Best thread title change in a
long time. Bahahahaha!
It isn't correct Latin. Neither are adjectives. If they'd gone with "saeculorum prora" that might have worked ("a ship belonging to generations") but "saecula" is plural whereas "prora" is singular.
Correct. Square-Enix has decided to utilize ungrammatical Latin again and it's cute. It's odd because they do have actual Latin translators working on the soundtrack (at least for FFXIII), I think. I'd like to think that they would have consulted with
some scholars for accuracy. But no, this is
SE we're talking about. :lol
The whole quote on her sword says "Longe Lateque Aetatum Lumen Illustrans Verum", which again is ungrammatical Latin. What they want it to mean is "Throughout time, light reveals the truth", but they've used a participle instead of the indicative and blah blah blah blah blah...
Just a sec. I need to forward that to one of my former profs because that is just
fantastic. Let's parse that nonsense. Thanks for the full quote, btw.
Longe is an adverb which can apply to both time and space. But if we're going for literal and careful interpretation, we'll go with "throughout time" since that, contextually, makes sense for the game.
Lateque is late (everywhere/far and wide) + que (and) = and everywhere; I'd translate this to "and span" since that's basically what they're going for.
Aetatum = genitive plural of aetas = of lifetimes/of generations/of ages
Lumen = 3rd dec nom = light
Illustrans = Square-Enix needs to proofread. It's the present active
participle of illustro (to make clear, to illuminate, to reveal). This means that it'll translate directly to "illustrating". You do not use a participle. You use the indicative. LOL. There are two ways they can do this. They can use the present indicative
illustrat, or they can use the future indicative
illustrabit. I'd advise using the future indicative since they're still going through the journey.
Verum (acc) = the truth
Using
illustrans amused me. The new thread title staying and this messed up Latin are the best things ever to wake up to. If I were to translate a corrected version of that, I'd take a few liberties (just because that's the way I approach translations for better flow in English) and go with: "Throughout time and [the] span of generations, light will reveal the truth." ("Shall" usually applies to first person singular/plural, but I'd take the liberty to use it in English.) I'd assume the quote has a double meaning, given that Lightning's nickname is "Light".
I believe that "Xanadu" is a registered trademark in connection with computer and software goods. I would assume that Serendipity is not.
If this were the case, it would also apply in Japan, no? (Xanadu seems like a better fit based on its connotations. When I think "Serendipity", I think "awful romantic comedy starring Kate Beckinsale which my friends forced me to see in grade school".)