Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #38: Finishing Third-Declension Genitives

This is the end of third-declension genitive week! Next week, you'll start reviewing all the things you've learned about the three different declensions.

To get ready for today's sayings, here are the sayings you've seen earlier this week; I've underlined and colored the genitive phrase in each saying to help you see the patterns:

Genitive-Noun:

Damoclis gladius.
Matris imago filia est.
Virtutis iter arduum.
Voluptatis soror est tristitia.

Noun-Genitive:

Signum pacis amor.
Speculum mentis est facies.
Somnus est frater mortis.
Mors est latro hominis.
Luna oculus noctis.
Militia est vita hominis.
Ratio est radius divini luminis.

Wrapped Genitive:

Tota hominis vita unus est dies.

Split Phrases:

Pacis Amor deus est.
Veri amoris nullus est finis.
Aestatis hirundo est nuntia.

As you look at today's proverbs, you will see a variety of different word patterns. Most of the genitives are third-declension, but there are genitives from the other declensions too:

1. Sicut fremitus leonis, et regis ira.
As (the) the lion's roar, (so) too the king's anger.
sicut FRE-mitus le-O-nis, et regis ira

The word sicut, "so as, just as," is a compound: sic-ut. You've seen the ut, "as," part of the compound before: Est rota fortunae variabilis, ut rota lunae.

The noun fremitus, "roar, roaring," is from the verb fremere, "to roar, growl."
The genitive leonis is from leo, which you know from this saying: Non leo sed mus.

The word et is usually a conjunction, "and," but here it is being used as an adverb: "also, even."

The genitive regis is from rex, a noun you've seen before; for example: Novus rex, nova lex.

You've seen the noun ira before: Maximum remedium irae mora est.

Notice the criss-cross word order here, which is known as chiasmus:

noun-genitive || genitive-noun = fremitus leonis || regis ira

2. Dies imago vitae; nox mortis est.
(The) day (is the) image of-life; night is (the image) of-death.
dies i-MA-go vitae; nox mortis est

You've seen the noun dies before: Nullus dies omnino malus.

You've also seen imago here: Vultus imago animi.

The first-declension genitive vitae is from vita, a noun you've seen before; for example: Senectus vitae hiems est.

You know nox from this saying: Nunc nox, mox lux.

The genitive mortis is from mors, which you've also seen before: Somnus est frater mortis.

The contrast between the light of the day and the darkness of the night sets up a comparison to life versus death.

3. Pulchra est harmonia cordis et oris.
(The) harmony of-heart and of-mouth is beautiful.
pulchra est har-MO-nia cordis et oris

The feminine adjective pulchra, "lovely, beautiful" gives us English "pulchritude."

The adjective is feminine because it agrees with the feminine noun harmonia, which gives us English "harmony."

The genitive cordis is from cor, "heart, mind," which you can see in English "cordial."

The genitive oris is from os, which you've seen in this saying: Bursa avari os est diaboli.

The metaphor of harmony here suggests that you can hear honesty, and that honesty will sound beautiful, unlike the ugly sound of lies and hypocrisy.

4. Crimen nullum vini est, sed culpa bibentis.
No fault is (the) wine's, but (the) blame (is the) drinker's.
crimen nullum vini est, sed culpa bi-BEN-tis

The neuter noun crimen, "fault, crime," gives us English "crime."

The neuter adjective nullum is one you've seen before: Nullum malum impunitum.

The second-declension genitive vini is from vinum, which you've seen before: Vinum animi speculum.

You've also seen the conjunction sed before: Non leo sed mus.

You've seen the noun culpa too: Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

The genitive bibentis is from bibens, "(someone) drinking, a drinker," a participle from the verb bibere, "to drink."

Compare the English saying: "Guns don't kill; people do" (a pro-gun NRA slogan). The Latin saying is in defense of wine, not guns: it's not the fault of the wine if someone gets drunk; the drinker is the one who should be blamed.

5. Principium dulce est, sed finis amoris amarus.
(The) beginning (of love) is sweet, but (the) end of-love (is) bitter.
prin-CI-pium dulce est, sed finis a-MO-ris a-MA-rus

The neuter noun principium, "beginning," is related to the Latin word primus, "first." You can see this root in English words like "primary" and "prince."

The neuter adjective dulce agrees with the neuter principium. You've seen dulce before: Dulce otium.

The masculine noun finis is a word you've also seen before: Finis miseriae mors est.

The genitive amoris is from amor, which you've seen before: Veri amoris nullus est finis.

The masculine adjective amarus agrees with the masculine finis.

The power of this proverb relies on the sound play between amoris and amarus, contrasting the dulce principium of love with its amarus finis.

Here's a recap: