Latin Lesson #257: Plural Review — Neuters

After working on all these plural nouns and verbs (starting back in Lesson 242), we'll do some review this week and next. Today's focus is the plural ending of neuter nouns and adjectives: -a. We're starting with the neuter nouns because the plural -a ending is the same both for 2nd-declension neuter nouns and adjectives and also for 3rd-declension neuter nouns and adjectives!

This also happens to be the Latin plural ending that we see in English words like data, media, curricula, symposia, and bacteria (which are treated as plural nouns in English too), along with words like agenda and propaganda (which were originally plural in Latin, but which have come to be treated as singular nouns in English).

To get started, here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

And here are today's proverbs:


1. Bella, horrida bella!
Wars, dreaded wars!
bella, HOR-rrida bella!

The word bella is the plural form of bellum, a word you know already.

The word horrida is the plural form of horridum, "terrible, dreadful," agreeing with bella. 

These words come from the Sibyl's prophecy to Aeneas in Book VI of Vergil's Aeneid. 

2. Intellegenti pauca.
For-the-one-who-understands, a few (words are enough).
intelle-GEN-ti pauca.

The word pauca is the plural form of paucum, so it means "few things" or "a few things." In the context of this saying, though, it is usually understood as pauca (verba), "a few (words)." You haven't seen pauca before, but you have seen the masculine plural: pauci.

The word intellegenti is the dative form of intellegens, literally "the one understanding," i.e. the one who understands, the one who is "intelligent." This is the participle form of a verb you have seen before: intellegit.

Compare the English saying, "A word to the wise," which is inspired by Latin saying very similar to this one: Dictum sapienti sat est, "A word to the wise is enough." The idea is that if someone is wise, you do not have to explain things in detail; just a word or two will be enough for them to understand.

3. Grata brevissima.
Pleasant-things (are) extremely brief.
grata bre-VIS-sima.

The word grata is the plural form of gratum, "pleasing." The adjective is being used substantively here: "pleasing, pleasant (things)." 

The word brevissima is the plural form of brevissimum, "the most brief, extremely brief," agreeing with grata. You haven't seen this word before, but you have seen the form breve.

Of course, there is no rule that says you cannot flip the subject and predicate here, interpreting the saying as "The shortest-things are pleasant." Compare the English saying, "Brevity is the soul of wit" (a saying found in Shakespeare's Hamlet).

In a different context, you can also interpret "grata brevissima" not as neuter plural, but instead as feminine singular; that's what happens when you find these words inscribed on a sundial, where the implied feminine noun is ora, "the hour." So, if you saw this written on a sundial, you could interpret it as Grata (ora) brevissima, "The pleasant hour is extremely brief." Compare the English saying, "Time flies when you're having fun."

So, when it comes to very short statements like this in Latin, you might need to look to the context to pin down the meaning. 


4. Omnia vanitas.
All-things (are) vanity.
OM-nia VA-nitas.

The word omnia is the plural form of omne, a word you know already.

The word vanitas literally means "emptiness," an abstract noun formed from the adjective vanus, "empty." 

So, literally, the Latin statement means "all things are emptiness, all things are nothing." 

But English now has its own word, "vanity," from Latin vanitas, so that is usually how the word vanitas is translated. It comes from the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible: Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas, "Vanity of vanities, all things are vanity." You can find out more at Wikipedia: Vanitas.


5. Omnia idem pulvis.
All-things (are) the-same dust.
OM-nia idem pulvis.

The word pulvis means dust, and it is a masculine noun. This Latin word gives us English "pulverize" and also "powder."

The adjective idem, "same," is also masculine, agreeing with pulvis. You haven't seem the masculine form of this adjective before, but you have seen the neuter form, which is also idem. This Latin word is at the root of English "identity."
The idea here is that all things come from dust, and to dust all things shall return. Compare the English saying "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust" from the English Book of Common Prayer.


Here's a recap:

• Bella, horrida bella!
• Intellegenti pauca.
• Grata brevissima. 
• Omnia vanitas.
• Omnia idem pulvis.

And here is today's audio:



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Latin Nursery Rhyme: Pater in Valle

Here's another Latin cantilena to wrap up the week: it's my version of "Farmer in the Dell," Pater in Valle. You can read about this song at Wikipedia. It's a game as well a being a song!

Here is one English version:

The farmer in the dell.

The farmer in the dell.

Heigh Ho, the Derry-O!

The farmer in the dell.

Then the rest of the verses are:

The farmer takes a wife...

And the wife gives birth to a child...

He now has a nurse...

From a cow he drinks milk...

And a dog is the guard...

Then a cat leaps in...

The mouse fears the cat...

And he is seeking cheese..

And behold: the cheese!...

And here is my Latin version:

Em: pater in valle,

Pater in valle,

Hei-ho O rideo:

Pater in valle!

Behold: the father in the dale,

The father in the dale.

Hei-ho-O I'm laughing:

The father in the dell.

Et mater advenit, et mater advenit...

Tum parit puerum, tum parit puerum...

Nutricem habet nunc, nutricem habet nunc...

De vacca bibit lac, de vacca bibit lac...

Et canis custos est, et canis custos est...

Tunc feles insilit, tunc feles insilit...

Hanc felem timet mus, hanc felem timet mus...

Et quaerit caseum, et quaerit caseum...

Et ecce: caseus! Et ecce: caseus!

And the mother arrives, the mother arrives...

Then she bears a son, she bears a son...

And he has a nurse now, he has a nurse now...

From a cow he drinks milk, from a cow he drinks milk...

And the dog is the guardian, the dog is the guardian...

Then a cat comes leaping in, a cat comes leaping in...

The mouse is afraid of this cat, the mouse is afraid of the cat...

And it is seeking the cheese, seeking the cheese...

And behold: the cheese! Behold: the cheese!

And now I have a recording of the Latin, thanks to Genesis Staple, a recent graduate of the UT Music School here in Austin. You can hear more of Genesis's Latin recordings at this work-in-progress wiki: Cantilenae.

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I cannot resist including a video of the song whistled by Omar in The Wire:

print by David van der Kellen

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Plus a random cat for your viewing pleasure:

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Latin Lesson #256: 4th- and 5th-declension plural nouns

Today's lesson wraps up a plural topic that I skipped over earlier: the plural forms of the 4th- and 5th-declension nouns. These declensions are not very common in Latin, but there are some very common words that do belong to these declensions... and their plural forms are a bit sneaky, So, that is the focus for today's lesson!

The 4th-declension nouns are already sneaky because they end in -us, which makes them look like they might be a typical 2nd-declension noun. The way you can tell the difference is by the genitive form: -ūs. That's a long -ū-, which distinguished it from the nominative for Roman ears, but they did not use a different form to write the long -ū-. And here's another twist: the nominative plural form is also -ūs with the long -ū-. So, for the noun spīritus (breath, spirit), nominative singular, the genitive form is spīritūs and the nominative plural is also spīritūs. 

The 5th-declension nouns are not quite as sneaky, but they are still sneaky, because the nominative singular and the nominative plural are both the same, ending in -ēs (that's long -ē-). The genitive singular ends in -eī (that's a long -ī-). So, for the noun spēs (hope), nominative singular, the nominative plural is also spēs, while the genitive singular is speī.

Today's sayings will give you some practice with the plural forms of 4th- and 5th-declension nouns. To get started, here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

And here are today's sayings:

1. Eventus belli varii.
The-outcomes of-war are-various.
e-VEN-tus belli VA-rii.

You know all the words in this saying.

The word eventus (eventūs) is the plural of eventus. It is the subject of an implied verb: sunt, "are."

The adjective varii is masculine plural, agreeing with eventus.

The word belli, however, is the genitive form of bellum: eventus belli, "the outcomes of war."

This version of the saying comes from Vergil's Aeneid, and you've seen a different version of this proverb before: Varius eventus est proelii; that version is from the Biblical book of Samuel II. In this version, eventus is singular, and varius is masculine singular.

2. Quot capita, tot sensus.
(There are) as-many-opinions as-heads.
quot CA-pita, tot sensus.

The word sensus (sensūs) is the plural of sensus, and the word capita is the plural of the noun caput.

You haven't seen the word sensus, "opinion, feeling," before, but you have seen the noun that it comes from: sentit.

The words quot...tot... are correlatives, used in tandem: "as many... so many..."

The idea is that however many people there are, you will have that many opinions about something! Another version of this saying is Quot homines, tot sententiae, "There are as many opinions as there are people." (There word sententia, like sensus, comes from the verb sentit.)

You've seen other correlatives before. Remember qualis...talis..., "as... such..."? Here are some of those sayings: Qualis pater, talis filius and Qualis grex, talis rex.


3. Res, non verba.
Things, not words.
res non verba.

You know all these words also!

The word res is the plural of res, and the word verba is the plural of verbum.

The idea is that words are easy, but what you want are things, the real things, not just words.

Compare the English saying, "Actions speak louder than words."


4. Concordia res crescunt.
With-harmony, things grow.
con-COR-dia res crescunt.

These words should all be familiar!

The word res is plural, the subject of the plural verb crescunt.

The word concordia (concordiā) is the ablative form of concordia.

Another version of this saying reads, Concordia parvae res crescunt, "With harmony, small things grow (great)." An even fuller version reads, Concordia parvae res crescunt, discordia maximae dilabuntur, "With harmony, small things grow great; with disharmony, great things collapse." This version comes from the Roman historian Sallust.

5. Omnes dies pauperis mali.
All the-days of-a-poor-person (are) bad.
omnes dies PAU-peris mali. 

You've seen all these words before too!

The word dies is the plural of dies. The adjective omnes is masculine plural, agreeing with dies, and the adjective mali is the masculine plural of malus.

The word pauperis is the genitive of pauper.

This saying is found in the Biblical book of Proverbs.

Here's a recap:

• Eventus belli varii.
• Quot capita, tot sensus.
• Res, non verba.
• Concordia res crescunt.
• Omnes dies pauperis mali.

And here is today's audio:



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Latin Lesson #255: Plural -eunt

The focus for today's lesson is the plural of the irregular verb ire, "to go." Here are some of the verbs you have seen so far:

• eo: I go
• it: he/she/it goes
• ire: to go
• i: go! 

And here is the new 3rd-person-plural form:

• eunt: they go

There are also lots of compounds of this verb; here are the compounds you will see in today's sayings:

• ad-ire: to go towards, come
• co-ire: to go together, unite
• inter-ire: to go to ruin, die
• per-ire: to go away, perish

You've seen two other "go" compounds before too:

• ante-ire: to go before, precede
  Superbia anteit ruinam.
  "Pride goes before ruin."
• trans-ire: to go through, pass, pass by
  Transit hora, manet opera.
  "Time passes, the work remains."

And here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Orta omnia intereunt.
All-things that-have-arisen die.
orta OM-nia in-TER-eunt.

The word intereunt is the plural of interit, "goes away, dies."

The subject of the verb is omnia, "all (things)," neuter plural. The word orta is also neuter plural, and it is the participle of the verb oritur, "rises, arises." So, ortum means "something that has arisen."

The phrase appears in one of the letters of the Roman historian Sallust. 

Compare the English saying, "What goes up must come down."


2. Cito nata cito pereunt.
Things-born quickly perish.
cito nata cito PER-eunt.

The word pereunt is the plural of perit, "perishes."

The subject of the verb is nata, "born (things), things that are born" neuter plural. You can see this same root in Latin natura.

Compare the English sayings "Easy come, easy go" and "Soon ripe, soon rotten."

3. Optima citissime pereunt.
The-best-things perish most-quickly.
OP-tima ci-TIS-sime PER-eunt.

The subject of the verb is optima, "the best (things)," neuter plural.
The word citissime is an adverb, and not just any adverb: it's a superlative adverb, "most quickly." You've seen the other forms of this adverb before: cito, "quicky," and citius, "more quickly." 

Compare the English saying, "Only the good die young."

4. Non coeunt contraria.
Opposites don't come-together.
non CO-eunt con-TRA-ria.

The word coeunt is the plural of coit, "comes together, unites." We use the noun form of this verb as an English word "coitus."

The subject of the verb is contraria, "contrary, opposite (things)," neuter plural. The singular is contrarium, which gives us English "contrary."  

The phrase can be found in Seneca the Younger’s philosophical essay De Constantia Sapientis.


5. Adeunt etiam optima.
The-best-things still are-coming.
AD-eunt etiam OP-tima.

The word adeunt is the plural of adit, "goes towards, comes."

The adverb etiam means different things in different contexts, but the idea here is "still, yet."

Compare the English saying, "The best things are yet to come."


Here's a recap:

• Orta omnia intereunt.
• Cito nata cito pereunt.
• Optima citissime pereunt.
• Non coeunt contraria.
• Adeunt etiam optima.

And here is today's audio:



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Week 92 Catch-Up Day

For those of you who are following along with the Aeneid project, it's going really well; over 300 lines so far! You can find all the lessons here, Vergil.LauraGibbs.net, and I'm also updating the "Quid novi?" in the sidebar of the wiki, so you can follow it there as well, along with other fun Latin things.

Meanwhile, here is the catch-up day for the past two weeks of plural verbs, finishing up the 3rd-person plural forms for all four of the conjugations!

Now here are the past two weeks of lessons here:

• #251: More -ent plural verbs
• #252: 3rd conjugation -unt
  
• Nursery Rhyme: Rosam Ite Circum
• #253: 3rd-conjugation plural, -iunt
• #254: 4th-Conjugation Plurals, -iunt

And here's the slideshow with all the sayings. You can read out loud, first with the English to remind you of the vocabulary... and then read out loud again with the cat!

I also made a printable crossword PDF as usual, and the same prompts for the crossword are used in the quiz questions below. Enjoy!

Alii ______ sentiunt.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

aliter

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Exempla ______.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

docent

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Sero ______ Phryges.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

sapiunt

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Omnia fato ______.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

eveniunt

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Cum sol oritur, stellae ______.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

fugiunt

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Multae guttae ______ flumen.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

implent

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Semper bene ______ Iovis tesserae.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

cadunt

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Dolia plena ______.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

silent

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Hostes non ______.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

dormiunt

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Diu non ______ scelera.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

latent

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Fontes ipsi ______.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

sitiunt

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Omnia ______ fiunt.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

causa

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Mutuum muli ______.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

scabunt

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______ fato fiunt.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

omnia

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Litterae non erubescunt.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

erubescunt

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Cumani sero ______.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

sentiunt

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Curae canitiem ______.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

inducunt

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Latent sub ______ venena.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

melle

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Alii ______, alii metunt.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

serunt

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Omnia casu ______.
fill in the blank:

reveal/hide answer

fiunt

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And here's a random cat:

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Latin Lesson #254: 4th-Conjugation Plurals, -iunt

The focus for today's lesson is the final conjugation, which has -i as its theme vowel, so it also has -iunt in the 3rd-person plural. So, if you have dormit, "she sleeps," now you will have dormiunt, "they sleep."

Since that is the last of the conjugations, now is a good time to review the four conjugations, comparing the 1st-person form, the infinitive, along with the singular and plural endings. You can see how -nt is the constant feature throughout all the 3rd-person plural endings:

• 1: amō, amāre, amat, amant
• 2: habeō, habēre, habet, habent
• 3: currō, currere, currit, currunt
• 3-i: capiō, capere, capit, capiunt
• 4: dormiō, dormīre, dormit, dormiunt

And here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Omnia fato eveniunt.
All-things come-forth by-fate.
OM-nia fato e-VE-niunt.

The word eveniunt is the plural form of evenit, "comes out, comes forth." You haven't seen this verb before, but it is a compound e(x)-venit, and you have seen the uncompounded form, venit.

The word omnia is the plural of omne, and it is the subject of the verb.

The word fato is the ablative of the word fatum. 

You saw several proverbs last time about why things happen: fato, "by fate," or maybe casu, "by chance," or perhaps causa, "for a reason." This saying comes down on the site of fato!


2. Fontes ipsi sitiunt.
The-sources themselves are-thirsty.
fontes ipsi SI-tiunt.

The word sitiunt is the plural form of sitit.

The word fontes is the plural of fons, "spring, source, well" and it is the subject of the verb. You can see this Latin word in English "fountain" and "font." The word ipsi is also plural, agreeing with fontes: "the sources themselves."

This is a saying used to describe a situation that has shifted from abundance to scarcity, like when rich people are running short of money... which means, of course, that if even the rich are feeling pinched, then the poor people are feeling it even worse.


3. Hostes non dormiunt.
The-enemies don't sleep.
hostes non DOR-miunt.

You know all the words in this saying! The word dormiunt is the plural form of dormit.

The word hostes is the plural of hostis, and it is the subject of the verb.

The idea is that, when you are facing danger, you must always be vigilant. You cannot sleep, and you cannot let you attention wander: when in danger, keep your focus.


4. Alii aliter sentiunt.
Different-people feel differently.
A-lii A-liter SEN-tiunt.

You know all the words in this saying too! The word sentiunt is the plural form of sentit.

The word alii is the plural of alius, and it is the subject of the verb.

The word aliter is the adverb formed from alius. So alius means "different," and aliter means "differently."

Compare the English saying, "Different strokes for different folks."


5. Cumani sero sentiunt.
The-people-of-Cumae become-aware too-late.
Cu-MA-ni sero SEN-tiunt.

The word Cumani is the plural of Cumanus, a person from the city of Cumae, and it is the subject of the verb. Cumae was a Greek city in southern Italy; you can read more about Cumae at Wikipedia.

The adverb sero means "late" or "too late."

Earlier you saw a saying about the Trojans realizing their mistake too late, tragically so: Sero sapiunt Phryges. This saying, while similar, has a very different meaning: while the Trojans were tragic, the people of Cumae were proverbial fools. For example, when it was raining, the people of Cumae did not know to come in out of the rain until someone told them: "Come in out of the rain!" So, even though it was raining, they didn't know it, they didn't feel it. Instead, somebody had to tell them it was raining.


Here's a recap:

• Omnia fato eveniunt.
• Fontes ipsi sitiunt.
• Hostes non dormiunt.
• Alii aliter sentiunt.
• Cumani sero sentiunt.

And here is today's audio:



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