Connor (fenoxielo524) wrote in linguaphiles,
Connor
fenoxielo524
linguaphiles

Medieval Latin: Agnus Dei

Singing through Faure's Requiem with my college choir this evening, I noticed the text I was singing:

Agnus dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis

Now, I've only studied classical Latin, so forgive me if this is stupid question for students of the medieval variety, but shouldn't it be a vocative: agne dei? I'm not suggesting the grammar police go after a centuries-old piece of liturgical text, just wondering whether there's a reason for the nominative, considering the "lamb" is being addressed, as evidenced by the 2nd person tollis.

Thanks, and again, sorry if this is a stupid question. I'm trying to write an essay on Descartes at the same time and study for an Arabic midterm.
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  • 18 comments

  • Interpretation of the Legend

    (inscriptions on the Kushan Kingdom coins / надписи на монетах Кушанского царства)

  • Spanish query

    I would be most grateful if anyone could help me out with a Spanish idiom, an expression appearing in a discussion of torture from the late 18th…

  • A very strange Etruscan inscription

    Chiusi is a small town in Italy (province of Siena, Tuscany). And once it was one of the most powerful centers of the Etruscan League of 12 cities.…