In a message dated 11/5/2003 8:02:30 AM Eastern Standard Time, HESSE-D-request@rootsweb.com writes: I am trying to translate church records of the 1600-1800's and keep coming across these terms: asperavalensis/asperavallani altavillani moguntinae sartor Other family relationship terms that I ned an exact translation for are: socro patris patris sorore Hi Val: A couple translations are easy, but I cannot give exact translation for the others. Perhaps someone else on the list will be able to help with them. Latin records are frequently a challenge because the writers often misspelled words and did not follow the rules of grammar. Sartor = tailor patris sorore = by the sister of the father moguntinae = possibly from Maguntina = Mainz socro patris: socro = by the mother-in-law; patris = of the father. [I'm not sure how this fits together.] aspervalensis: possibly a town name? The ending "ensis" = from the town of. If not, and if it is a compound word: asper = rough, coarse, etc; valensis: possibly from valens = strong, robust, powerful. altavillani: villani = of the farmer; alta = high, tall, lofty. [Again, I'm not sure how this fits together.] Paul C. Miller