Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #103: More ablative prepositions

The focus for today's lesson is more practice with prepositions that take the ablative case, which means an -a (long -ā) ending for 1st-declension nouns and adjectives.

There's a new preposition that you'll see today, and it needs a bit of explanation. The preposition is cum, which means "with." You may already be familiar with this word in the Latin phrase cum laude, 'with praise" (-e is the 3rd-declension ablative ending; you'll learn that later), and also in the phrases magna cum laude, "with great praise," and summa cum laude, "with highest praise."

But you might remember that you already saw the word cum in Latin meaning "when," as in the saying: Numquam minus solus quam cum solus, "Never less alone than when (cum) alone."

So, just like in English, there are homonyms in Latin, more specifically homographs: word pairs that are spelled the same but which are actually two different words. Tin ENglish, there are "bats" that fly at night, and there are "bats" in a baseball game, for example, and you "can" do something, but you might also buy soup in a "can." Bells "ring," and you can wear a "ring" on your finger. On and on! There are quite a few homonyms in Latin too, but not as many as in English.

This means that when you see the Latin word cum it might be the preposition,"with," or it might be the conjunction "when." You can only tell the difference from context, so just remember: if cum is a preposition, there will be something in the ablative case to complete the prepositional phrase.

That might be confusing now, and English homonyms can be confusing too, but in the same way that you don't usually get confused by English homonyms, the same will be true of Latin over time too!

To get ready for today's sayings, here is a little slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before, and there are a lot of familiar words today:

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Lupus in fabula.
(A) wolf in (the) conversation.
lupus in FA-bula.

The word fabula (fabulā) is the ablative case of the noun fabula, "story, talk, conversation," which is the origin of English "fable" and also "confab."

This Latin saying is equivalent to the English saying, "Speak of the devil (and he will appear)." In Latin, the lupus takes the place of the devil. You can find out more here: Lupus in Fabula: How to Speak of the Devil in Latin.

2. Ex luna scientia.
From (the) moon, knowledge.
ex luna sci-EN-tia.

The word luna (lunā) is the ablative case of the noun luna, which you have seen before.

This was the motto of the Apollo 13 mission to the moon; for more, see Wikipedia: Apollo 13.

3. Nihil fit sine causa.
Nothing happens without (a) cause.
nihil fit sine causa.

The word causa (causā) is the ablative case of the noun causa, which you have seen before.

The verb fit, "is made, becomes, happens."

This has been an important principle in European philosophy and science; you can find out more at Wikipedia: Principle of sufficient reason.

4. Cum Minerva manum quoque move.
With Minerva, move (your) hand also.
cum Mi-NER-va manum quoque move.

The word Minerva (Minervā) is the ablative case of the noun Minerva, which you have seen before, and it is being used here with the preposition cum, "with."

The adverb quoque means "too, also, in addition."

To understand this proverb, you need to know the Aesop's fable that it comes from: during a shipwreck, an Athenian finds himself drowning, so he prays to Minerva (Athena) to save him because Athena was the patron goddess of Athena; another passenger swims by the Athenian, hears him praying, and rebukes him with these words, "In addition to praying, you better start swimming!" In other words, god helps them that help themselves. You better make an effort yourself together with whatever divine help you might receive.

5. Est avis in dextra melior quam quattuor extra.
(A) bird in (the) right (hand) is better than four outside (the hand).
est avis in dextra ME-lior quam QUAT-tuor extra.

The word dextra (dextrā) is the ablative case of the adjective, dextra, which means "right" (as in "not left"). The adjective is being used substantively as a noun, "right (hand)."

The adverb extra means "outside, beyond," and of course we use the word "extra" in English also.

The number quattuor, "four," is from the same Indo-European root as the English word. You can see the Latin and English numbers together with other Indo-European numbers here at Wikipedia: Indo-European vocabulary.

Compare the English saying, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

This Latin saying rhymes (dextra...extra) which shows that it is a medieval saying; medieval poems and proverbs are full of rhymes, unlike classical Latin which uses quantitative meter based on vowel length rather than rhyme. If you are curious about all that, you can find out more at Wikipedia: Latin prosody.

Here's a recap: