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Is the なる　in 健全なる精神は健全なる身体に宿る just the normal 成る? I don't think I understand how 健全なる精神 means "a healthy spirit"- I would think to say 健全の精神, I think. Can someone explain how saying 「健全なる精神...」 came to be?

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    I think ～～なる is the [連体形 of na-adjectives in archaic Japanese](http://www.hello-school.net/haroajapa008001.html). You'd say 「健全な精神」「健全な肉体」 in modern Japanese. –  Aug 04 '14 at 22:56
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    Yes, please be careful not to mix up 成る "become" with なる < にある, the adnominal form of the classical copula なり < にあり, which is the source of modern な. Compare the modern copula だ < であ < である < にてあり, which is etymologically the same as なり < にあり except with にて in place of に. –  Aug 04 '14 at 23:37
  • I would prefer "sound mind" to "healthy spirit". –  Aug 05 '14 at 02:25
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    @Anthony Try not to overanalyze this. When you translate a line from Latin, you will naturally tend to use older words and forms in your own language. The original is "Orandum est, ut sit mens sana in corpore sano" by Roman poet and lawyer Juvenal (0060-0130). –  Aug 05 '14 at 10:45
  • Oof sorry for upsetting everyone! I didn't *think* it should 成る I just didn't realize, for some reason, that it was にある　の　なる. –  Aug 06 '14 at 00:39
  • @Anthony I don't think you upset anyone, don't worry :-) –  Aug 06 '14 at 02:35

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As others have noted in the comments, the なる used in old-fashioned text after -na adjectives is derived as a contraction from older form ni aru, and actually doesn't have anything to do with 成{な}る "to become". This なる can be used after any -na adjective to impart a somewhat more formal or poetic feel: 健全{けんぜん}なる身体{しんたい}, 静{しず}かなる田舎{いなか}, 綺麗{きれい}なる着物{きもの}.

Eiríkr Útlendi
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    「綺麗なる着物」 sounds neither formal nor poetic. It only sounds weird to me. It is not something a native speaker would say. 「静かなる田舎」 sounds better than 「綺麗なる着物」 but it still sounds neither formal nor poetic. –  Aug 05 '14 at 05:56
  • そうですねぇ。。。なぜかは分かりませんが、「[華麗]{かれい}なる」「[遥]{はる}かなる」「未知なる」「[新]{あら}たなる」「完全なる」「[偉大]{いだい}なる」「大いなる」くらいしか思いつかないですねぇ・・・　(あれ？でも「未知な」「大いな」って言わないね？) –  Aug 05 '14 at 06:58
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    @Choko Or how about 聖なる, but not \*聖な? –  Aug 05 '14 at 07:03
  • ほんまや！「聖なる」っていうけど、「聖な」って言わないよね！なんでやろ～～？？ –  Aug 05 '14 at 07:04
  • 「神聖なる」なら、「神聖な」になるんだねぇ。。。「[妙]{たえ}なるexquisite」は「[妙]{たえ}な」にならないねぇ（「[妙]{みょう}なodd」ならあるけど・・・） –  Aug 05 '14 at 07:16
  • @非回答者, feel free to change the wording - would "archaic" do you better? FWIW, the 綺麗 phrase does show up in native-speaker writing, so I didn't just pull that out of thin air. – Eiríkr Útlendi Aug 05 '14 at 15:15
  • 私も"綺麗なる"をググってみたんですけど、ほとんど全部、「綺麗になる」のタイプミスだと思うんですよ。。。 –  Aug 06 '14 at 06:10
  • 現代日本語で一般的に使われていないとは喜んで承知しますが、「まるでだめだ」というのもいいすぎだと思います。例： https://www.google.com/search?q=%22%E7%B6%BA%E9%BA%97%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8B%E7%9D%80%E7%89%A9%22&tbm=bks – Eiríkr Útlendi Aug 06 '14 at 21:36