Quotiens tonsor barbam rasitat, totiens amicus speculum spectat.

They are a matching pair of adverbs:

• quotiens = as often as, whenever
• totiens = so often, that many times

So the pattern means:

• As often as X happens, Y happens
• or more naturally in English, Whenever X happens, Y happens

Latin likes these balancing pairs, where the first word sets up a relation and the second word answers it.

Because quotiens can be used in two different ways:

• as an interrogative: How often?
• as a relative/correlative word: as often as / whenever

Here it is not asking a question. You can tell because:

• the sentence is not phrased as a question
• quotiens is paired with totiens
• the whole structure clearly means whenever ..., so often ...

So here quotiens is functioning like whenever, not how often?

The endings tell you.

• tonsor = nominative singular → subject of the first clause
• barbam = accusative singular → direct object of the first clause
• amicus = nominative singular → subject of the second clause
• speculum = direct object of the second clause

So the basic structure is:

• tonsor barbam rasitat = the barber shaves the beard
• amicus speculum spectat = the friend looks at the mirror

A small note: speculum is a neuter noun, and in neuter nouns the nominative and accusative singular look the same. Here we know it is the object because spectat needs something being looked at.

Rasitat is the 3rd person singular present active of rasitare.

It is a frequentative/intensive verb related to radere, to scrape / shave. That means it can suggest repeated, habitual, or somewhat iterative action.

So rasitat is something like:

• keeps shaving
• shaves repeatedly
• or simply shaves, if English does not need to show the nuance

A learner may be more familiar with radit from radere. This sentence uses rasitat to give a slightly more repetitive or vivid feel.

Because Latin often uses the present tense for actions that are:

• habitual
• repeated
• generally true
• happening whenever a certain situation occurs

So rasitat and spectat do not have to mean only is shaving right now and is looking right now. They can mean:

• whenever the barber shaves, the friend looks
• every time the barber shaves, the friend looks

This is very normal Latin usage.

Latin has no articles. It does not have separate words for the or a/an.

So:

• tonsor can mean the barber or a barber
• amicus can mean the friend or a friend
• speculum can mean the mirror or a mirror

English has to choose one when translating, but Latin leaves that to context.

The sentence does not explicitly say whose beard it is.

Barbam just means beard in the accusative singular. Depending on context, English might translate it as:

• the beard
• a beard
• sometimes his beard, if that is obvious from the situation

But Latin itself has not stated the owner here.

If Latin wanted to be clearer, it could do so. For example:

• barbam suam = his own beard
  If this stayed in the first clause with tonsor as subject, it would normally refer to the barber's own beard.
• barbam amici = the friend's beard
• barbam eius = his beard / her beard, referring to someone else from context

So in this sentence, ownership is simply left unstated.

Because Latin spectare can take a direct object in the accusative.

So:

• speculum spectat = he looks at the mirror

English usually needs at, but Latin often does not with this verb.

That is a very common difference between Latin and English: English uses a preposition where Latin may use a plain accusative object.

Yes, the words could be arranged differently. Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings already show the grammatical roles.

This sentence is arranged to emphasize the pair:

• Quotiens ...
• totiens ...

That gives it a neat balanced structure.

But Latin could move many of the nouns and verbs around without changing the basic meaning. For example, amicus speculum spectat could also appear as speculum amicus spectat or spectat amicus speculum, though each arrangement would have a slightly different emphasis or style.

So the order here is natural and elegant, but not the only possible order.

Yes. The sentence has two clauses:

1. Quotiens tonsor barbam rasitat
2. totiens amicus speculum spectat

The first clause is a subordinate temporal/habitual clause introduced by quotiens.

The second clause is the main clause, and totiens answers the first clause.

So the relationship is:

• Whenever the barber shaves, the friend looks at the mirror
• literally, As often as the barber shaves, so often the friend looks at the mirror

The comma in modern printing helps show that division, though ancient Latin texts were not punctuated in exactly the same way modern editions are.