Latin Lesson #210: Vult and mavult

The focus for today's lesson is more about the irregular verb volo which you saw yesterday, along with the compounds mavolo (= magis volo) and nolo (= non volo).

Today you will learn the 3rd-person form: vult, "wants, is willing, will." There is also a compound form, mavult, "wants more, prefers" (= magis vult).

For nolo, the 3rd-person form is just non vult. You actually saw that in one of the sayings yesterday: Nolo parum, nimium non volo: sat mihi sat.

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

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Spiritus flat ubi vult.
(The) Spirit blows where (it) wants.
SPI-ritus flat ubi vult.

The word spiritus is from the verb spirat, "breathe." The basic meaning of spiritus is "breath, breathing," but of course it later took on new meanings in the Christian tradition, giving us English "spirit," and also "Spirit," a person of the Holy Trinity. You can read more about the history of this word at Wikipedia: Spirit.

This phrase is a variation on the Gospel of John: Spiritus ubi vult spirat. 


2. Vult et non vult piger.
(The) lazy (man) wants and doesn’t want.
vult et non vult piger.

You already know all the words in this saying! 

Here you can see how the verb nolo has non vult as the 3rd-person form.

The idea is that a lazy person does want things, vult, but because he is not willing to do the work, non vult.

This saying also comes from the Bible, this time from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Proverbs. The King James Version reads: 'The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing."


3. Asinus stramen mavult quam aurum.
(A) donkey wants straw more-than gold.
A-sinus stramen mavult quam aurum.

The word stramen is a neuter noun, so it is the same form in both nominative and accusative; in this sentence, it is accusative because it is the object of the verb mavult: The donkey wants straw, asinus mavult stramen.

The donkey wants that straw more than, quam, the donkey wants gold, aurum, another neuter noun in the accusative.
Do you think the donkey is foolish? This kind of saying is meant to make fun of the donkey, as if the donkey doesn't realize the value of gold... but you can't eat gold!


4. Nemo feli tintinnabulum annectere vult.
Nobody is-willing to-tie (the) bell (onto the) cat.
nemo feli tintin-NA-bulum an-NEC-tere vult.

Here the verb vult takes a complementary infinitive, vult annectere, "wants to die." The root of that word is nexus, "binding, joining."

The word tintinnabulum, "bell," is a neuter noun, so it could be nominative or accusative here; it's accusative because it is the object of the infinitive: to tie on the bell, annectere tintinnabulum. You can see this same Latin root in the medical term "tinnitus."

The word feli is the dative form of the noun feles, "for the cat, to the cat, onto the cat."

This saying was turned into an Aesop's fable, Belling the Cat. The idea is that the mice want to put a bell on the cat... but none of the mice will do it!


5. Ieiunus venter non vult cantare libenter.
(An) empty stomach isn’t willing to-sing gladly.
ie-IU-nus venter non vult can-TA-re li-BEN-ter.

The word venter is a masculine 3rd-declension noun, "stomach." You can see this Latin word in "ventriloquism," speaking-from-the-stomach. 

The masculine adjective ieiunus, "empty, fasting," which gives us English "jejune," meaning empty in a metaphorical sense, insipid, without substance.
The adverb libenter means "gladly, happily," and it is related to the Latin word libido, which gives us English "libido."
In other words: food first! If you are hungry, nothing else is going to go well, especially performing on command.

As you can guess from the internal rhyme, venter-libenter, this is a medieval Latin proverb.


Here's a recap:

• Spiritus flat ubi vult.
• Vult et non vult piger.
• Asinus stramen mavult quam aurum.
• Nemo feli tintinnabulum annectere vult.
• Ieiunus venter non vult cantare libenter.

And here is today's audio:



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Latin Lesson #209: Volo-Malo-Nolo

The focus for today's lesson is another set of irregular verbs: volo, "I want," malo, "I prefer," and nolo, "I don't want."

The words malo and nolo are actually contractions: malo is magis volo, "I want more," and nolo is non volo, "I don't want." You've actually seen a form of nolo before; do you remember those negative imperatives with noli, like Noli tristis esse, "Don't be sad," and Noli trepidare, "Don't be afraid." 

Each of today's sayings has a form of volo, malo, and nolo, and then later this week, you'll see some other forms of these verbs.

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

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Volo, non valeo.
I-want, I'm-not able.
volo, non VA-leo.

This sentence plays with the verb volo, "I want, I am willing," and the sound-alike verb valeo, "I am able, I have the power." It often happens that you might want something or want to do something, but not be able to.

Contrast the affirmative English saying, "ready, willing, and able."

This is the family motto of the Earl of Carlisle, reportedly awarded by King Charles II as a rebuke for the Howards not having rallied to the defense of Charles I; the Howards were allowed to retain their title but had to endure the ignominy of this motto.


2. Valere malo quam dives esse.
I-prefer to-be-well than to-be wealthy.
va-LE-re malo quam dives esse.

Here you get the verb malo, "I prefer," i.e. magis volo, "I want more."

This verb takes a complementary infinitive, and you have two infinitives here: valere and esse.

The infinitive valere here has a different meaning that in the previous saying; in this context, valere means "to be strong, to be well" (as in the phrase ave atque vale that you've seen before).

The infinitive esse, "to be," takes a predicate nominative: esse dives, "to be wealthy."

So, you can put it all together with the comparative adverb quam: "I prefer to be healthy," malo valere, "rather than," quam, "to be rich," esse dives.

You can find this sentiment expressed in the writings of the Roman author Cicero.


3. Nolo parum, nimium non volo: sat mihi sat.
I-refuse too-little, I-don't want too-much: enough is-enough for-me.
nolo parum, NI-mium non volo: sat mihi sat.

You know all the words in this saying except for one: mihi, which is the dative form of the pronoun ego, meaning "to me, for me."

The contrast is between nolo and non volo, both of which mean "I don't want, I refuse." Using the two different expresses is what gives the saying its charm.

Once again, it's a recommendation of the Golden Mean: not too little, parum, and not too much, nimium, but just enough: sat. 


4. Malo hic esse primus quam Romae secundus.
I-prefer to-be first here than second in-Rome.
malo hic esse primus quam Romae se-CUN-dus.

The word hic here is an adverb meaning "here, in this place." The word Romae is also expressing location; it means "at Rome, in Rome."

As you saw above, the verb malo takes a complementary infinitive: malo esse, "I prefer to be."

So, the idea is that in some humble place, wherever "here" might be, I prefer to be primus, "first," rather than to be secundus, "second" in Rome.
Plutarch attributes these words to Julius Caesar, spoken when he was passing through a remote village in the high Alps. Of course, Caesar eventually did make himself primus in Rome too, but he paid the ultimate price for that ascent!


5. Malo ad campanam quam ad tubae surgere clangorem.
I-prefer to-awake to a-bell than to the-blare of-a-war-trumpet.
malo ad CAM-panam quam ad tubae SUR-gere clan-GO-rem.

Again, the verb malo takes a complementary infinitive: malo surgere, "I prefer to rise, to wake up."

The word campanam is the accusative form of campana, "bell," as in the bell of a church peacefully tolling the hours. The word comes from Campania, the region where Naples is located; it was famous for bell-making, and so the name came to mean "bell" itself. You can see this word in the English word "campanile," a bell-tower.

The word clangorem is the accusative form of clangor, a loud or blaring sound, especially the sound of the war-trumpet; the word tubae is the genitive form of tuba, which was a very long trumpet (over a meter long!) used in times of war.
Both campanam and clangorem are in the accusative with the preposition ad, "to, towards," which takes the accusative case.

The saying plays on the metaphorical contrast between the campana which sounds in a time of peace and the clangor of the trumpet which blows in the time of war.


Here's a recap:

• Volo, non valeo.
• Valere malo quam dives esse.
• Nolo parum, nimium non volo: sat mihi sat.
• Malo hic esse primus quam Romae secundus.
• Malo ad campanam quam ad tubae surgere clangorem.

And here is today's audio:



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Week 69 Vocabulary Review

The review this week is... the accusative case! There's a quiz slideshow, a crossword, and a self-check quiz afterwards too. :-)

For each saying, you will try to supply the missing accusative noun or adjective. You can check yourself by looking at the cat slide that follows the slide with the missing word(s). 

You can also begin at the end and work backwards, giving yourself a different kind of quiz: seeing the slide without English and trying to supply the English, checking your answer on the next slide, reviewing with the cat slide, and then seeing if you can fill in the blank. Plus don't forget: on the slides that contain the English translation, the English is linked to the original blog post if you want some help in understanding the grammar of the saying.

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

Timeo naufragus ______ fretum.
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omne

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______ cauda teneo.
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Anguillam

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Hirundo ______ loquitur.
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aestatem

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Sequitur ver ______.
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hiemem

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Vitulus sequitur vaccam, filia ______.
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matrem

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Ovis ______ sequitur.
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ovem

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______ equus insequitur.
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Testudinem

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Cogitationis ______ nemo meretur.
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poenam

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Ars imitatur ______.
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naturam

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Caritas non cogitat ______.
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malum

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Da ______ misero.
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dextram

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______ mediocritatem diligo.
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Auream

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______ nocens veretur, fortunam innocens.
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Legem

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______ reverenter habe.
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Fortunam

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______ spero.
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Lucem

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______ suum vulpecula mutare nescit.
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Ingenium

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Fraus meretur ______.
fill in the blank:

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fraudem

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Pacis nomine ______ involutum reformido.
fill in the blank:

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bellum

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Irrideo ______.
fill in the blank:

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tempestatem

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Tempus ______ manet.
fill in the blank:

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neminem

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And here's a random cat:

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Latin Lesson #208: The infinitive ferre

The focus for today's lesson is the infinitive form of fert, which is also irregular: ferre. Unlike the other verbs you have studied, with infinitives that end in -are, -ere, and -ire, this infinitive is lacking a theme vowel. But it does still end in -re, so you can let that clue help you recognize it as an infinitive. Each of today's sayings has either the infinitive ferre or a -ferre compound.

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

And now here are today's proverbs:

1. Nemo enim potest personam diu ferre.
Nobody in-fact can wear a-mask for-a-long-time.
nemo enim potest per-SO-nam diu ferre.

You already know all the words in this saying!

The word ferre is an infinitive complementing the verb potest.

The word personam is the accusative form of persona, and it is the object of the infinitive ferre.

The idea here is that the truth will come out sooner or later; eventually, the mask comes off!

The words come from the Roman philosopher and politician Seneca.

2. Necessitatem ferre, non flere addecet.
It-is-appropriate to-endure necessity, not bewail (it).
necessi-TA-tem ferre, non flere AD-decet.

The words fere and flere are both complementing the verb addecet, "it is fitting, is appropriate." The verb is a compound of a verb you have seen before: ad-decet.

The charm of this saying is in the similar-sounding infinitives: ferre and flere. I can't come up with two rhyming words in English to express that similarity: maybe "praise" and "protest"...? They are at least a little bit similar!

This is another one of the sayings of Publilius Syrus.

3. Melius est iniuriam ferre quam inferre.
(It) is better to-endure a-wrong rather-than inflict (it).
ME-lius est in-IU-riam ferre quam in-FER-re.

The word inferre is from the compound verb, in-fert, "bring in, inflict."

The infinitives inferre and ferre are being compared with the phrase melius quam, "better than." The rhetorical charm of the saying is in the contrast between these two verbs; I can't think of a pair of verbs that work the same way in English; endure/inflict was the best I could do, with en-/in-.

The word iniuriam is the accusative form of the noun iniuria, and it is the object of both of the infinitives.

This is similar to a saying you have seen before, but without the wordplay between the two verbs: Melius est iniuriam accipere quam facere.


4. Quid gravissimum est ferre? Cor hominis.
What is the-heaviest-thing to-bear? (A) human's heart.
quid gra-VIS-simum est ferre? Cor HO-minis.
 
The word gravissimum, "heaviest," is the superlative form of a word you have seen before: grave. The adjective is being used as a noun here, "(the) heaviest (thing)." The word could be nominative or accusative; in this saying, it is in the accusative case, the object of the infinitive ferre.

The word cor is also a neuter noun, either nominative or accusative (remember: those neuter nouns are always identical in the nominative and accusative); it is also the accusative, like gravissimum.

The word quid is also neuter accusative, so all three of the key words here are neuter accusatives: quid ... gravissimum ... cor.

The word hominis is the genitive form of homo, with cor: "the heart of a human," i.e. a human heart.

Although this is more like a riddle than a proverb, you can see how a riddle can rely on metaphor just as proverbs often do. A human heart is, literally, not heavy to carry (you carry your heart with you all the time), but metaphorically, your heart can be very heavy indeed.

5. Disce minori parcere, maiori cedere, ferre parem.
Learn to-show-mercy to-a-lesser-person, to-yield to-a-greater, to-endure an-equal.
disce mi-NO-ri PAR-cere, ma-IO-ri CE-dere, ferre parem.

You have three infinitives here, all of which complement the verb disce, the imperative form of the verb discit. The infinitives are: parere, cedere, and ferre.

The word minori  is the dative of minor, with the verb parcit which takes a dative complement: minori parcere.

The word maiori is the dative of maior, with the verb cedit which takes a dative complement: minori cedere.
The word parem is the accusative form of par, "equal, even," which we use as an English word too. It is the direct object of the infinitive ferre.

Here's a recap:

• Nemo enim potest personam diu ferre.
• Necessitatem ferre, non flere addecet.
• Melius est iniuriam ferre quam inferre.
• Quid gravissimum est ferre? Cor hominis.
• Disce minori parcere, maiori cedere, ferre parem.

And here is today's audio:



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Latin Lesson #207: Fert and fertur

The focus for today's lesson is more practice with fero and for today the contrast is between the active form fert, "carries, bears, ports," and the passive form fertur, "is carried, is borne, is ported." The form fert is irregular, but the form fertur is formed just like you would expect: the ending is -tur.

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

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Tempus ipsum affert consilium.
Time itself brings a plan.
tempus ipsum affert con-SI-lium.

The verb affert is a compound: ad+fert, "carries to, brings."

The word tempus is a neuter noun, and ipsum is a neuter adjective, "itself," agreeing with tempus. You haven't seen this neuter form before, but you have seen the masculine form: ipse, "himself."
The idea is that you should just be patient, and with the passage of time you will figure out a solution to your problems, come up with a plan, etc. Don't be in a rush; let time do its work.


2. Granum frumenti mortuum multum affert fructum.
A dead grain of wheat brings much produce.
granum fru-MEN-ti MOR-tuum multum affert fructum. 

The word granum is a neuter noun, so it takes a neuter adjective: mortuum. You haven't seen the neuter form of this adjective before, but you have seen the masculine form: mortuus. 

The word frumenti is the genitive form of the noun frumentum, "grain," with the rest of the noun phrase, granum mortuum, wrapped around it.
The word fructum is the accusative form of the noun fructus, so it is the object of the verb. The word multum is the accusative form of the adjective multus, agreeing with fructum.

This proverb is about how appearances can be deceiving, and in a good way: a grain of wheat might look dead, but it will bring produce after all! 

This saying is an adaptation of a parable of Jesus in the Gospel of John.

3. Differt, non aufert, mortem longissima vita.
The longest life postpones death; it does not make it go away.
differt, non aufert, mortem lon-GIS-sima vita.

The verb aufert is a compound: ab+fert, "carries away, takes away, removes."

You haven't seen longissima, "the longest," before, but you have seen the base form: longa, "long."

The word mortem is the accusative form of mors, so it is the object of the verb, while longissima vita is the subject.

This is the first line of an epigram by the neo-Latin Welsh poet John Owen.


4. Occasio aegre offertur, facile amittitur.
Opportunity is-offered with-difficulty (and) easiliy is-lost.
oc-CA-sio aegre of-FER-tur, FA-cile a-MIT-titur.

The verb offertur is the passive form of offert, a compound verb: ob-fert, "brings to, offers." So, in the passive: "is offered."

The verb amittitur is the passive form of amittit, a compound verb: a-mittit, "sends away, loses." So, in the passive: "is lost."

So, you have two opposite verbs, and you also have two opposite adverbs: facile, "easily," and aegre, "with difficulty." You haven't seen this word before, but you have seen a related word: aegrotus.

This one comes from the sayings of Publilius Syrus, one of the oldest collections of Roman proverbs. Like so many of his proverbs, it is a line of iambic verse: Occasi' aegr' offertur, fac'l' amittitur.

5. Esuriens stomachus fertur coquus optimus esse.
(A) hungry stomach is reported to the best cook.
e-SU-riens STO-machus fertur coquus OP-timus esse.

To understand this use of fertur, think about the meaning "is ported," and then just add a prefix to the English verb: "is reported," i.e. "is said."
The word stomachus is new, but of course you can guess what it means: stomach! The Romans borrowed this word from Greek, as you can tell by the -ch- which is a letter of its own, the letter chi, χ. In Greek, stomach is stomachos, στόμαχος.

Stomach is the subject of the verb, fertur, and it takes a complementary infinitive: esse, "to be," the infinitive of the verb est.

The phrase optimus coquus is then the predicate: the hungry stomach, esuriens stomachus, is reported to be, fertur esse, the best cook, optimus coquus.

Compare the English saying, "Hunger is the best sauce."

Here's a recap:

• Tempus ipsum affert consilium.
• Granum frumenti mortuum multum affert fructum.
• Differt, non aufert, mortem longissima vita.
• Occasio aegre offertur, facile amittitur.
• Esuriens stomachus fertur coquus optimus esse.

And here is today's audio:



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Week 68 Catch-Up Day

Here is the new catch-up day post for the sum and fero verbs over the past two weeks, plus something new: a self-check quiz that you can do right here at the blog! I just learned this week how to make these little HTML-based quizzes that can run inside a blog post, and I am excited to try them out here. So, today there is a slideshow (with cats) of the past two weeks' sayings, plus a link to the crossword as usual (which you can download and print), and then... the new quiz!

• #203: Sum — I am
• #204: More -sum- sayings
• #205: Fero / Fert
• #206: More fero/fert

So, let's start with the slideshow with all the sayings from the week. 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!

Aufert pannosam vestem ditissimus ______.
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reveal/hide answer

unam

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Ego pretium ob ______ fero.
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stultitiam

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Iniquissimam ______ iustissimo bello antefero.
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pacem

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Bovem in ______ fert.
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lingua

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Echinus partum ______.
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differt

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Cogito, ergo ______.
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sum

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______ non sum nec imus.
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primus

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______ contentus sum.
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meo

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Sum, ergo ______; ______, ergo sum.
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bibo

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Canities non affert ______.
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sapientiam

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Mus non ingrediens antrum cucurbitam ______.
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fert

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Sum summus ______.
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mus

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Oneratus sum ______ quam honoratus.
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magis

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Rideo, ______ sum.
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ergo

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Semper aliquid novi affert ______.
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Africa

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Num custos ______ mei sum?
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fratris

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Culicem ______ confert.
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elephanti

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Faber sum meae ______.
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fortunae

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Ego sum rex Romanus et supra ______.
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grammaticam

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Inter ______ et factum multum differt.
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dictum

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And here's a random cat:

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Latin Lesson #206: More fero/fert

The focus for today's lesson is more practice with the verb fero and its many compounds! This is one of the most common Latin verbs, with a wide range of meanings in English, so it's good to practice with these verbs. And you will see that these Latin fero verbs have also given us an enormous range of English compounds.

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

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Canities non affert sapientiam.
White-hair doesn't bring wisdom.
ca-NI-ties non affert sapi-EN-tiam.

The verb affert is a compound: ad-fert, "carries toward, brings."

The word sapientiam is the accusative form of sapientia, and it is the object of the verb, while the word canities is the subject.

The white hair of old age is what this proverb is referring to: white hair, i.e. age, doesn't necessarily make someone wise! If they don't learn from what they experience, someone with a lot of experience might actually still be a fool!


2. Semper aliquid novi affert Africa.
(There's) Africa always brings something new.
semper A-liquid novi affert A-frica.

The word aliquid, "something," is a neuter pronoun, and it could be in the nominative or accusative case (those always look the same for neuter words!). But the word Africa is in the nominative case, so it is the subject of the verb, and aliquid is the object, in the accusative case.

The word novi is in the genitive case, and it goes with "something." This is a Latin idiom: they said, aliquid novi, "something of-new," while in English we just say "something new." The grammar is a little different, but the meaning is the same!

For the Romans, Africa was an exotic place, the origin of many weird wonders. These words are from the Roman writer, Pliny the Elder, who documented many of Africa's weird wonders in his massive compilation, The Natural History.


3. Inter dictum et factum multum differt.
Between saying and doing much differs.
inter dictum et factum multum differt.

You saw the differt compound yesterday: "carries apart, separates, differs." The phrase multum differt, "much differs," is equivalent to the English saying, "much is different; there is a big difference."

The words dictum and factum are both neuter adjectives being used substantively, as nouns. As neuter words, they have the same form in both the nominative and accusative, but here we know they are in the They complement the preposition inter here, which takes the accusative case.

And what is that big difference? Talk is easy... getting things done is much harder!


4. Aufert pannosam vestem ditissimus unam.
(The) richest (man) carries-away (just) one tattered garment.
aufert pan-NO-sam vestem di-TIS-simus unam.

The verb aufert is also a compound: ab+fert, "carries away, takes away."

The word vestem is the accusative form of vestis, and it is the object of the verb, while the word ditissimus, the richest man," is the subject. You haven't seen this word before, but you have seen the base word: dives (and ditissimus was sometimes spelled divitissimus).

The word vestem is feminine, so the adjective pannosam, "tattered, raggedy," is also feminine accusative, agreeing with its noun. The same also with the adjective unam, which is strongly emphasized as the last word, which is why I added "just" to the English: it is the placement of the word unam which gives it that special emphasis!

And just what is that una pannosa vestis? It is the winding sheet in which a corpse is wrapped for burial: the rich man leaves behind a wardrobe full of luxurious clothes, but what he takes to the grave is a single tattered garment. As we say in English: "You can't take it with you!"


5. Mus non ingrediens antrum cucurbitam fert.
(The) mouse not getting-into (the) mousehole is-carrying a pumpkin.
mus non in-GRE-diens antrum cu-CUR-bitam fert.

The word cucurbitam, "gourd, pumpkin," is the accusative form of cucurbita, and it is the object of the verb, while the word mus is the subject.

The word ingrediens, "going in," is a masculine nominative adjective — a verbal adjective, or participle — agreeing with mus. Latin uses those participles much more than English does, where this would probably be a clause of its own, so another way you could translate this would be: "The mouse cannot get into the mousehole because he is carrying a pumpkin."

There is a similar fable told by the Roman poet Phaedrus about mice who were unable to get into their mouseholes because they were wearing horns on their heads! You can read that fable here: The Mice and the Weasels.

Here's a recap:

• Canities non affert sapientiam.
• Semper aliquid novi affert Africa.
• Inter dictum et factum multum differt.
• Aufert pannosam vestem ditissimus unam.
• Mus non ingrediens antrum cucurbitam fert.

And here is today's audio:



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