Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #102: More ablative prepositions

The focus for today's lesson is following up on yesterday's lesson: more prepositions that take the ablative case! Remember that for now we are just focusing on the first declension, where the ablative ending is -a, a longa (ā).

You will some sayings with the preposition in like yesterday, plus some new prepositions:

ex: from, out from
de: about, concerning
sine: without

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

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Deus ex machina.
(A) god from (the) machine.
deus ex MA-china.

The word machina (machinā) is the ablative form of the noun machina, which gives us English "machine." It's a Greek word borrowed by the Romans (the ch is a clue; chi is one of the letterse of the Greek alphabet).

The preposition ex takes the ablative case; it means "from, out from."

The saying refers to the way that in the ancient Greek theater, a god could join in the play by being lowered with a stage-machine, either a crane that lowered them from above or a rising platform that brought the god up from below. Metaphorically, it refers to someone or something that arrives as if by a miracle to provide a solution to a problem. You can find out more at Wikipedia: Deus ex machina.

2. Lis de umbra asini.
(An) argument about (a) donkey's shadow.
lis de umbra A-sini.

The word unbra (umbrā) is the ablative form of the noun unbra, which you have seen before.
The preposition de takes the ablative case; it means "about, concerning."

This is a saying that refers to an argument over nothing. It's also associated with an Aesop's fable: The Donkey's Shadow.

3. Nulla dies sine linea.
No day without (a) line.
nulla dies sine LI-nea.

The word linea (lineā) is the ablative form of the noun linea, which you have seen before.
The preposition sine takes the ablative case; it means "without."

This is a saying for artists to do a little work every day, even if it's just a single brushstroke. You can find out more about this famous saying at Wikipedia: Nulla dies sine linea. It was used by the writer Pliny with regard to the famous Greek painter, Apelles. It did not originally refer to writers and "lines" of writing, but that was how the saying was later applied.

4. Latet in cauda venenum.
(The) poison lurks in (the) tail.
latet in cauda ve-NE-num.

The word cauda (caudā) is the ablative form of the noun cauda, which you have seen before.

The neuter noun venenum gives us English "venom." The nominative and accusative cases are the same; in this sentence, venenum is nominative, the subject of the verb.

This is literally true about snakes and scorpions, etc., and metaphorically it applies to a situation which becomes dangerous at the end.

5. Propheta in sua patria honorem non habet.
(A) prophet has no honor in his-own country.
pro-PHE-ta in sua PA-tria ho-NO-rem non habet.

The noun propheta gives us English "prophet." This is another borrowing from Greek as you can tell from the ph (the Greek alphabet also contains the letter phi). It is a masculine noun of the first declension, like other masculine first-declension nouns borrowed from Greek. This is the nominative form; it is the subject of the verb.

The word patria (patriā) is the ablative form of the noun patria, which you have seen before.

The word sua (suā) is the ablative form of the adjective sua, and it agrees with the feminine ablative noun, patria.

The word honorem is the accusative from of the 3rd-declension noun honor, which gives us English "honor."

This famous saying is found in the Gospel of John, and also in a slightly different form in Mark 6. You can find out more at Wikipedia: Rejection of Jesus.

Here's a recap: