Latin Question

[Gabriela]

I'm trying to create a play on words using the abbreviation "DSQ" ("designated servant's quarters"). Latinists, can you tell me whether:

1. "service of God", servitio Dei, can be flopped to read Dei servitio, or is that ungrammatical?

2. "servant of God", servi Dei, can be flopped to read Dei servi, or is that ungrammatical?

You see where I'm going here, I'm sure. If neither of these works, I'd be happy to hear other ideas!

[beatitude]

I'm rusty, so someone with better knowledge may correct me, but Latin word order is much more flexible than it is in English. In general, the subject comes first, not the object, so 'Dei servus' or 'Dei servitio' sounds a little strange to my ear. But I don't think it's ungrammatical, because in Latin it is the verb ending that tells you what's up in the sentence, not the word order.

(It would be servus, not servi - 'Dei' takes the genitive/possessive form, so for 'servum' you need the nominative.)

[Gabriela]

2 hours ago, beatitude said:

I'm rusty, so someone with better knowledge may correct me, but Latin word order is much more flexible than it is in English. In general, the subject comes first, not the object, so 'Dei servus' or 'Dei servitio' sounds a little strange to my ear. But I don't think it's ungrammatical, because in Latin it is the verb ending that tells you what's up in the sentence, not the word order.

(It would be servus, not servi - 'Dei' takes the genitive/possessive form, so for 'servum' you need the nominative.)

Hi, beatitude!  

Thanks for the answer!

[PadrePioOfPietrelcino]

The normal word order is Subject, Object, Verb. And it has been pointed out that latin word order is flexible to the point that the word order does not technically matter in a grammatical sense within a clause, especially if it is in poetic usages.

 

Servant of God is servus Dei, and can also be rendered Dei servus with no problem.

Service of God, if intended as "The service of God" I would render servitium Dei, or Dei servitium.

If you are intending things like "FOR the Service of God", or "IN the service of God", then it would change.