̍k 新年快樂！Xīnnián kuàilè!

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Шинэ оны мэнд хүргэе!

Felix sit annus novus!

When I got to the Latin, I was puzzled by whether I should leave "sit" in there or get rid of it.  I knew it must be some form of the verb "to be", but I wasn't sure exactly what form and what function it played..

So I put "sit" in Google Translate Latin and pushed the translate button, but forgot that I had the "into" language set on Chinese.  I was surprised / delighted / tickled when the Latin came out as Chinese "suí tā qù 隨它去" (lit., "let it go").  On the one hand, I was amazed by how colloquial it sounded, but, on the other hand, I thought it was a brilliant attempt on the part of GT to capture the grammatical sense of Latin "sit".

It gets curiouser and curiouser.  If you put "suí tā qù 隨它去" in on the Chinese side and push the translate button, on the English side out comes "let it be".  Wow!  I almost fell off my chair.

Paul McCartney said that his phenomenal song of that title was "quasi-religious", so I decided to take a look at what a Scholastic thinker like Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) would have conceived of it.  I found a discussion of the "Translation of the latin word 'sit' in Thomas Aquinas' works" on the Latin Language Stack Exchange.

Here are the first two comments:

Modern translations of medieval texts frequently translate the Latin verb 'sit' as he/she/it is. However, 'sit' is the subjunctive mood of the verb 'sum'. In my view it should be translated as he/she/it be as in: "Videtur quod pater non sit in filio …" which is frequently translated as "It seems the father is not in the son." Instead I prefer "It seems the father be not in the son." Comments please.

—

you are correct that "sit" is subjunctive and that the present subjunctive of be is "be". However, just because Latin uses subjunctive in a given case doesn't mean that an English translation will. They are conceptually similar ideas (some degree of uncertainty/unreality) but not identical.

I asked professor of Latin Joe Farrell if I should leave "sit" in my Latin New Year's greeting.  He replied,

Yes, I’d translate it as, “may the new year be propitious.” Sit is the 3d person sing present subj of esse, “to be.” It’s a verb. It’s better to use it, since the natural meaning of felix annus novus is “the new year is good.”

To wrap things up grammatically, I went to Wiktionary, which told me that Latin sit is:

third-person singular present active subjunctive of sum (be)

References

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to meSpeaking words of wisdom, let it beAnd in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of meSpeaking words of wisdom, let it be
 
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it beWhisper words of wisdom, let it be
 
And when the broken hearted people living in the world agreeThere will be an answer, let it beFor though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will seeThere will be an answer, let it be
 
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it beThere will be an answer, let it be
 
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it beWhisper words of wisdom, let it be
 
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it beWhisper words of wisdom, let it be, be
 
And when the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on meShinin' until tomorrow, let it beI wake up to the sound of music, Mother Mary comes to meSpeaking words of wisdom, let it be
 
And let it be, let it be, let it be, let it beWhisper words of wisdom, let it be
 
And let it be, let it be, let it be, let it beWhisper words of wisdom, let it be

—

Dāng wǒ yù dào kùnnán shí shèngmǔ mǎlìyǎ lái zhǎo wǒ shuō chū zhìhuì dehuà, shùn qí zìrán. Zài wǒ zuì hēi'àn de shíkè, tā zhàn zài wǒ miànqián shuō chū zhìhuì dehuà, shùn qí zìrán.

 — 

Fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba qīngshēng shuō chū zhìhuì zhī yán, shùn qí zìrán.

 —

 Dāng shìjiè shàng shāngxīn yù jué de rénmen dōu tóngyì yīdìng huì yǒu dá'àn, jiù zhèyàng ba yīnwèi suīrán fēnkāile, dàn tāmen hái yǒu jīhuì jiànmiàn. Yīdìng huì yǒu dá'àn, jiù zhèyàng ba 

— 

fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba yīdìng huì yǒu dá'àn, jiù zhèyàng ba 

—

 fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba qīngshēng shuō chū zhìhuì zhī yán, shùn qí zìrán. 

— 

Fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba, fàng kāi ba dī yǔ zhìhuì zhī yán, shùn qí zìrán, shùn qí zìrán 

—

yè shēnle, réng yǒu dēngguāng zhàoyàozhe wǒ dào míngtiān wéizhǐ, jiù zhèyàngle wǒ zài yīnyuè shēng zhōng xǐng lái, shèngmǔ Mǎlìyǎ lái dào wǒ shēnbiān shuō chū zhìhuì dehuà, shùn qí zìrán. 

— 

Shùn qí zìrán, shùn qí zìrán, shùn qí zìrán, shùn qí zìrán qīngshēng shuō chū zhìhuì zhī yán, shùn qí zìrán.

 — 

Shùn qí zìrán, shùn qí zìrán, shùn qí zìrán, shùn qí zìrán qīngshēng shuō chū zhìhuì zhī yán, shùn qí zìrán.

當我遇到困難時聖母瑪利亞來找我
說出智慧的話，順其自然。
在我最黑暗的時刻，她站在我面前
說出智慧的話，順其自然。
－－－
放開吧，放開吧，放開吧，放開吧
輕聲說出智慧之言，順其自然。
－－－
當世界上傷心欲絕的人們都同意
一定會有答案，就這樣吧
因為雖然分開了，但他們還有機會見面。
一定會有答案，就這樣吧
－－－
放開吧，放開吧，放開吧，放開吧
一定會有答案，就這樣吧
－－－
放開吧，放開吧，放開吧，放開吧
輕聲說出智慧之言，順其自然。
－－－
放開吧，放開吧，放開吧，放開吧
低語智慧之言，順其自然，順其自然
－－－
夜深了，仍有燈光照耀著我
到明天為止，就這樣了
我在音樂聲中醒來，聖母瑪利亞來到我身邊
說出智慧的話，順其自然。
－－－
順其自然，順其自然，順其自然，順其自然
輕聲說出智慧之言，順其自然。
－－－
順其自然，順其自然，順其自然，順其自然
輕聲說出智慧之言，順其自然。

(Translation by GT)

Selected readings

January 8, 2025 @ 5:02 am · Filed by under Grammar, Language and entertainment, Language and religion, Translation


11 Comments »

  1. KeithB said,

    January 8, 2025 @ 9:19 am

    Do they translate "Let it Go" from the song in Frozen the same way?

  2. Benjamin E. Orsatti said,

    January 8, 2025 @ 9:24 am

    Fascinating path you've taken there. Several questions raised:

    (1) Why wouldn't the translation of "Mother Mary" be "母親瑪利亞"? Or, in other words, how would you emphasize (as I'd imagine Paul McCartney may have intended) Mary-as-OUR-mother (as opposed to, say, Mary-as-Mother-of-God (i.e., theotokos)

    (2) Why do Protestants (馬利亞) and Catholics (瑪利亞) have different names for "Mary"?

    (3) What would be the proper response to "Felix sit annus novus!"? Maybe, in the style of Augustine, "Etiam sic!"?

  3. Philip Taylor said,

    January 8, 2025 @ 9:51 am

    The lyrics as given above are an almost perfect transcription of the re-mastered version as embedded above apart from the final two stanzas, but at the point where the transcribed lyric reads "Shinin' until tomorrow, let it be", I hear "Shine until tomorrow, let it be". What do others hear ?

    Benjamin — (3) What would be the proper response to "Felix sit annus novus!"? Maybe, in the style of Augustine, "Etiam sic!"? How about [i]Nugæ[/i] ?!

  4. Benjamin E. Orsatti said,

    January 8, 2025 @ 10:20 am

    Philip,

    Aufer nugas! (not really).

    My favorite "sit" reference still has to be (again, from Augustine, Conf. 1.12.19): "[E]t sic est, ut poena sua sibi sit omnis inordinatus animus" (And so it is, that every disordered mind is its own punishment).

  5. Pamela said,

    January 8, 2025 @ 10:47 am

    Well, I'm wondering, first, what did the Romans actually say? And second, that use of "be" is wonderful–I am very sorry that it has disappeared from modern English (outside of dialects), as have many cases and moods. I wonder, did it disappear because familiarty with Latin disappeared? Or did it disappear as part of the trends that are now making objective case and adverbs disappear?

  6. KeithB said,

    January 8, 2025 @ 11:10 am

    Pamela:
    "And second, that use of "be" is wonderful–I am very sorry that it has disappeared from modern English"

    It shows up a lot on "Talk like a pirate" day. 8^)

  7. TR said,

    January 8, 2025 @ 12:34 pm

    McCartney's "let it be" isn't sit in this sense, though — it doesn't mean "so be it" but "let it go, don't worry about it, leave it alone". At least that's how I've always understood it. It sounds like 隨它去 means the latter too.

    If you left sit out of the Latin I think you'd use the accusative, felicem annum novum, with an implied "I wish you".

  8. Philip Taylor said,

    January 8, 2025 @ 1:27 pm

    I can see your (first para.) point in the earlier verses, TR, but when we come to :

    And when the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me
    Shine until tomorrow, let it be
    I wake up to the sound of music, Mother Mary comes to me
    Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

    would you not agree that the sense here is closer to sit ?

  9. Sergey said,

    January 8, 2025 @ 1:38 pm

    I've tried to play with Google and Bing translators, and it looks like Latin doesn't doesn't have a word like "let", so "let [it] be" is just "be" there. Maybe the known Latin versions of the biblical phrases like "let there be light!" can be used as a guidance.

    I wonder if the Latin "sit" also has an implication of the future, essentially "will be" in one word? In Russian the word "будет", a form of "быть" ("be"), does. Although in Russian the wish would still have a form of "let" in it too – "пусть будет" or "да будет" (here "да" is a different word than the one with meaning "yes", instead it's an archaic version of "let").

  10. TR said,

    January 8, 2025 @ 2:24 pm

    @Philip Taylor: you may be right — I'm not sure quite what the intended sense is in that verse. (Or if there even is one, beyond "this is the refrain so it's repeated here"; finer exegesis may not always be called for in pop lyrics.)

    @Sergey: Google Translate is notoriously awful for Latin, and I'd assume the same of Bing. There are of course Latin words that can be translated as "let", but for this kind of optative sense you just use a subjunctive. The present subjunctive often does refer to something that might happen in the future, but it's not plain "will be", which would be a future indicative.

  11. Christopher S said,

    January 8, 2025 @ 7:19 pm

    @Keith
    The mainland version translates it as 隨它吧, the Taiwan version as 放開手.

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