So far, you've seen the accusative form of masculine 2nd-declension nouns, which have -us as the nominative ending and -um as the accusative ending:
Lupus agnum vorat.
The neuter nouns have -um as the nominative ending AND -um as the accusative ending. Yes, that's right: the nominative and accusative endings are the same for these neuter nouns!
Even more fascinating: all neuter nouns in Latin in all the declensions have the same nominative and accusative endings!
And most fascinating of all: all neuter nouns in ALL the Indo-European languages have the same nominative and accusative endings!
You can even this in English. No kidding! We only have accusative endings in our pronouns... so take a look at our neuter pronoun. The nominative and accusative endings are the same:
nominative: It takes time.accusative: Please take it!
The pronouns "he," "she," and "they" have different forms — he/him, she/her, they/them — but the pronoun "it" is the same when it is the subject of a verb and when it is the object. Just like the neuter nouns in Latin and all the other Indo-European languages!
So, that means when you look at a neuter noun, you cannot tell if it is in the nominative or accusative case because the forms are the same. You'll need to figure it out from context. I've made notes about that for each of today's sayings: you'll find a neuter accusative form in each of those sayings.
To get started, here is a little slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before; almost all of today's words are words you know already:
And here are today's proverbs:
1. Telum ira facit.
Anger produces (a) weapon.
telum ira facit.
The neuter noun telum, "weapon," could be nominative OR accusative. So, you know the sentence is about a weapon, but you need to see what comes next to figure out what role it plays in the sentence.
The feminine noun ira is in the nominative case, so that means it is the subject of the verb, facit.
So, now you know that telum is in the accusative; it is the object of the verb.
The word order is definitely not like English: object-subject-verb.
The words come from Vergil's Aeneid.
2. Ignis aurum probat.
Fire tests gold.
ignis aurum probat.
The 3rd-declension noun ignis is in the nominative case, so you know it is the subject of the verb probat. The only thing a nominative noun can do is be the subject of the verb! Accusative nouns can actually do other things in addition to being the objects of verbs; you'll learn more about that later. For now, the thing to understand is that when you see a nominative noun, then you know it is the subject of the verb.
2. Ignis aurum probat.
Fire tests gold.
ignis aurum probat.
The 3rd-declension noun ignis is in the nominative case, so you know it is the subject of the verb probat. The only thing a nominative noun can do is be the subject of the verb! Accusative nouns can actually do other things in addition to being the objects of verbs; you'll learn more about that later. For now, the thing to understand is that when you see a nominative noun, then you know it is the subject of the verb.
So, when you get to aurum, you know that this neuter noun is in the accusative case, the object of the verb.
These words come from the Roman philosopher Seneca; the complete form of the saying is: Ignis aurum probat, miseria fortes viros; "Fire tests god, and misfortune tests strong men." If you are curious about just what it means to test gold by fire, you can find out more at Wikipedia: Cupellation (fire assay).
3. Veritas odium parit.
Truth produces hatred.
VE-ritas O-dium parit.
The 3rd-declension noun veritas is in the nominative case, so it is the subject of the verb, parit.
3. Veritas odium parit.
Truth produces hatred.
VE-ritas O-dium parit.
The 3rd-declension noun veritas is in the nominative case, so it is the subject of the verb, parit.
That's how you know that the neuter noun, odium, is in the accusative case, the object of the verb.
These words are from the Roman comic playwright Terence; the full form of the saying is: Obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit, "Agreeableness produces friends; truth produces hatred." In other words, when you tell the truth, you risk losing friends.
4. Nemo effugit futurum.
No-one escapes (the) future.
nemo EF-fugit fu-TU-rum.
You have not seen the verb effugit, "escapes, flees from," before, but you know the verb fugit. This is a compound of that verb: e(x)-fugit, "away-flee."
The 3rd-declension noun nemo is in the nominative case, so it is subject of the verb, effugit.
4. Nemo effugit futurum.
No-one escapes (the) future.
nemo EF-fugit fu-TU-rum.
You have not seen the verb effugit, "escapes, flees from," before, but you know the verb fugit. This is a compound of that verb: e(x)-fugit, "away-flee."
The 3rd-declension noun nemo is in the nominative case, so it is subject of the verb, effugit.
That is how you know the neuter noun futurum is the object.
This time, the word order is familiar to you from English too: subject-verb-object.
The Latin word futurum is technically a future active participle of the verb "to be," so it means, literally, that-which-is-to-be. (You'll be learning about future active participles later.)
5. Copia fastidium facit.
Abundance produces contempt.
CO-pia fas-TI-dium facit.
The neuter noun fastidium, "disgust, disdain, contempt," is the root of English "fastidious."
5. Copia fastidium facit.
Abundance produces contempt.
CO-pia fas-TI-dium facit.
The neuter noun fastidium, "disgust, disdain, contempt," is the root of English "fastidious."
The feminine noun copia is in the nominative case, so you know fastidium is the object of the verb, facit.
You saw a similar saying earlier: Copia nauseam parit.
Here's a recap:
Plus the LOLCats!
Here's a recap:
- Telum ira facit.
- Ignis aurum probat.
- Veritas odium parit.
- Nemo effugit futurum.
- Copia fastidium facit.
Plus the LOLCats!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are limited to Google accounts. You can also email me at laurakgibbs@gmail.com