Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #27: More First-Declension Genitives

The focus for today's lesson is more genitive forms of first-declension words. I'll give you a sneak preview of the genitive phrases in today's sayings: maybe you can guess what they are going to say based on these clues!

animae tinea: the moth of the soul
finis miseriae: misery's end
faber fortunae suae: the maker of his own fortune
naturae imitatio: the imitation of nature
remedium irae: anger's remedy

As you've seen before, there is no fixed word order: sometimes the genitive comes first in the phrase, and sometimes it comes second. It's just a matter of style, depending on the sound play in the sentence and what the speaker wants to emphasize.

So, here are today's sayings:

1. Invidia est animae tinea.
Envy is (the) moth (of the) soul.
in-VI-dia est A-nimae TI-nea

The feminine noun invidia is one you have seen before: Est vipera invidia.
The feminine noun animae is the genitive of anima, which you have seen before: Nonne anima plus est quam esca?

The feminine noun tinea is "moth," more specifically the gnawing moth-worm that eats clothes. Latin tinea can also refer to the gnawing worm that eats books, i.e. bookworms. In English, "tinea" refers to ringworm (but as doctors now know, it's not really a worm; it's a fungus).

So, the key idea here is that envy is something like a moth or bookworm that gets inside your soul and gnaws and gnaws! Envy slowly destroys your beautiful soul just as moths destroy beautiful clothes and as bookworms destroy beautiful books.

2. Finis miseriae mors est.
Death is (the) end of-misery.
finis mi-SE-riae mors est

The masculine noun finis, "end, limit, boundary," give us English "finish" and "final."
The feminine noun miseriae is the genitive of miseria, "wretchedness," a noun formed from an adjective, misera, that you have seen before: Omnis est misera servitus. This is where we get English "misery."
The feminine noun mors is one you have seen before: Mors corona vitae.

Compare this English proverb, "A dead mouse feels no cold."

3. Faber quisque fortunae suae est.
Everyone is (the) maker of-his-own luck.
faber quisque for-TU-nae suae est

The masculine noun faber, "maker," is at the root of English "fabricate."
The masculine pronoun quisque means "each person, everyone." Don't worry: there is a feminine "everybody" too; you'll learn all the forms of this pronoun later.
The feminine noun fortunae is the genitive of fortuna, which you have seen before: Fortuna caeca est.

The feminine adjective suae is the genitive of sua, "one's own."

This is the first time you have seen both a noun and an adjective in the genitive: fortuna sua is nominative, and fortunae suae is genitive. Both the noun and the adjective have a genitive ending. Notice also that the phrase faber fortunae suae is broken up: the words are not next to each other! But that's the freedom of Latin word order. Words can be in the same phrase but not necessarily next to each other. In English word order, this sentence would be: Quisque est faber suae fortunae.

This famous Latin saying is attributed to Appius Claudius Caecus, a famous politician and writer of the Roman Republic; he died in 279 B.C.E.

Latin fortuna means both "fortune" and "luck" in English, and "luck" fits better for this saying, which boldly claims that you actually make your own luck!

4. Omnis ars naturae imitatio est.
Every art is (an) imitation of-nature.
omnis ars na-TU-rae imi-TA-tio est

You have seen the feminine adjective omnis before: Omnis est misera servitus.

You saw the feminine noun ars yesterday: Ars est simia naturae.

The feminine noun naturae is the genitive of natura, which you have also seen in this saying: Habitus est altera natura.

The feminine noun imitatio, "imitation, copy," gives us English "imitation."

This saying comes from one of the letters of Seneca (the Younger), a famous writer who lived under the emperors Claudius and Nero; he was forced to commit suicide by Nero. Find out more at Wikipedia.

5. Maximum remedium irae mora est.
Delay is anger's most effective cure.
MA-ximum re-ME-dium irae mora est

The neuter adjective maximum is one that you have seen in its masculine and feminine forms before: Hodie nullus, cras maximus and Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
The neuter noun remedium, "remedy, cure, antidote," gives us English "remedy."
The feminine noun irae, "anger, rage," is the source of English "ire" and also "irate."

The feminine noun mora, "delay, pause, stop," is at the root of English "moratorium."

These words also come from Seneca, in his famous essay called De Ira, "About Anger," which has its own Wikipedia article.

So, the next time you are angry, just take a deep breath, PAUSE, and think about the Stoic philosopher Seneca. Hopefully that delay will help dissipate your anger!

Here's a recap: